Allow all persons serving in the reserves to be eligible for certain CDL waiver

Commercial driver test waivers for full-time reservists

Montana now lets the transportation department waive the CDL skills test, the knowledge test, or both. People who serve full-time in a reserve unit, and those honorably discharged after full-time reserve service, now count as current or former military members for these waivers. For a skills-test waiver, you must certify and show evidence that in the last year you worked in a military job that required driving a commercial motor vehicle, you were exempt from civilian CDL rules under 61-8-803, and you drove a similar vehicle for at least the 2 years before separation. In the 2 years before you apply, you must have held only one civilian license at a time and had no suspensions, revocations, or cancellations. You must also have no disqualifying offenses under 61-8-802, no traffic convictions tied to an accident, and no at-fault accidents. For a knowledge-test waiver, during the last year you must have served in one of the listed military jobs and driven the same type of vehicle at separation or right before. In that 1-year period, you must have held only one civilian license and had no suspensions, revocations, or cancellations. You must also have no disqualifying offenses, no more than one serious traffic violation under 61-8-803, no traffic convictions tied to an accident, and no at-fault accidents. Passenger, tank, and hazardous-materials endorsements can also be waived if you performed those duties in the last year and meet the same 1-year driving history rules.