How to transfer your Truck driver licence to Illinois (2026)

Truck driver work in Illinois is licensed at state level, by the Illinois driver licence agency. Illinois gives new residents 30 days to transfer a driver's licence, including a CDL. This page says what a truck driver licensed or working in another state has to do to work in Illinois, in the order to do it, and what goes wrong when the order is reversed.

How the transfer works

A commercial driver's licence transfers like any driver's licence: within 30 days of becoming a Illinois resident you surrender your current CDL at a Illinois driver licence office, pass the vision test, pay the fee, and your class and endorsements carry over. A hazmat endorsement needs a fresh TSA threat assessment in Illinois. Your driving record follows you through the federal CDLIS system.

How long: same day at the office; hazmat weeks. Fee: $30 to $150; the current figure is on the licensing body's own site.

What to have ready before you move

• DOT medical certificate
• Current CDL
• Proof of the new address
• Hazmat: a booked TSA appointment

Start the paperwork before you give notice. Every week the licence is not done is a week you are not paid, and nothing in the process needs you to be in Illinois already.

What people get wrong

• Missing the 30-day window; a late swap is a ticket and with some carriers a dispatch hold
• Assuming hazmat transfers; the TSA check is per state
• Signing a training-contract clawback without reading the schedule

Who hires truck drivers in Illinois

Truck drivers in Illinois are hired by regional and national carriers, LTL terminals, construction supply, food distribution and private fleets. The metros with the most of that work are Chicago, Aurora, Naperville, Rockford and Springfield. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are on the Illinois openings page.

For the money side: the median truck driver in Illinois earned $59,790 a year ($29 an hour) in May 2024 across 76,650 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Illinois has a flat 4.95% state income tax. What that leaves you after tax is its own page.

Everything about Illinois, on one page

The Illinois page has the registries and boards, the income tax table, the programs that pay you to come and the openings filed this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of Illinois employers hiring from out of state.