Another CDL Question. Have Tired Searching

[travelgravel]

I know I know... Another CDL question

I am a resident in SC. I am looking to buy a bus in TN that has a GVW of 14,500. Its seating capacity is 24 passengers. It is not a full bus but slightly larger than a short bus. The body style is a Thomas Minitour.

I have called almost every DMV here in my home state of South Carolina. They have all told me that as long as a vehicle is less than 26,000 GVW I am good to go. However, I called the cdl office here in SC and they said that because the title declares it a bus and it can hold 24 passengers I do need a cdl.

I have to transport the bus from TN to SC. My plan was to remove the stop sign, have the owner write motorhome shell on the title, and cover the markings from the school that I am buying it from. I explained to the CDL office that It will be only me driving the bus home and it is going to be converted to a private recreational vehicle. They still wont budge and still tell me that it will require a CDL to get it home.

From my understanding and reading, once the title is changed to a RV I will be good to go I am concerned with driving it the 250 miles home. My fear is that I will be pulled over and told that the vehicle can not move again until I can get someone with CDL to come get it home.

Who is right in this situation. The multitude of DMV employees who tell me I should be good to drive it home or the SC CDL Office?

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by travelgravel

I know I know... Another CDL question

As large as buses are, they are invisible to law enforcement wit one caveat:

Only break one law at a time. Don't speed, do tricks, etc. Leave it as a bus, drive safe and nobody will bother you. If they do, play dumb, apologize, yes sir, no sir your way out.

Once home, get the seats out. Convert to RV. They only care if you really are hauling people on the down-low for $$$.

Welcome !

[PNW_Steve]

Most of us here drove our buses home without a CDL and had no trouble.

Perhaps if you are able to remove half of the seats before you drive it home? As I understand it, the requirement for a CDL that you are dealing with are: "over 26k lbs OR equipped to carry more than 15 passengers."

A battery powered sawzall or impact driver and half an hour. Suddenly your 24 passenger bus is a 12 passenger bus.

Myself, I just followed Rusty's advise and drove cautiously minding traffic laws etc.

[EastCoastCB]

I drove nearly a thousand miles with no cdl, no tag.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I drove nearly a thousand miles with no cdl, no tag.

Yah.... I went overboard and spent the $25 on a trip permit.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

Yah.... I went overboard and spent the $25 on a trip permit.

They didn't offer anything like that in KY, and FL won't do anything either.
KY doesn't issue temp tags. Their laws state they do, but being a weird backward state, they're feuding in the DMV and state offices so they simply refuse to issue any temp tags or permits.
FL only offers them for out of state residents. I tried everything.

Flying naked was the only way.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

For NC?your driver's license is good for 26,001 GVW. It doesn't say in what vehicle or type of combination.
I have a 60 passenger bus and am insured and registered as a bus for personal use.
I do do a full DOT inspection every year because they are the only places that don't look at me like I am crazy? 15$verses55$ but my local shop will tell me to look into replacing this or you might want to look at that and as long as they can see that I cleaned,touched or changed the parts the next year they are golden. I didn't have time to hang out with them last year so I dropped it off and they got to it when they had time and I didn't hear anything. The problem I have this year is although my tires look good they are out of date.
They do show a little dry rot on the outside edges but I hate to take it to them and end up with 10-days to spend 2000$ on new tires.
I did find another place that can will do an inspection on it as a regular vehicle like it is but I need to take a day off of work for that?
The only other thing is if SC requires an air brake endorsement for your vehicle?
Most states only require CDL with endorsements for a for profit company.
Then they require them to pay an extra fuel tax besides what they pay at the pump to help with air quality(California ****) for being diesel and to maintain the roads the heavy rigs are driving on and destroying.
I have a friend who has his own dump truck company and he hollers at me cause I don't have to have an air brake endorsement,CDL or anything but a regular license.
I can almost guarantee without any knowledge to back it up that there is not a single SCHOOL bus driver out there that has a CDL? There might be a state here or there but it is very minimal?
Put an in transit sign where the tags should be, mind your manners and drive it home.
Last old truck I brought home with out anything I got stopped? Said I just bought it here is the bill of sale and title and I got a warning? He said I should have gotten temp. Tags and I said I thought they only gave them to dealerships? I guess NC gives out a one day tag?

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger bus 223

For NC?your driver's license is good for 26,001 GVW. It doesn't say in what vehicle or type of combination.
I have a 60 passenger bus and am insured and registered as a bus for personal use.
I do do a full DOT inspection every year because they are the only places that don't look at me like I am crazy? 15$verses55$ but my local shop will tell me to look into replacing this or you might want to look at that and as long as they can see that I cleaned,touched or changed the parts the next year they are golden. I didn't have time to hang out with them last year so I dropped it off and they got to it when they had time and I didn't hear anything. The problem I have this year is although my tires look good they are out of date.
They do show a little dry rot on the outside edges but I hate to take it to them and end up with 10-days to spend 2000$ on new tires.
I did find another place that can will do an inspection on it as a regular vehicle like it is but I need to take a day off of work for that?
The only other thing is if SC requires an air brake endorsement for your vehicle?
Most states only require CDL with endorsements for a for profit company.
Then they require them to pay an extra fuel tax besides what they pay at the pump to help with air quality(California ****) for being diesel and to maintain the roads the heavy rigs are driving on and destroying.
I have a friend who has his own dump truck company and he hollers at me cause I don't have to have an air brake endorsement,CDL or anything but a regular license.
I can almost guarantee without any knowledge to back it up that there is not a single SCHOOL bus driver out there that has a CDL? There might be a state here or there but it is very minimal?
Put an in transit sign where the tags should be, mind your manners and drive it home.
Last old truck I brought home with out anything I got stopped? Said I just bought it here is the bill of sale and title and I got a warning? He said I should have gotten temp. Tags and I said I thought they only gave them to dealerships? I guess NC gives out a one day tag?

According to my research, in NC you need a Class B Non-commercial license for vehicles over 26000 lb GCVW ... You need Class A if you additionally want to tow a trailer over 10000 lb.

According to one source, there is a written and road test. The road test is simple. No special endorsement for air brakes, but if your vehicle has them the examiner may ask you questions about them.

As far as I know ALL school bus drivers have a CDL. Not just a CDL, but one with a "P", passenger, endorsement. That might not be the case in every state, but it is in mine (Oklahoma)

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

For NC maybe in the mountain are or specific buses but in my area if you have a license your hired? If it paid like my job paid I would be one right now

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger bus 223

For NC maybe in the mountain are or specific buses but in my area if you have a license your hired? If it paid like my job paid I would be one right now

According to this, it is Federal law. States may be more restrictive, but not less:

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registrati...icense/drivers

Maybe that's changed but I could find no evidence.

Not so long ago, especially in rural districts in Oklahoma, it wasn't unusual to find high school seniors driving the school buses. All that changed.

[travelgravel]

Woah! Yall are a friendly helpful bunch.

I have a friend who has a cdl and is generally good company who has offered to drive up with me to buy the bus and help haul it home. Honestly, I think I am being overly cautious but the invite has already been extended and accepted. Im so excited about buying my first bus and getting started converting it.

[Tango]

No need for a CDL unless the vehicle is actively being used "commercially".

[tailor]

I think it depends on the state and the examiner.
I was at the Arizona DMV today to check out the procedure for changing title to van. I was informed by the same guy that I spoke to a month ago that it cannot be done and if the vehicle was originally titled as a bus, it will always be a bus. When I asked him why he told me last month that removing seats to bring capacity 16 or less, painting the bus, and changing the rear flashers to amber would be sufficient, he said that I left to soon and he didn't have the answer yet. This was after talking to him for 90 minutes and having security called because a lady was yelling at me for taking to dam long and making her wait.

Long story short, unless you change title to motor home and do the 4 out of 7 alterations, you need a cdl. Meaning I would have to stop at every weigh station.
At least that's the final decision as of today in Arizona. It might be different Monday

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by tailor

At least that's the final decision as of today in Arizona. It might be different Monday

THAT is the bottom line. You need to research the law, print it out and carry it with you.

Interwebs says: this

[Kubla]

School bus is a specific endorsement on a CDL, it is different than the passenger endorsement because of the flashing lights. If you paint over where it says school bus and the school district labels , you will have no problem driving it home. The federal CDL rules exempt private ( non-commercial) vehicles of the requirement to have a CDL if a equiped with air brakes or over 26k, but do not list an exemption for more than 15 passengers