If it's still registered/tagged as a bus you will need a class B CDL. If it still has passenger seats you will need a class B CDL, with a passenger endorsement.When it's registered/titled/tagged as an RV, you would be fine to drive it with a regular drivers license.I have a class B with passenger endorsement. Don't need it to drive my current bus - it's a motor home and registered/tagged as such. But, I keep it since there may be a day I see a seated coach I want to buy and then I'll need the CDL to be able to get it home.
You need to check with your Indiana state DMV. It could be easy (like it was for me in Texas) or a difficult adventure to get it classified as a motor home. Be prepared to be on the phone for quite a while. Your query will befuddle just about every civil servant you talk to. Take notes and you may have to call back and start over with someone else and carefully rephrase your questions until you get some satisfactory answers to get your rig classified as an RV. Emphasize with the guy on the phone it will never be a bus again, never be a commercial vehicle again. It will be an RV for you and your wife to sit by at the most beautiful National Parks in the USA. Be diligent. You can make it happen. David
Ken, what year is your bus? (Incidentally, get in the habit of calling it your RV or Motorhome, NEVER refer to it at the DMV as a Bus) In many states, after 25 years it is eligible for Historic tags and can then be driven on a regular driver's license. A useful little dodge. Mine's a '96 so it becomes eligible the first of the year and for that reason I've held off on registering it. Changing the registration status from bus to RV can be tricky.Yours is the 40ft one? What year, what condition, and where are you located?Jim
That makes a lot of sense. Guess I'll be getting a CDL in the interim.
Collector or Historical plates usually have defined restrictions in the vehicle's use, in exchange for the often discounted licensing fee. Same for the insurance programs that go with this.
At least in Commifornia, if you have a 3 axle house car that is up to 40ft long, you can drive it with a Class C license-and pull up to a 10,000lb trailer behind. Doesn't matter if it is Diesel, or has air brakes. But over 40ft, you need a class B non commercial license and you're (theoretically) restricted to truck routes. Do figure! Good Luck, TomC