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Class B vs Class A DL in Texas

justdee

Well-known member
Interesting development today at the Texas DPS office getting a new DL.
Long story short, I've had a Texas Class C DL my whole life, up until this past May/June when I went up to Wisconsin to drive AG trucks hauling fertilizer. There I took a test and got a DL with class BCD, this was covering what they call an AG CDL. I had to get a physical just as any CDL driver would be required. When I received that DL from WIS, they voided my Texas DL.
I went today to get my Texas Class C back, nothing else. As she was looking over my WIS DL, she saw the CDL and it began a discussion. She wanted to know if I wanted to keep the CDL rating. I explained to her that it wasn't really a full regulation CDL but this led me to ask her what I would need to be legal driving my 1 ton truck pulling a 5th wheel. I was under the impression I would need a Class A as the trucks GVWR is 12,000 lbs and the 5th wheel is 15,000 lbs, putting me over the 26,001 lbs commonly associated with a Class A.
This stumped her. She went to speak to a superior and to the troopers there in the office. She explained to them I wanted to do and the weights that would be in play. The troopers told her since it was a 'personal use' vehicle, not commercial, that all they would require of me if stopped on the highway would be a Class B.
She then called the DMV, which is a separate division and they told her I would need a Class A. That muddied the water.
Bottom line, for today, she went off what her superiors and the troopers told her. I walked out with a Class B since I was tested in WIS for a B and AG CDL.
When I inquired about the requirements for obtaining a Class A, should I go that route, she gave me that information. The study material is in Chapter 6 and has 20 questions, I have to get 16 right. Then I schedule a driving test with my truck and RV at a DPS office.
According to her, and her co-workers, the Class B is all I need.
Thoughts? Experiences you may have had with troopers?
 

exps01

Well-known member
Reading the DPS guidelines, you'd need a class A due to the weights. What push it into class A vs class B is the GCWR is 27,000 lbs (exceeding 26,001 limit) and the individual vehicles' GVWR is 12,000 and 15,000 pounds (exceeding 10,000 limit individually). I think if it was a motorhome, a class B would suffice as it's a single vehicle and any toad would likely be under 10,000 GVWR. I'm specifically looking at numbers' 1 and 2 under the class A and B requirements. Class C would be insufficient in both cases.

I'm not from Texas, so don't have personal experience. I was just curious and read the DPS website and CDL handbook guidelines and that's the way I read it.
 

justdee

Well-known member
I should have included this document. She had me fill it out and to check box 4. Non-CDL Exempt Vehicles.
 

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