Tennessee CDL School Insurance

Tennessee's dual approval: TDSHS and THEC

Tennessee runs commercial driver training school licensing through two separate state agencies, and a school needs both. The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDSHS) licenses commercial driver training schools directly under Tenn. Code Ann. Title 55, Chapter 19 (Sections 55-19-101 through 55-19-112). Separately, because a CDL school is a private postsecondary institution, it also needs authorization from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC)'s Division of Postsecondary State Authorization, under Tenn. Code Ann. §49-7-2006 and THEC's own Rule Chapter 1540-01-02. THEC school and agent authorizations. Missing either approval is a genuinely common way for an otherwise well-run Tennessee school to be out of compliance without realizing it.

License fees, and what we couldn't verify about Tennessee's bond

TDSHS charges $25 for an original or renewal commercial driver training school license, and $5 for an instructor's license, under Tenn. Code Ann. §55-19-110.

The commissioner has rulemaking authority over school licensing standards under §55-19-106, but we were not able to confirm a specific published bond dollar figure for the TDSHS school license in the primary statute text during this research pass. THEC's own state-authorization standard, meanwhile, is written in general terms (educational quality, administrative standards, qualified staff, financial stability) rather than as a fixed dollar figure. Confirm the current bond and financial-stability requirements directly with TDSHS and THEC. We verify them as part of every Tennessee placement rather than publishing a number we can't source.

Third-party CDL skills testing in Tennessee

Tennessee authorizes third-party CDL skills testing under Tenn. Code Ann. §55-50-415: a third-party skill test company has to maintain a bond in an amount the department determines sufficient to cover the cost of retesting drivers if the company or one of its examiners is involved in fraud. Government entities are exempt from that bonding requirement. The statute doesn't fix a specific dollar figure itself; the department sets the amount administratively. We've seen a bond figure advertised on surety-bond marketing sites, but since that number doesn't appear in the statute or rule text we reviewed, we're not publishing it here. Confirm the current amount directly with TDSHS before applying.

The ELDT and Training Provider Registry baseline

Regardless of TDSHS or THEC status, every Tennessee CDL school also has to meet the federal entry-level driver training rule. 49 CFR Part 380, Subpart F sets the curriculum; Subpart G governs Training Provider Registry listing, continued listing, and removal, with a three-year record retention requirement and 48-hour production on request. Our ELDT and Training Provider Registry guide walks through what that means operationally.

Workforce funding: WIOA in Tennessee

Tennessee CDL programs on a regional WIOA Eligible Training Provider List operate under 20 CFR Part 680, Subpart D, reporting performance and completion data at least every two years under §680.490. Starting July 1, 2026, the Workforce Pell Grant program raises the bar further for short-term programs between 150 and 599 clock hours: a 70% completion rate and a 70% job-placement rate within 180 days to keep Title IV eligibility, per ED.gov's final rule. We did not find a Tennessee-specific state workforce grant program with its own published figures in this research pass; check with your local American Job Center for current options.

Coverage a Tennessee CDL school needs

Running two separate state approvals means a Tennessee school's insurance submission has to speak to two different risk profiles at once: TDSHS evaluates it as a commercial driver training operation, and THEC evaluates it as a postsecondary institution with a financial-stability standard to meet. Beyond that, the coverage itself doesn't change much from state to state: commercial auto liability and physical damage on the actual training fleet, general liability for range and yard operations, professional liability or E&O for the instruction itself, workers' compensation under NCCI class code 7380 for behind-the-wheel instructors, and sexual abuse and molestation coverage given the one-on-one, extended-duration nature of in-cab instruction. Carrier hiring partners, colleges, and workforce boards frequently add their own certificate-of-insurance and additional-insured requirements on top of whatever TDSHS and THEC set, and keeping all of that paperwork current across separate renewal cycles becomes its own operational task.

We consider every program and market that writes this class, and we're part of a nationwide transportation insurance team.