Three new laws went into effect July 1 designed to make the licensing process smoother through the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and its partners by expanding commercial driver’s license testing providers, removing the wait time and fee for retesting and extending the validity of the CDL skills test certification.

DMV certifies government third parties to enable these organizations to conduct the CDL skills tests for the applicants they employ or train on site, saving them a trip to DMV.

Under the first new law, these certified third-party testers will also be able to test people enrolled in a CDL training course offered by a community college or those employed or trained by another government entity, such as a local school system.

This change offers more options for CDL testing, particularly for high-demand school bus driver positions.

With the second new law, applicants 18 years of age and older who need to retake the driver’s license or CDL knowledge exam no lon...