Arkansas CDL Requirements Guide

This page summarizes what Arkansas requires of Class A Commercial Learner's Permit (CLP) and Commercial Driver's License (CDL) applicants, with links to the official government sources. Requirements come from Arkansas's licensing agencies and federal regulations; FLO LLC's own training standards appear separately below. Sources were checked on 2026-10-13. Where anything here differs from the agency, the agency controls.

• Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA), Office of Driver Services — issues the CLP and CDL through its revenue offices and sells the CDL-1 test packet.
• Arkansas State Police (ASP), Driver Examination — gives the CDL knowledge and skills tests.

Official Arkansas CDL Manual

Commercial Driver’s License Manual – Modernized Testing System, Version: March 2025 (Arkansas State Police) — published by the state. FLO LLC links to the state's own document; it does not copy or host it.

READ ARKANSAS CDL MANUAL

Opens the official PDF in a new tab. If it does not open, use the state's manual page: Arkansas State Police Driver Examination page (study guides).

Commercial Learner's Permit (CLP) requirements

• You must be 18 or older and hold a valid driver's license issued by Arkansas, the same state that issues the CLP.
• You must pass the general knowledge test (and the other knowledge tests for the vehicle you will drive) that meets federal standards.
• While driving on public roads, a CLP holder must always be accompanied by a valid CDL holder with the proper class and endorsements, physically present in the front seat beside you.
• A CLP is valid for up to 1 year. After it expires you must retake the general and endorsement knowledge tests.
• A CLP is required before the CDL is first issued, and before any upgrade that requires a skills test.

Sources: Arkansas DFA — CLP (Commercial Learner's Permit)

CDL eligibility and age requirements

• Arkansas issues a CLP to applicants who are 18 or older (DFA CLP page).
• Federal rule: a driver must be at least 21 years old to drive a commercial motor vehicle in interstate commerce (49 CFR 391.11(b)(1)).
• Before CDL testing you must hold a valid Arkansas driver's license (ASP Driver Examination page).

Sources: Arkansas DFA — CLP (Commercial Learner's Permit) · Arkansas State Police — Driver Examination · 49 CFR 391.11 — General qualifications of drivers

Interstate versus intrastate driving

• You must decide whether you operate in interstate or intrastate commerce and whether you are excepted or non-excepted, and certify to one of four operation categories. You must recertify your driving type with every license transaction (DFA).
• Federal rule: a driver must be at least 21 years old to drive a commercial motor vehicle in interstate commerce (49 CFR 391.11(b)(1)).
• DFA's MyDMV site can be used to update your self-certification to Type 2 (Excepted Interstate) or Type 4 (Excepted Intrastate) if you are no longer required to hold a medical card.

Sources: Arkansas DFA — Medical Certification/SPE/Waiver and Exemptions · 49 CFR 383.71 — Driver application and certification procedures · 49 CFR 391.11 — General qualifications of drivers

Identity and residency documentation

• To buy the CDL-1 test packet you need a valid Arkansas driver's license and one proof-of-legal-presence document.
• At EACH visit to the testing center you must present your valid Arkansas driver's license, your current CDL-1 form, and your proof-of-legal-presence document.
• If your name has changed, bring a legal document that verifies your name as it appears on your license: a legal name change document, marriage license, divorce decree, or adoption decree.
• ASP notice: if you provide a birth certificate from Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas or Tennessee, you must also provide proof of Arkansas residency (for example an Arkansas lease agreement, mortgage statement, property assessment, or an Arkansas-certified school transcript for the current year).

Sources: Arkansas State Police — Driver Examination

Legal-presence requirements

• Acceptable proof of legal presence listed by the Arkansas State Police: U.S. birth certificate, U.S. passport, Birth Abroad Certificate, Certificate of Citizenship, Certificate of Naturalization, Permanent Resident Card, or Employment Authorization Card (excludes Canada and Mexico).
• Bring your legal-presence document to every testing visit and to your skills test.

Sources: Arkansas State Police — Driver Examination

Medical certification and self-certification

• Every CLP and CDL applicant must self-certify one of four types of commercial driving — non-excepted interstate, excepted interstate, non-excepted intrastate, or excepted intrastate — and non-excepted drivers must provide a current medical examiner's certificate (49 CFR 383.71(b)(1)).
• A CLP or CDL holder in non-excepted interstate or non-excepted intrastate commerce must stay medically examined and certified under 49 CFR Parts 383, 384, 390 and 391 and Ark. Code Ann. § 27-23-129.
• If your medical card expires you are placed in “Not Certified” status; if you do not obtain a new card within 60 days of expiration, your CDL or permit is downgraded and you may not operate a commercial vehicle.
• Non-excepted intrastate drivers may submit a current medical card in person at a revenue office, by email, or by mail (see the DFA page for addresses).
• Drivers with a missing or impaired limb may qualify for the federal Skill Performance Evaluation (SPE) program; federal exemption programs exist for the diabetes, hearing, seizure and vision standards.

Sources: Arkansas DFA — Medical Certification/SPE/Waiver and Exemptions · 49 CFR 383.71 — Driver application and certification procedures

Knowledge examinations required

• Class A applicants take the General Knowledge test and the Combination Vehicles test, plus the Air Brakes test if the vehicle has air brakes (Arkansas CDL Manual, Section 1.1.1). Endorsements require their own tests.
• The CDL written tests are given at ALL Arkansas State Police troop testing sites.
• Federal standard: you must answer at least 80% of the questions correctly to pass each knowledge test (49 CFR 383.135).

Sources: Arkansas State Police — Driver Examination · Arkansas CDL Manual (Version: March 2025)

Steps to obtain the CLP

• 1. Study the official Arkansas CDL Manual (link below).
• 2. Buy a CDL-1 form (test packet) from a DFA revenue office — bring your valid Arkansas driver's license and one proof-of-legal-presence document.
• 3. Schedule your knowledge tests through the Arkansas State Police online scheduler.
• 4. At the testing site, present your driver's license, current CDL-1 form, and proof-of-legal-presence document, and pass the required knowledge tests.
• 5. Self-certify your type of commercial driving and, if you are non-excepted, provide your medical examiner's certificate.
• 6. Obtain your CLP from DFA (Office of Driver Services).

Sources: Arkansas State Police — Driver Examination · Arkansas DFA — Commercial Drivers License (CDL) · Schedule Arkansas State Police knowledge and skills tests

CLP holding period

• Arkansas: a CLP holder is not eligible to take the CDL skills test in the first 14 days after the CLP is first issued (DFA).
• Federal rule: a CLP holder may not take the CDL skills test during the first 14 days after the CLP is first issued (49 CFR 383.25(e)).

Sources: Arkansas DFA — CLP (Commercial Learner's Permit) · 49 CFR 383.25 — Commercial learner's permit

Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) requirements

• Federal Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) applies to anyone obtaining a Class A or Class B CDL for the first time, upgrading to Class A or B, or obtaining a first school bus, passenger or hazardous materials endorsement (49 CFR Part 380, Subpart F).
• ELDT has two parts — theory (classroom/online) and behind-the-wheel (range and public road) — and both must be completed with providers listed on the FMCSA Training Provider Registry, which reports your completion electronically before you may take the skills test.
• The Arkansas State Police directs CDL applicants to check whether ELDT applies to them and to find a training provider on the FMCSA Training Provider Registry.

Sources: Arkansas State Police — Driver Examination · 49 CFR Part 380, Subpart F — Entry-Level Driver Training · FMCSA Training Provider Registry

Behind-the-wheel training requirements

• ELDT behind-the-wheel training must be taken from a behind-the-wheel provider listed on the FMCSA Training Provider Registry, on a range and on public roads, in a vehicle of the class you are training for. The instructor decides when you are proficient; federal rules set no minimum number of hours (49 CFR Part 380, Subpart F, Appendix A).
• FLO LLC's online course is ELDT THEORY only. It does not provide behind-the-wheel training.
• While practicing on public roads with your CLP, an appropriately licensed CDL holder must be in the front seat beside you (DFA).

Sources: Arkansas DFA — CLP (Commercial Learner's Permit) · 49 CFR Part 380, Subpart F — Entry-Level Driver Training · FMCSA Training Provider Registry

Skills examination procedures

• The skills test has three parts taken in order — vehicle inspection, basic vehicle control, and on-road driving — and each must be passed before the next (Arkansas CDL Manual, Section 1.1.2).
• You must have an appointment for skills testing. CDL skills tests are given ONLY at these troop locations: Troop A – Little Rock, Troop B – Newport, Troop G – Hope, Troop I – Harrison, Troop J – Russellville, Troop L – Lowell.
• Bring: proof of legal presence (and marriage license if your name changed), your driver's license, your CLP, your CDL-1 forms, two wheel chocks, and an empty trailer or tank. The CDL holder accompanying you must bring their CDL.
• The vehicle needs a legible DOT inspection sticker less than one year old on the truck and trailer, all safety-critical lights working, every vehicle-inspection item operable, and must pass the air brake test described in the CDL manual.
• If any required item is missing at your appointment time, no test is given (no exceptions).
• Basic control (Modernized test, Manual Section 12): Forward Stop, Straight-Line Backing, Forward Offset Tracking, and Reverse Offset Backing.
• Changes effective October 1, 2025 (ASP): Forward Offset Tracking is one continuous motion without stopping, and for Reverse Offset Backing you must be parallel with the outer boundary before the test starts.
• Military drivers may apply for a possible skills-test exemption with form ASP-262.

Sources: Arkansas State Police — Driver Examination · Arkansas CDL Manual (Version: March 2025) · ASP-262 CDL Skills Test Waiver — Military Application

Licensing office and scheduling resources

• Knowledge and skills test appointments: Arkansas State Police online scheduler.
• Testing times and sites: the ASP Driver Examination page links each troop's testing locations.
• CDL-1 test packets, CLPs and CDLs: Arkansas DFA revenue offices (Office of Driver Services).

Sources: Schedule Arkansas State Police knowledge and skills tests · Arkansas State Police — Driver Examination · Arkansas DFA — Driver Services

Steps to receive your Class A CDL

• 1. Hold your Arkansas CLP for at least 14 days.
• 2. Complete ELDT theory (for example, FLO LLC's online course) and ELDT behind-the-wheel training with providers on the FMCSA Training Provider Registry.
• 3. Schedule and pass the three-part skills test at one of the six CDL skills troop locations.
• 4. Complete the Truckers Against Trafficking certification program and keep your certificate (required for a Class A CDL — see notices below).
• 5. Obtain your Class A CDL from a DFA revenue office, presenting your trafficking-prevention certificate.

Sources: Arkansas State Police — Driver Examination · Arkansas DFA — Commercial Drivers License (CDL) · Arkansas Class A CDL human-trafficking certification notice