Newbie from San Diego! Lots of questions.

[gryffinwings]

Hi guys, I've just been looking into doing a School Bus conversion as a project sometime, however, it seems difficult to find the information I need. For some background, I'm in the military, I have a Washington State drivers license, but I am stationed in San Diego, CA.

The basics that I think I know are that I'm limited to 26,000 lbs for the GVWR and can't have more seating than 14 passengers. I can't seem to find an idea on how big of a bus I can get without getting a CDL, which I really don't want to get unless I really need to.

I also have a thought to initially register said future bus in Vermont as a motor home or something.

Thoughts, feedback, and advice are very welcome.

[Danjo]

In California you don’t need to get a CDL. You can get a “45 foot house car” certification. You don’t need to do all the hours that a commercial driver needs to get a CDL, but you do need to demonstrate the ability to drive the vehicle. I suspect it needs to be titled as a MH, but maybe not.

The buses that are 7 windows are typically 25,500 GVWR, so the biggest you can drive on a class C.

[Danjo]

WA State Department of Licensing says about CDL

Recreational vehicle (RV) operators are exempt when driving an RV for non-commercial purposes. This exemption includes 2-axle rental trucks and horse trailers.

[Danjo]

Here’s a link to the WA state code

https://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.25.050

[gryffinwings]

Originally Posted by Danjo

In California you don’t need to get a CDL. You can get a “45 foot house car” certification. You don’t need to do all the hours that a commercial driver needs to get a CDL, but you do need to demonstrate the ability to drive the vehicle. I suspect it needs to be titled as a MH, but maybe not.

The buses that are 7 windows are typically 25,500 GVWR, so the biggest you can drive on a class C.

Originally Posted by Danjo

WA State Department of Licensing says about CDL

Recreational vehicle (RV) operators are exempt when driving an RV for non-commercial purposes. This exemption includes 2-axle rental trucks and horse trailers.

Originally Posted by Danjo

Here’s a link to the WA state code

https://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.25.050

Thank you for the information, looks like for my purposes, the 7 window bus are the best option for me, I do not want to go too long as that will make it more difficult to maneuver and potentially limit places I could go.

In regards to my Washington License, it's likely I will have to replace it with a California License as I will likely stay here.

I think I will getting it registered out of Vermont to make it a bit easier to move around and not have to worry about doing an immediate conversion. Anyways this is just an idea.