7.2 Passenger Class Restrictions and Other CDL Codes

7.2 Passenger Class Restrictions and Other CDL Codes

Quick answer: Restrictions are earned on skills-test day by the vehicle you bring. A Class A driver who takes P or S in a Class B bus gets M (Class B and C passenger vehicles or school buses only). A Class B driver who takes P or S in a Class C vehicle gets N (Class C passenger vehicles or school buses only). Restriction N is not endorsement N (tank). L bars any air-brake CMV after a failed air-brake knowledge test or a skills test in a vehicle without air brakes. Z follows an air-over-hydraulic skills test and bars full air-brake CMVs. E, O, and V can attach from the same test or from medical records.

The CDL class on your license and the passenger vehicles you may drive are not the same list. Class A authorizes combination freight vehicles; it does not automatically authorize a Class A passenger vehicle. P and S are layered on top, and 49 CFR 383.95 tells the State which restriction codes to print when the skills-test bus is smaller than the CDL class or when brake, transmission, or coupling equipment differs from the fleet you want. FMCSA's Drivers page restates those codes in Class A/B/C language and applies M and N to school-bus skills vehicles the same way; where that page's air-brake shorthand collides with the regulation, 383.95 controls.

Choosing the skills-test vehicle is a career decision. A Class C shuttle skills test will not authorize a Class B transit bus even if the CDL class is B, because of N. A Class B coach test on a Class A license produces M. Employers who run 40-foot air-brake coaches will not accept a Class C P with N, and they may also reject L, Z, or E depending on the fleet.

M: Class A license, Class B passenger or school-bus test

If a driver possesses a Class A CDL but obtains the passenger or school bus endorsement in a Class B vehicle, the State must place an M restriction: the driver may operate only Class B and C passenger vehicles or school buses.

49 CFR 383.95(e) says the same in group language: a passenger skills test in a passenger vehicle requiring a Group B CDL restricts the person from operating a passenger vehicle requiring a Group A CDL. On the document, 49 CFR 383.153 codes this as M — No Class A passenger vehicle.

M does not take away Class A freight combinations. It takes away Class A passenger operation (and Class A school-bus operation when S was tested that way). You can still pull a fifth-wheel trailer if you have no O restriction. You cannot take an articulated passenger combination that is Group A.

N: Class B license, Class C passenger or school-bus test

If a driver possesses a Class B CDL but obtains the passenger or school bus endorsement in a Class C vehicle, the State must place an N restriction: the driver may operate only Class C passenger vehicles or school buses.

49 CFR 383.95(f): a passenger skills test in a vehicle requiring a Group C CDL restricts the person from passenger vehicles requiring a Group A or B CDL. 49 CFR 383.153 codes this as N — No Class A and Class B passenger vehicle.

This is the shuttle-versus-transit trap. Class B on the CDL lets you drive a Class B box truck. It does not let you drive a Class B bus if your P skills test was in a Class C van and N is on the license.

Restriction N versus endorsement N

Same letter, opposite functions: one adds tank authority; the other subtracts large-bus passenger authority. Exam items love this collision. Read the word restriction or endorsement before you pick N.

School bus (S): P first, same M/N logic

49 CFR 383.123(a)(1) requires an applicant for S to qualify for the passenger endorsement — pass the P knowledge and skills tests — then pass S knowledge and take the S skills test in a school bus of the same vehicle group the applicant will drive. FMCSA applies M and N to school bus skills vehicles the same way as passenger: Class A CDL plus a Class B school-bus test yields M; Class B CDL plus a Class C school-bus test yields N. A yellow paint job does not erase those codes. The skills-test vehicle group controls.

L, Z, E, O, and V

These codes come from 49 CFR 383.95 and the letter table in 49 CFR 383.153. They are not passenger-only, but they attach to the passenger skills-test vehicle just as they would to a truck.

L — No air-brake-equipped CMV. Under 49 CFR 383.95(a), the State must add L if the applicant fails the air brake component of the knowledge test, or performs the skills test in a vehicle not equipped with air brakes. For the skills test and this restriction, air brakes include any braking system operating fully or partially on the air brake principle. L means you may not operate a CMV equipped with any type of air brakes.

Do not rewrite that trigger as missing a full air brake skills-test vehicle. A bus with air-over-hydraulic brakes is equipped with air brakes (partially). Testing in that vehicle does not create L under 383.95(a). It creates Z under 383.95(b).

The FMCSA Drivers page summary is the usual source of that mix-up. It says L is added if the driver does not take the skills test in a vehicle with a full air brake system, and it even labels L as a no-full-air-brake restriction. That wording collides with Z, whose official 383.153 shorthand is No Full air brake equipped CMV. Use the Drivers page for M, N, E, O, and V in Class A/B/C language; for air brakes, return to 383.95.

Z — No full-air-brake-equipped CMV. If the skills test is in a vehicle with air-over-hydraulic brakes, 49 CFR 383.95(b) requires Z. Air-over-hydraulic is partly air and partly hydraulic. Z bars CMVs whose brakes operate fully on the air brake principle. Many transit buses and motorcoaches are full-air. Z is not a substitute for passing air-brake knowledge; it is a vehicle-equipment outcome.

E — No manual-transmission-equipped CMV. Skills test in an automatic transmission. Automatic, for this restriction, is any transmission that is not a manual as defined in 49 CFR 383.5. An automatic-only coach test will not authorize a manual-shift assignment later without another skills test.

O — No tractor-trailer CMV. Class A skills test with a pintle hook or other non-fifth-wheel connection. O bars fifth-wheel tractor-trailer combinations that require Group A. A driver can hold O and M together: pintle-hook Class A plus Class B bus P.

V — Medical variance. 49 CFR 383.95(g) requires the State, once notified that the driver has a medical variance, to show V on the CDL and on the CDLIS record so there is information about that variance — for example vision, hearing, diabetes, or a skill performance evaluation under 49 CFR Part 391. V is not earned by vehicle choice; it flags a medical document that officers and employers must be able to find on CDLIS.

L versus Z is the other letter trap. Failing the air-brake knowledge test, or testing in a bus not equipped with air brakes, yields L: you cannot drive air-brake CMVs at all, including systems that are only partly air. Testing in a bus with air-over-hydraulic yields Z: you can drive that hybrid system, but not a full air-brake coach. If the job is a full-air transit bus, pass the air-brake knowledge test and take the skills test in a full air-brake passenger vehicle.

CLP-P still bars the public

Restrictions describe the CDL you will receive. They do not lift 49 CFR 383.25. A CLP-P holder still cannot carry passengers except Federal/State auditors and inspectors, test examiners, other trainees, and the accompanying CDL holder. Passing knowledge, finishing ELDT, and holding Class A or B for freight does not create passenger authority.

After you pass the skills test, read the restriction line before you accept a route. If the job is a Class B air-brake transit bus, you need P tested in a Class B passenger vehicle with the brake and transmission type that fleet uses, or you will spend a second skills-test day removing N, M, L, Z, or E.

Book the skills-test vehicle against the job, not against whatever bus is easiest to borrow:

• Match the passenger group (A, B, or C) to the bus you will be paid to drive, or M / N will lock you out.
• Match air brakes to 383.95: pass the air-brake knowledge test, and test in a vehicle that actually has air brakes. Hydraulic-only (no air) produces L. Air-over-hydraulic produces Z and still bars full-air coaches. Full-air skills tests keep L and Z off if knowledge is passed.
• Match transmission: manual if the assignment is manual, or E will bar it.
• If you also need Class A fifth-wheel freight work, do not take the Class A skills test on a pintle hook (O).
• Until the CDL with P is issued, CLP-P still cannot carry the public except the 383.25 list.