Michael: Days and Dazed at the DMV

The taste of colors
Swirls in bubbles on the tongue
Like party balloons.

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

As a job requirement I need a CDL (Commercial Driver’s License); one with an endorsement for a passenger van. I wish this wouldn’t have entailed numerous trips to the DMV, but it has and it’s ongoing. Here’s how the process has worked for me, and in some instances, worked against me.

First off, you don’t get the license all at once. You start with a medical clearance,  then present all sorts of I.D., next takewritten tests, and finish with driving and vehicle inspection tests.

Initially, you get a permit and after two weeks and before 6 months are up, you make an appointment for the driving and vehicle inspection tests. This is where a careful reading of the newspaper print handbook becomes essential. And this is where the beginning of the bureaucracy and I parted company.

Since there was a small section listing the permit requirements, I thought I wouldn’t need all the documents for the full CDL up front. One of these documents is a S.S. card. Mine was in storage in Irvine. I needed it, along with a passport, and proof of residence. One visit down; how many more to go?

Yesterday, I returned with all the required documents, but for some reason, the clerk also asked me for my current vehicle registration, which they did not ask Kimme for, although we are both applying for the CDL. That was in the car, so no problem.

What was a problem was the DMV system going down just as it notified me that I had passed two of the required tests; the General Information CDL test and the Air Brake test. Are my results in the system or not? That’s the cliffhanger I’m in now. I was told I could wait but it could be between 2-4 hours before the system came back on-line. I decided to go home and come back tomorrow. Visit two to the DMV down.

And now again where I goofed. If I would’ve read carefully I would’ve realized I needed to take another test - the Passenger Endorsement test. I read where if you take the driving test with a van that holds less than 15 persons you’ll receive an exclusion on your license limiting you to 15 passengers or less, but I should’ve noted in a few paragraphs above, that a vehicle that seats 10 or more people requires a Passenger Endorsement qualifier on the CDL. Can I make note of this when I find out whether my tests are in the system?; will I need to start the whole process over?; may I amend now?; or is there a time frame I can do this in so I could possibly amend my application when I do the inspection and driving test?

All these and more confusing details are bound to ensue on my next, and sadly not, final visit to the DMV.