CDL disqualifications

What 49 CFR 383.51 covers

Opened October 29, 2026. A person who must have a commercial learner’s permit or CDL and who is disqualified must not drive a commercial motor vehicle. An employer must not knowingly allow, require, permit, or authorize that person to drive one. The holder is subject to the sanctions in the section’s tables if the holder drives a commercial or a non-commercial vehicle and is convicted of a listed violation.

For a first or later violation, each conviction from a separate incident counts, whether the vehicle was a commercial vehicle or not. A new disqualification period is added to any earlier period. A foreign commercial driver is subject to the same subpart. This page repeats the federal periods. It does not say what a state court or a state licensing agency will do in a particular case, and it is not legal advice.

DUI, drugs, and using a vehicle to commit a felony

Table 1 sets the major-offense periods. “Life” means a lifetime disqualification from operating a commercial vehicle. The 0.04 alcohol-concentration row applies only while operating a commercial vehicle. The human-trafficking row applies only when a commercial vehicle is used.

A second offense in the table is a second conviction or refusal in a separate incident of any combination of the Table 1 offenses, not only a repeat of the same line. A state may reinstate a driver disqualified for life for paragraphs (b)(1) through (8) after 10 years if that person voluntarily entered and successfully completed an appropriate rehabilitation program the state approved. Anyone reinstated that way who is later convicted of one of those offenses must not be reinstated. Paragraphs (b)(9) and (b)(10), the controlled-substance felony and the trafficking felony, are not eligible for that 10-year reinstatement.

The section does not print a disqualification period for every crime called a felony. It names using a vehicle to commit a felony, the controlled-substance felony, and the trafficking felony. A different felony is not assigned a period here. Ask the state licensing agency whether that record blocks an application. The eligibility check does not decide a criminal record.

Serious traffic violations, railroad crossings, and out-of-service orders

Table 2 is a different clock. A second conviction of any combination of its offenses, in a separate incident within three years, while operating a commercial vehicle, is 60 days. A third or later conviction within three years is 120 days. If the offense was in a non-commercial vehicle, the same 60- or 120-day period applies only when the conviction revokes, cancels, or suspends the holder’s license or non-commercial driving privileges. The listed offenses are excessive speeding of 15 mph or more above the limit, reckless driving, improper or erratic lane changes, following too closely, a traffic-control violation other than parking that arises with a fatal accident, driving a commercial vehicle without obtaining a permit or CDL, without one in possession, or without the proper class or endorsement, and texting or using a hand-held mobile telephone while driving a commercial vehicle. A person who proves they held a valid permit or CDL on the citation date is not guilty of the possession offense.

Table 3 covers six railroad-highway grade crossing violations while operating a commercial vehicle. A first conviction is no less than 60 days. A second within three years is no less than 120 days. A third or later within three years is no less than one year.

Table 4 covers violating a driver or vehicle out-of-service order while operating a commercial vehicle. For nonhazardous materials, a first conviction is no less than 180 days and no more than one year. A second within 10 years is no less than two years and no more than five. A third or later within 10 years is no less than three years and no more than five. While transporting hazardous materials, or while operating a vehicle designed for 16 or more passengers including the driver, the first conviction is no less than 180 days and no more than two years. A second or later within 10 years is no less than three years and no more than five.

Source, checked October 29, 2026: 49 CFR 383.51. Restriction codes are a different rule. Read CDL restrictions and how to get a CDL.