What if your medical certificate expires?

I know in Ca. and Az. if your medical expires your license is downgraded, but if you renew the medical with-in 1 year, it will be upgraded back to a CDL. If over 1 year, you start from scratch.

 

@Allow Me. is probably right. I just always assumed that as long as you held the Class A (card), you could renew & get that status reinstated. But, if you didn't renew & your license expired & you renewed to a class D, you would have to retake the tests etc, & qualify for your Class A again. And, every state may be different. I don't know. There may very well be a time limit on it rather than actual renewal time every 4 years or so.

Hopefully someone else will come along with some solid advice.

 

There are actually 2 "Excepted" categories. "Excepted Intrastate" and "Excepted Interstate". Either one will work to allow you to keep your CDL. I didn't drive for seven years and kept my license active by self certifying "Excepted Interstate" even though a license renewal. When I was ready to go back driving, I just got a new physical and self certified normal interstate driving.


Interstate Commerce:

• You operate in excepted interstate commerce when you drive a CMV in interstate commerce only for the following excepted activities:
  • To transport school children and/or school staff between home and school
  • As Federal, State or local government employees
  • To transport human corpses or sick or injured persons
  • Fire truck or rescue vehicle drivers during emergencies and other related activities
  • Primarily in the transportation of propane winter heating fuel when responding to an emergency condition requiring immediate response such as damage to a propane gas system after a storm or flooding
  • In response to a pipeline emergency condition requiring immediate response such as a pipeline leak or rupture
  • In custom harvesting on a farm or to transport farm machinery and supplies used in the custom harvesting operation to and from a farm or to transport custom harvested crops to storage or market
  • Beekeeper in the seasonal transportation of bees
  • Controlled and operated by a farmer, but is not a combination vehicle (power unit and towed unit), and is used to transport agricultural products, farm machinery or farm supplies (no placard-able hazardous materials) to and from a farm and within 150 air-miles of the farm
  • As a private motor carrier of passengers for non-business purposes
  • To transport migrant workers
• 
  
• Intrastate Commerce:

• You operate in excepted intrastate commerce when you drive a CMV only in intrastate commerce activities which your State of licensure has determined do not require you to meet the State’s medical certification requirements.