Section 4506.01 | Commercial driver's licensing definitions.

• Effective: June 30, 2023
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 23 - 135th General Assembly

As used in this chapter:

(A) "Alcohol concentration" means the concentration of alcohol in a person's blood, breath, or urine. When expressed as a percentage, it means grams of alcohol per the following:

(1) One hundred milliliters of whole blood, blood serum, or blood plasma;

(2) Two hundred ten liters of breath;

(3) One hundred milliliters of urine.

(B)(1) "Commercial driver's license" means a license issued in accordance with this chapter that authorizes an individual to drive a commercial motor vehicle. Except as otherwise specifically provided, "commercial driver's license" includes an "enhanced commercial driver's license."

(2) "Enhanced commercial driver's license" means a commercial driver's license issued in accordance with sections 4507.021 and 4506.072 of the Revised Code that denotes citizenship and identity and is approved by the United States secretary of homeland security or other designated federal agency for purposes of entering the United States.

(C) "Commercial driver's license information system" means the information system established pursuant to the requirements of the "Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986," 100 Stat. 3207-171, 49 U.S.C.A. App. 2701.

(D) Except when used in section 4506.25 of the Revised Code, "commercial motor vehicle" means any motor vehicle designed or used to transport persons or property that meets any of the following qualifications:

(1) Any combination of vehicles with a gross vehicle weight or combined gross vehicle weight rating of twenty-six thousand one pounds or more, provided the gross vehicle weight or gross vehicle weight rating of the vehicle or vehicles being towed is in excess of ten thousand pounds;

(2) Any single vehicle with a gross vehicle weight or gross vehicle weight rating of twenty-six thousand one pounds or more;

(3) Any single vehicle or combination of vehicles that is not a class A or class B vehicle, but is designed to transport sixteen or more passengers including the driver;

(4) Any school bus with a gross vehicle weight or gross vehicle weight rating of less than twenty-six thousand one pounds that is designed to transport fewer than sixteen passengers including the driver;

(5) Is transporting hazardous materials for which placarding is required under subpart F of 49 C.F.R. part 172, as amended;

(6) Any single vehicle or combination of vehicles that is designed to be operated and to travel on a public street or highway and is considered by the federal motor carrier safety administration to be a commercial motor vehicle, including, but not limited to, a motorized crane, a vehicle whose function is to pump cement, a rig for drilling wells, and a portable crane.

(E) "Controlled substance" means all of the following:

(1) Any substance classified as a controlled substance under the "Controlled Substances Act," 80 Stat. 1242 (1970), 21 U.S.C.A. 802(6), as amended;

(2) Any substance included in schedules I through V of 21 C.F.R. part 1308, as amended;

(3) Any drug of abuse.

(F) "Conviction" means an unvacated adjudication of guilt or a determination that a person has violated or failed to comply with the law in a court of original jurisdiction or an authorized administrative tribunal, an unvacated forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure the person's appearance in court, a plea of guilty or nolo contendere accepted by the court, the payment of a fine or court cost, or violation of a condition of release without bail, regardless of whether or not the penalty is rebated, suspended, or probated.

(G) "Disqualification" means any of the following:

(1) The suspension, revocation, or cancellation of a person's privileges to operate a commercial motor vehicle;

(2) Any withdrawal of a person's privileges to operate a commercial motor vehicle as the result of a violation of state or local law relating to motor vehicle traffic control other than parking, vehicle weight, or vehicle defect violations;

(3) A determination by the federal motor carrier safety administration that a person is not qualified to operate a commercial motor vehicle under 49 C.F.R. 391.

(H) "Domiciled" means having a true, fixed, principal, and permanent residence to which an individual intends to return.

(I) "Downgrade" means any of the following, as applicable:

(1) A change in the commercial driver's license, or commercial driver's license temporary instruction permit, holder's self-certified status as described in division (A)(1) of section 4506.10 of the Revised Code;

(2) A change to a lesser class of vehicle;

(3) Removal of commercial driver's license privileges from the individual's driver's license.

(J) "Drive" means to drive, operate, or be in physical control of a motor vehicle.

(K) "Driver" means any person who drives, operates, or is in physical control of a commercial motor vehicle or is required to have a commercial driver's license.

(L) "Driver's license" means a license issued by the bureau of motor vehicles that authorizes an individual to drive.

(M) "Drug of abuse" means any controlled substance, dangerous drug as defined in section 4729.01 of the Revised Code, harmful intoxicant as defined in section 2925.01 of the Revised Code, or over-the-counter medication that, when taken in quantities exceeding the recommended dosage, can result in impairment of judgment or reflexes.

(N) "Electronic device" includes a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant, a pager, a computer, and any other device used to input, write, send, receive, or read text.

(O) "Eligible unit of local government" means a village, township, or county that has a population of not more than three thousand persons according to the most recent federal census.

(P) "Employer" means any person, including the federal government, any state, and a political subdivision of any state, that owns or leases a commercial motor vehicle or assigns a person to drive such a motor vehicle.

(Q) "Endorsement" means an authorization on a person's commercial driver's license that is required to permit the person to operate a specified type of commercial motor vehicle.

(R) "Farm truck" means a truck controlled and operated by a farmer for use in the transportation to or from a farm, for a distance of not more than one hundred fifty miles, of products of the farm, including livestock and its products, poultry and its products, floricultural and horticultural products, and in the transportation to the farm, from a distance of not more than one hundred fifty miles, of supplies for the farm, including tile, fence, and every other thing or commodity used in agricultural, floricultural, horticultural, livestock, and poultry production, and livestock, poultry, and other animals and things used for breeding, feeding, or other purposes connected with the operation of the farm, when the truck is operated in accordance with this division and is not used in the operations of a motor carrier, as defined in section 4923.01 of the Revised Code.

(S) "Fatality" means the death of a person as the result of a motor vehicle accident occurring not more than three hundred sixty-five days prior to the date of death.

(T) "Felony" means any offense under federal or state law that is punishable by death or specifically classified as a felony under the law of this state, regardless of the penalty that may be imposed.

(U) "Foreign jurisdiction" means any jurisdiction other than a state.

(V) "Gross vehicle weight rating" means the value specified by the manufacturer as the maximum loaded weight of a single or a combination vehicle. The gross vehicle weight rating of a combination vehicle is the gross vehicle weight rating of the power unit plus the gross vehicle weight rating of each towed unit.

(W) "Hazardous materials" means any material that has been designated as hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103 and is required to be placarded under subpart F of 49 C.F.R. part 172 or any quantity of a material listed as a select agent or toxin in 42 C.F.R. part 73, as amended.

(X) "Imminent hazard" means the existence of a condition that presents a substantial likelihood that death, serious illness, severe personal injury, or a substantial endangerment to health, property, or the environment may occur before the reasonably foreseeable completion date of a formal proceeding begun to lessen the risk of that death, illness, injury, or endangerment.

(Y) "Medical variance" means one of the following received by a driver from the federal motor carrier safety administration that allows the driver to be issued a medical certificate:

(1) An exemption letter permitting operation of a commercial motor vehicle under 49 C.F.R. 381, subpart C or 49 C.F.R. 391.64;

(2) A skill performance evaluation certificate permitting operation of a commercial motor vehicle pursuant to 49 C.F.R. 391.49.

(Z) "Mobile telephone" means a mobile communication device that falls under or uses any commercial mobile radio service as defined in 47 C.F.R. 20, except that mobile telephone does not include two-way or citizens band radio services.

(AA) "Motor vehicle" means a vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer, or semitrailer propelled or drawn by mechanical power used on highways, except that such term does not include a vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer, or semitrailer operated exclusively on a rail.

(BB) "Out-of-service order" means a declaration by an authorized enforcement officer of a federal, state, local, Canadian, or Mexican jurisdiction declaring that a driver, commercial motor vehicle, or commercial motor carrier operation is out of service as defined in 49 C.F.R. 390.5.

(CC) "Peace officer" has the same meaning as in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code.

(DD) "Portable tank" means a liquid or gaseous packaging designed primarily to be loaded onto or temporarily attached to a vehicle and equipped with skids, mountings, or accessories to facilitate handling of the tank by mechanical means.

(EE) "Public safety vehicle" has the same meaning as in divisions (E)(1) and (3) of section 4511.01 of the Revised Code.

(FF) "Recreational vehicle" includes every vehicle that is defined as a recreational vehicle in section 4501.01 of the Revised Code and is used exclusively for purposes other than engaging in business for profit.

(GG) "Residence" means any person's residence determined in accordance with standards prescribed in rules adopted by the registrar.

(HH) "School bus" has the same meaning as in section 4511.01 of the Revised Code.

(II) "Serious traffic violation" means any of the following:

(1) A conviction arising from a single charge of operating a commercial motor vehicle in violation of any provision of section 4506.03 of the Revised Code;

(2)(a) Except as provided in division (II)(2)(b) of this section, a violation while operating a commercial motor vehicle of a law of this state, or any municipal ordinance or county or township resolution, or any other substantially similar law of another state or political subdivision of another state prohibiting either of the following:

(i) Texting while driving;

(ii) Using a handheld mobile telephone.

(b) It is not a serious traffic violation if the person was texting or using a handheld mobile telephone to contact law enforcement or other emergency services.

(3) A conviction arising from the operation of any motor vehicle that involves any of the following:

(a) A single charge of any speed in excess of the posted speed limit by fifteen miles per hour or more;

(b) Violation of section 4511.20 or 4511.201 of the Revised Code or any similar ordinance or resolution, or of any similar law of another state or political subdivision of another state;

(c) Violation of a law of this state or an ordinance or resolution relating to traffic control, other than a parking violation, or of any similar law of another state or political subdivision of another state, that results in a fatal accident;

(d) Violation of section 4506.03 of the Revised Code or a substantially similar municipal ordinance or county or township resolution, or of any similar law of another state or political subdivision of another state, that involves the operation of a commercial motor vehicle without a valid commercial driver's license with the proper class or endorsement for the specific vehicle group being operated or for the passengers or type of cargo being transported;

(e) Violation of section 4506.03 of the Revised Code or a substantially similar municipal ordinance or county or township resolution, or of any similar law of another state or political subdivision of another state, that involves the operation of a commercial motor vehicle without a valid commercial driver's license being in the person's possession;

(f) Violation of section 4511.33 or 4511.34 of the Revised Code, or any municipal ordinance or county or township resolution substantially similar to either of those sections, or any substantially similar law of another state or political subdivision of another state;

(g) Violation of any other law of this state, any law of another state, or any ordinance or resolution of a political subdivision of this state or another state that meets both of the following requirements:

(i) It relates to traffic control, other than a parking violation;

(ii) It is determined to be a serious traffic violation by the United States secretary of transportation and is designated by the director as such by rule.

(JJ) "State" means a state of the United States and includes the District of Columbia.

(KK) "Tank vehicle" means any commercial motor vehicle that is designed to transport any liquid or gaseous materials within a tank or tanks that are either permanently or temporarily attached to the vehicle or its chassis and have an individual rated capacity of more than one hundred nineteen gallons and an aggregate rated capacity of one thousand gallons or more. "Tank vehicle" does not include a commercial motor vehicle transporting an empty storage container tank that is not designed for transportation, has a rated capacity of one thousand gallons or more, and is temporarily attached to a flatbed trailer.

(LL) "Tester" means a person or entity acting pursuant to a valid agreement entered into pursuant to division (B) of section 4506.09 of the Revised Code.

(MM) "Texting" means manually entering alphanumeric text into, or reading text from, an electronic device. Texting includes short message service, e-mail, instant messaging, a command or request to access a world wide web page, pressing more than a single button to initiate or terminate a voice communication using a mobile telephone, or engaging in any other form of electronic text retrieval or entry, for present or future communication. Texting does not include the following:

(1) Using voice commands to initiate, receive, or terminate a voice communication using a mobile telephone;

(2) Inputting, selecting, or reading information on a global positioning system or navigation system;

(3) Pressing a single button to initiate or terminate a voice communication using a mobile telephone; or

(4) Using, for a purpose that is not otherwise prohibited by law, a device capable of performing multiple functions, such as a fleet management system, a dispatching device, a mobile telephone, a citizens band radio, or a music player.

(NN) "Texting while driving" means texting while operating a commercial motor vehicle, with the motor running, including while temporarily stationary because of traffic, a traffic control device, or other momentary delays. Texting while driving does not include operating a commercial motor vehicle with or without the motor running when the driver has moved the vehicle to the side of, or off, a highway and is stopped in a location where the vehicle can safely remain stationary.

(OO) "United States" means the fifty states and the District of Columbia.

(PP) "Upgrade" means a change in the class of vehicles, endorsements, or self-certified status as described in division (A)(1) of section 4506.10 of the Revised Code, that expands the ability of a current commercial driver's license holder to operate commercial motor vehicles under this chapter;

(QQ) "Use of a handheld mobile telephone" means:

(1) Using at least one hand to hold a mobile telephone to conduct a voice communication;

(2) Dialing or answering a mobile telephone by pressing more than a single button; or

(3) Reaching for a mobile telephone in a manner that requires a driver to maneuver so that the driver is no longer in a seated driving position, or restrained by a seat belt that is installed in accordance with 49 C.F.R. 393.93 and adjusted in accordance with the vehicle manufacturer's instructions.

(RR) "Vehicle" has the same meaning as in section 4511.01 of the Revised Code.

Last updated April 27, 2023 at 3:14 PM

Available Versions of this Section

• June 11, 2012 – House Bill 487 - 129th General Assembly
• July 1, 2015 – House Bill 53 - 131st General Assembly
• April 4, 2023 – Amended by Senate Bill 288 - 134th General Assembly
• June 30, 2023 – Amended by House Bill 23 - 135th General Assembly