CDL and mailing addresses for TX

[Tiana]

Hello all. We are getting ready to go full-time and are currently living in Michigan. My thought when we made that jump was to change our address to the escapees address in Texas or use one of my family member’s address in Texas. 
However I just found out that per Texas law if your truck and camper are over 26,000 pounds (which we will be) you need a class A CDL. 
My question is while we are on the road and using an address in Texas for mail, do we have to update our drivers licenses to that Texas address? If so think my husband will have to apply for a CDL or we will need to find a different mail solution.

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by Tiana

[Darryl&Rita]

You don't need a CDL. You need a Class A "Exempt". Others will be along to flesh out the details, as I'm not familiar enough with the Texas requirements.

[TXiceman]

The Texas requirement for a truck and trailer is to add the GVWR of the truck and the trailer.  If 26,001# or more, and you are towing over 10,000# you will need a Class A Exempt or non-commercial license.  It is not hard to get as you will need to test over 30 questions from a couple of chapters from the CDL handbook.  Then you schedule a driving test with the truck and trailer.  The testing person will give your rig a safety inspection, and you take a 15-to-30-minute test drive.  You need to have the Texas registration and insurance card for the vehicle.  It is one of those things if you cannot pass the test, you need to hang up the keys.  My wife also drives the rig and has a class A license.

If you are towing under 10,000#, you need a class B as is the case of a larger motorhome.

To add more to the confusion, Texas requires a yearly safety inspection by a testing station for the truck and trailer.  You can register the rig online each year by self-certifying that you are out of state and getting the license stickers.  Then when you are back in Texas, get the rig inspected within 72 hours of your return.  We do this often and have zero issues.

It is not really a reason to avoid setting up your address in Texas.

Ken

[Danfreda1]

If your not stuck on having a Texas address look at getting an address through escapees in South Dakota. A regular drivers license is all you need. No yearly inspections

[sandsys]

2 hours ago, Danfreda1 said:

If your not stuck on having a Texas address look at getting an address through escapees in South Dakota. A regular drivers license is all you need. No yearly inspections

But, do consider things beyond driver and vehicle licensing. Insurance is where many people get stuck. Inheritance laws get some others. Etc.

Linda

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, sandsys said:

But, do consider things beyond driver and vehicle licensing.

A very important statement! We used to have a a frequent poster who chose his domicile due to common law marriage laws. Interestingly, after several years of traveling together they did marry and remain so today, although no longer RVing. But his situation brought home to me the importance of researching each place that you consider before making the change. 

[Danfreda1]

10 hours ago, sandsys said:

But, do consider things beyond driver and vehicle licensing. Insurance is where many people get stuck. Inheritance laws get some others. Etc.

Linda

We did consider all aspects of it and hopefully anyone considering their domicile does as well. 

[Jinx & Wayne]

On 2/13/2022 at 5:02 PM, Tiana said:

My question is while we are on the road and using an address in Texas for mail, do we have to update our drivers licenses to that Texas address? If so think my husband will have to apply for a CDL or we will need to find a different mail solution.

It depends upon what you mean by "using" an address in TX. The real issue for licensing is your domicile. Domicile is your legal state of residency. Your mailing address may not be the same as your domicile. I am domiciled at the Escapees park in Bushnell, FL. I have a Florida license and health insurance. The only mail that goes to my domicile is official mail from the State of Florida. The park forwards it to my mailing address. My mailing address is the Escapees mail service in Livingston, TX. The domicile controls my driver license requirements. My mailing address has no effect on licensing.

Wayne & Jinx
2017 F-350 diesel, dually
2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

[gjhunter01]

As full timers we also started out using a relatives address in Texas, but that soon became a PITA (opened financial statements). We then joined Escapees and it was well worth it. Also from Michigan, we had to pay sales tax again on our transferred vehicles and trailer when we registered to Texas. Since then we just fill out the "out of state form" to get out of the yearly inspection. The form is available during the on-line vehicle yearly registration. For the last 4 winters we have even spent 4-5 months in Texas and have never been check for not having inspections for the motorcycle or truck. I understand the first stop is just a warning.

I transferred my MI CDL to Tx and it was pretty easy, no testing required. Recently I added a "S" endorsement to drive a school bus and that required taking the entire CDL test over again along with the written test and driving test. It really was not too bad, just read the test manuals and watch the driving videos a couple of times. I passed it the first try. Each test is 20 questions long, CDL, Air Brake, Double Trailers, Tanker, P for passenger, and S for school bus, I took them all just in case I need them. I do need a medical physical every 2 years to keep the CDL.

Edited March 14, 2022 by gjhunter01

[packnrat]

heck even here in ca not a problem.

i have been using a po box for decades. and some years back i decided to add on a motorcycle.

i only read the hand book for the bikes. passed all the truck, car and motorcycle testing in one shot. i was not expecting to do more than the motorcycle test...must have been ten pages of testing for me.

mine is a class A, CDL, so added pages for all my endorsements. none CDL, no endorsement testing needed.

[Kirk W]

9 hours ago, packnrat said:

i have been using a po box for decades.

I would bet that if you look on your driver's license you will find that it doesn't use that PO box address.  The following is taken from DMV.CA.GOV

You may use a PO box for your mailing address; however, you must provide a residence address when your COA includes your DL/ID card.

[Barbaraok]

So Tiana, what did you decide to do?

 

Edited March 17, 2022 by Barbaraok

[packnrat]

On 3/17/2022 at 5:27 AM, Kirk W said:

I would bet that if you look on your driver's license you will find that it doesn't use that PO box address.  The following is taken from DMV.CA.GOV

You may use a PO box for your mailing address; however, you must provide a residence address when your COA includes your DL/ID card.

nope.

i am not sure as to what i tell them. but the state knows everything about me. i am sure they have my street addy, but all mailings go to my po box. (dl, reg, etc). not the street addy.

all my reg papers have the po box, not the street address on them.

my class A cdl has my po box number printed on it, not my street address.

 

if anybody were to steal my mail. truck, one of my bikes, or just pick my pocket, they can only find my po box number. not my home address, but then on all reg paperwork kept in the (truck, bike, trailer) the address is (everything but my name, and state required identifier info.) whited out. the state has this info, and i do not wish to give it out to a thief.

[LindaH]

On 3/17/2022 at 7:20 AM, Barbaraok said:

So Tiana, what did you decide to do?

 

The OP has not returned since she posted her question.  It would be nice if posters who ask a question would at least return to let us know if anything others took the time to post helped.

[2gypsies]

5 hours ago, LindaH said:

The OP has not returned since she posted her question.  It would be nice if posters who ask a question would at least return to let us know if anything others took the time to post helped.

I totally agree. Posts go on and on an repeat themselves with suggestions not knowing what the OP decided and if anything helped them.

[gjhunter01]

On 3/17/2022 at 9:20 AM, Barbaraok said:

So Tiana, what did you decide to do?

 

It should not matter if the OP ever responds to this or any forum. The post alone has been beneficial and provided info to it's many readers.