New member question

[bluecat236]

Hi! Me and my girlfriend are looking at getting a 20ft bus from Kansas in a week or so and we were just wondering is it ok for us to drive it back without having our CDL? I know you don't need it once it's converted but we need to get it back to Indiana to convert it 😬

[oricha1984]

you should be fine as long as you dont bring your church congregation with you.

[CaptSquid]

You do NOT need a CDL unless you are driving for profit or carrying passengers, i.e., filling the back with kids. Since it's just you and your GF, a Class D license is sufficient.

[bluecat236]

Awesome thank you!

[PNW_Steve]

You didn't mention where you are driving it back to.

Regulations vary by state. In Washington State you are required to have a CDL for any vehicle that seats 16 or more. Regardless of what you are using it for.

Check the laws in the states that you will be passing through.

That said, I drove two buses home before I learned that I should have had a CDL. I drove cautiously and obeyed traffic laws. Not giving any reason to get pulled over.

If I bring another bus home I will endeavor to remove enough seats to make it legal before driving home.

[glenncooper]

A few years back I was buying a heavy tow vehicle (for a fifth wheel). The truck’s GVW rating was well above the threshold for needing a CDL, and I had a hard time getting a straight answer on whether I needed one or not. So I decided to go to the source. At the time I lived in Vermont, and I contacted the Vermont State Police to ask about this. Eventually I was connected with the sargent in charge of commercial enforcement, and he was delighted to explain the entire scenario. Apparently most states follow a national uniform commercial code (not sure of the correct name), and a few states - including Vermont - had their own laws around commercial enforcement. The way he explained it was that this all of these laws apply to COMMERCIAL USE ONLY. He told me - quite literally - that your grandmother could buy an 80,000 lbs 40 foot propane tractor / trailer and drive it anywhere she wanted as long as she was using for her own use. He told me that the uniform code would work like this, and that he was pretty sure it would work this way in other states as well. But he did indicate it was very possible to have a local police officer not understand this law. So - I went ahead driving my 34,000 GVCW vehicle without a CDL. I have heard that there are some new laws about driver’s license endorsements for larger RVs and motorhomes in Texas and California, but I don’t know anything about these. Hope this helps.

[Dapplecreek]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

...If I bring another bus home I will endeavor to remove enough seats to make it legal before driving home.

I popped the seat cushions off the majority of the seats in my bus so there was no proper seating for more than eight or so. (The cushions have a twist-to-latch on one side and easy-to-ratchet-off clips on the other.) Not as good as removing seats for-reals, but I figured it would be plausible.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by Dapplecreek

I popped the seat cushions off the majority of the seats in my bus so there was no proper seating for more than eight or so. (The cushions have a twist-to-latch on one side and easy-to-ratchet-off clips on the other.) Not as good as removing seats for-reals, but I figured it would be plausible.

Great idea.

Hope you don't mind if I steal it