Maryland CDL Endorsements: What Each One Means — and What It Costs You
Quick answer: Maryland uses the federal endorsement codes — T (doubles/triples), P (passenger), S (school bus), N (tank), H (hazmat), X (tank + hazmat). Each requires a knowledge test; P and S also require a skills test. But here’s what the licensing guides won’t tell you: your endorsements change how badly a traffic ticket hurts you. An H or X endorsement turns a one-year disqualification into a three-year one.
Endorsements mean more work available and more money. They also mean more exposure — and most drivers have no idea by how much.
I’m David Waranch, and I represent Maryland truck drivers and commercial drivers. I’ll cover what each endorsement is, and then the part that actually matters to me: what happens to it when you get a ticket.
The Six Endorsements
Maryland follows the federal coding in 49 C.F.R. § 383.93:
| Code | What it covers | Tests required |
|---|---|---|
| T | Double or triple trailers | Knowledge |
| P | Passenger vehicles — designed to carry 16 or more people, including the driver | Knowledge + skills |
| S | School buses | Knowledge + skills |
| N | Tank vehicles — individual tanks rated over 119 gallons, aggregate 1,000 gallons or more | Knowledge |
| H | Placarded hazardous materials (non-tank) | Knowledge + TSA background check |
| X | Tank vehicle carrying hazardous materials | Knowledge + TSA background check |
A note on P, because I see this misstated everywhere including on other lawyers’ sites: the threshold is 16 or more including the driver — so fifteen passengers plus you. It is not “over 16.” Get that wrong and you’re operating without the endorsement your vehicle requires, which is an offence in its own right (more on that below).
Only P, S and N can appear on a commercial learner’s permit. Hazmat endorsements require you to be 21 or older and to clear a TSA security threat assessment.
Entry-Level Driver Training (Don’t Skip This)
Since February 2022, federal Entry-Level Driver Training rules apply. If you are seeking an S, P or H endorsement for the first time, you must complete training with a provider listed on the FMCSA’s Training Provider Registry before you can be tested.
This catches people out constantly, because most of the CDL guidance still floating around online was written before the rule existed. If you trained with someone who isn’t on the registry, the test result doesn’t count.
Now the Part Nobody Tells You
Here is why a defence lawyer, not the MVA, should be explaining endorsements to you.
An H or X endorsement triples a DUI disqualification
49 C.F.R. § 383.51, Table 1. A major offence — DUI, refusing the test, or a BAC of 0.04 or more in a CMV — normally disqualifies you for one year.
Commit it while operating a CMV transporting placarded hazardous materials, and it is three years.
Same conduct. Same BAC. Three times the disqualification, because of what was on your trailer. And a second major offence — in any vehicle, at any time — is a lifetime disqualification.
Driving without the right endorsement is itself a disqualifying offence
This is the one people genuinely don’t know. Table 2, item 8 lists as a serious traffic violation: driving a CMV “without the proper class of CLP or CDL and/or endorsements for the specific vehicle group being operated or for the passengers or type of cargo being transported.”
Two serious violations in three years: 60-day disqualification. Three: 120 days.
So the missing endorsement isn’t an administrative slip you can sort out later. It is a countable offence that stacks with your speeding tickets and your lane-change tickets, and it can put you off the road.
Railroad crossings: 60 days on a first conviction
Table 3 is the one that surprises tanker and hazmat drivers, who are required to stop at crossings and therefore encounter this constantly.
A railroad-highway grade crossing violation — failing to slow and check the tracks, failing to stop when required, not having enough space to clear — is a minimum 60-day disqualification on your FIRST conviction. Not your second. Your first. A second within three years is 120 days; a third is a year.
There is no free one. Which is exactly why these tickets have to be fought and never quietly paid.
And a PBJ Will Not Save You
If you hold a CDL, understand this before you walk into court thinking you have an easy out.
Probation before judgment is the outcome that saves most Maryland drivers — no conviction, no points. But 49 C.F.R. § 384.226, the federal anti-masking rule, forbids a state from hiding a CDL holder’s conviction from the driving record. Maryland cannot mask it for you, whatever a judge might be willing to do.
A PBJ does not protect a CDL. Your case has to be won on the merits — dismissed, or tried and beaten — because the usual soft landing isn’t there.
Which is why I say the same thing to every commercial driver who calls me: do not pay that ticket. Paying it is a guilty plea. For you, a guilty plea is a conviction, and a conviction is a countable offence on a federal record that follows you to every carrier you ever apply to.
Related Questions
- How a Maryland traffic ticket threatens your CDL
- What a PBJ is — and why it doesn’t help a commercial driver
- What to do when you get a Maryland traffic ticket
Frequently Asked Questions
How many passengers before I need a P endorsement?
16 or more, counting the driver. So if the vehicle is designed to carry you plus fifteen others, you need it. A lot of sources say “over 16,” and they’re wrong.
Do I need a skills test for every endorsement?
No. Only P (passenger) and S (school bus) require a skills test. T, N, H and X are knowledge tests only — though H and X also require a TSA background check and you must be at least 21.
Does a DUI in my own car affect my CDL?
Yes. A DUI in a non-commercial vehicle — off duty, weekend, your own car — is still a one-year disqualification from operating a CMV. A second one, in any vehicle, is life. The federal rules do not care that you weren’t working.
What’s the BAC limit in a commercial vehicle?
0.04 — half the limit for everyone else. At 0.04 in a CMV you face a one-year disqualification, and three years if you were hauling placarded hazmat.
Can I just pay the ticket and move on?
Please don’t. Paying is pleading guilty. For a CDL holder that becomes a conviction on a federal record, it counts toward your disqualification tally, and it cannot be masked. Call me first — that is the entire reason this page exists.
Take Action
If you’ve been cited and you hold a CDL — any endorsement, any class — call me before your court date and before you pay anything. The margin for error is far smaller than it is for other drivers, and the consequences land on your livelihood, not just your licence.
Toll-free 1-877-566-2408. I represent truck drivers and commercial drivers throughout Maryland. Hablamos Español.
Read the full Maryland CDL and commercial driver guide.
Last updated: July 2026