Contact: Office of Public Affairs
2415 First Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95818
(916) 657–6437 | dmvpublicaffairs@dmv.ca.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 4, 2020
Latest digital option for transactions that previously required an office visit
Sacramento – The California Department of Motor Vehicles is now offering commercial driver’s license renewals online with the launch of the newest service on the DMV website. Eligible commercial drivers can now avoid a trip to a DMV office by renewing their license on the online services page.
Renewing a commercial driver’s license previously required a visit to a DMV office. The DMV processes an average of 170,000 commercial license renewals every year. While most commercial drivers can now renew their driver’s license online, those who are required to take a test or who do not have a clean driver record are not eligible to renew online and must come to a field office to renew their license.
“This new online service is one more way we are making it easier on the commercial drivers who move essential goods throughout the state,” DMV Director Steve Gordon said.
The DMV has offered online renewals for eligible noncommercial driver’s licenses for many years, but the additional requirements for commercial drivers had made an office visit necessary for those license renewals. Thanks to its ongoing modernization efforts, the DMV now has the technological capability to complete the transaction without an in-person visit. Eligible commercial drivers can upload the necessary documents, pay the required fee by credit or debit card, and then receive their new card within a few weeks.
Offering online renewals is the latest innovation to help California’s commercial drivers. In the past few months, the DMV began offering new online options for commercial drivers to submit medical certificate updates and request a free temporary paper extension for an expiring license. The DMV also recently launched motor carrier permit renewals online – streamlining the process to shorten the time thousands of California businesses must wait to receive their new permits, which are required for numerous transportation and commercial activities in California.
The DMV continues to recommend that customers use its online services, expanded virtual services and other service channels to complete transactions, including eligible driver license and vehicle registration renewals. Customers can use the Service Advisor on the DMV website to learn their options to complete DMV tasks.