Commercial Driver License (CDL)
The license required to operate a commercial motor vehicle. Endorsements cover specific cases such as passengers, school buses, tankers and hazardous materials.
A commercial driver license is issued by the state against federal standards, with classes reflecting vehicle weight and combination, and endorsements for particular operations.
For a public fleet the CDL is a staffing constraint before it is a compliance topic. The pool of qualified operators for plows, refuse and apparatus is limited, competes directly with private-sector pay, and takes time and money to expand. Agencies that plan around it treat license attainment as something to sponsor and schedule rather than as a hiring requirement to wait for, particularly ahead of a winter season.