cfesting,
I'm curious to what the Air Brake Restriction would be, in your research, for regular truck use?
Bill
No biggie! All the Air Brake Restriction says is "I won't drive a vehicle with Air Brakes". Let's say you are driving a little E350 for some company that carries haz-mat like an oxygen home health care outfit. You need a CDL for haz-mat no matter what. So, you get a class C CDL with an H endorsement and an "X" (forgot what the letter really is) letter that is also listed with the endorsements - while H says "yes" to Haz mat (and P says "yes" for passenger bus, etc) the X says "no" to air brakes.
In VA they want you to have a CDL if you have air brakes... say your car had air brakes, irregardless of weight you'd need a CDL to drive it.
Otherwise it's 26,000 lb before needing a CDL in VA.
Grigg
Grigg's statement is for the most part how it works in NY. This is why I looked for a GMC 350 COE (no air brakes - I do not think the hydrovac air-assist counts).
Vehicles Requiring Commercial Driver’s Licenses
Drivers must hold CDLs if they operate in interstate, intrastate, or foreign commerce and drive a vehicle:
* With a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) or Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) of at least 26,001 pounds, whichever is greater, or a lesser GVWR or GVW the Secretary of Transportation prescribes by regulation, but not less than a GVWR of 10,001 pounds; or
* Designed to transport at least 16 passengers including the driver; or
* Transporting a quantity of hazardous materials requiring placarding.
Air brake restrictions
If an applicant fails the air brake section of the knowledge test, or performs the skills test in a vehicle not equipped with air brakes, his/her CDL, if issued, will indicate that the license holder may not operate any CMV equipped with air brakes. Note: For the purposes of the skills test and the license restriction, air brakes include any braking system that operates fully or partially on the air brake principle.https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/operating/osss/truck/driverI dunno, tclederman, read that all again. That last sentence makes me think that air assist IS an air brake vehicle in the eyes of the law. If a GMC 350 COE is under 26K# and was a true hydrolic (and you aren't calling it a recreational vehicle) then you would not need a CDL.
Most of this all became "federalized" sometime in the late 80s (?) when the chauffer license went away.
I apologize if I misread or misunderstood a question - must admit I am multitasking.