News

New Military Training Certification shortens Washington CDL issuance

  • Published
  • Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs
OLYMPIA, Wash. --  The Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs and Washington State Department of Licensing have joined forces to help veterans.

As of Nov. 1, getting a commercial drivers license just got easier for military personnel with specialized truck driver training, thanks to the new Military Training Certification Process.

Here's how it works:

WDVA staff will assess the training a military member or veteran received in the military and verify whether it meets the required minimum commercial motor vehicle driver training requirements in Washington State. Once verification is made, a Commercial Drivers Military Training Certificate is provided.

Military member and veteran applicants must pass the applicable knowledge and skills test, pay all basic license and commercial drivers license fees, and present the Commercial Drivers Military Training Certificate to DOL in order to be issued a CDL.

Veterans have one year following their release from the military to take advantage of this new program.

"We often hear of the challenges our men and women in uniform face when they leave the military and try to find jobs that they qualify for," said WDVA program manager Ric Price. "This is a tremendous step forward in removing a financial barrier to a smoother transition from military to civilian employment."

In the past, veterans were required to attend additional and often expensive commercial drivers training programs to learn the skills they had used for years in the military. WDVA's Helmets to Hardhats liaison Todd Mitchell questioned why this training had to be repeated and worked with a number of organizations to develop this new process. Thanks to the hard work of WDVA, DOL, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce, Army Reserve Employer Relations, Washington Trucking Association, Teamsters Union and the Washington Defense Partnership, the transition from a military job to a civilian one will require one less step.

This new program allows WDVA to verify an individual CDL applicant has the required minimum commercial motor vehicle driver training requirements provided and documented by a military service.

"This is another instance of agencies working together to make things more seamless for Washingtonians," said DOL director Liz Luce. "This program is important so that our servicemembers can utilize the training they've received and get right to work in the civilian sector."

For additional information about this new program, contact WDVA at 1-800-562-2308 or contact Ric Price at Ricp@dva.wa.gov