New York is joining the U.S. Department of Transportation's "Even Exchange" program, Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Veterans Day, opening a faster route into truck and bus driving for service members whose military job was already driving heavy vehicles. Under the program, qualified applicants who were trained and educated in the military to operate heavy equipment and machinery can use that experience to demonstrate the knowledge needed for a Commercial Driver License (CDL) — bypassing the DMV's written permit test entirely.
Source: Office of Governor Kathy Hochul
How the two waivers now fit together
Even Exchange does not replace New York's existing route; it completes it. The state already runs the federal Military Skills Test Waiver Program, which lets military personnel who are currently licensed, or who operated the military equivalent of a commercial vehicle within the last two years, skip the road and skills test. What it never skipped was the written knowledge test. Even Exchange attacks that remaining hurdle from the other side: military training and education on heavy equipment counts as proof of knowledge, so a qualifying applicant no longer has to sit the DMV written permit test to start the CDL process.
"Keeping our economy growing and moving means we need qualified people to move goods across New York and the country, and those who have served proudly in the military are uniquely suited to do that," Governor Hochul said. "This is not only a chance to give back to those who have protected us, but to also continue to make life affordable for New York families by ensuring we have the drivers necessary to give them more and better access to goods and services they use each day."
DMV Acting Commissioner Christian Jackstadt said the program helps members of the military "smoothly transition into civilian life and begin a new career," calling it "a terrific opportunity to leverage the valuable skills they have already developed to take on good, well-paying jobs driving buses and trucks to move people and products." Veterans' Services Commissioner Dr. Viviana M. DeCohen said service members' skills, judgment and work ethic "should open doors to meaningful civilian employment" and that New York is "reducing unnecessary obstacles" so training already earned is "recognized, respected, and put to good use."
Why the state is doing this now
The announcement was timed for Veterans Day, but the driver shortage behind it is year-round. Commercial drivers move the food, fuel and goods New York families buy every day, and the state has spent years trying to widen the pipeline into the cab: it has moved to let qualified third parties offer road tests to expand testing capacity, and it removed the 14-day waiting period between the permit test and the road test for applicants who do not qualify for a waiver. Even Exchange is the latest step in that same push, aimed at a group Albany argues should not have to prove twice that they can do a job the military already trained and trusted them to do.
What an applicant still has to do
The waivers remove tests, not standards. An applicant must still hold a valid New York or out-of-state driver's license and meet every other requirement for a New York CDL; the class of license, and any endorsements or restrictions, depend on the type of commercial vehicle the person operated in the military. The governor's office directs New Yorkers to the commercial driver licensing information on the DMV website, dmv.ny.gov, for the full requirements and how to apply.
What is solid
- New York's participation in Even Exchange was announced by Governor Hochul on Veterans Day, November 11.
- The program lets qualifying military-trained heavy-equipment operators use that experience as proof of knowledge for a CDL, bypassing the DMV written permit test.
- The existing Military Skills Test Waiver separately waives the road/skills test and has been used by more than 40,000 people nationwide, including more than 3,100 New Yorkers.
What is only claimed
Why truckers and the diaspora should care
The CDL is the single most important credential in the Punjabi diaspora's largest trade in North America: trucking. New York is a major freight state, and every barrier removed between a trained driver and a legal license matters to an industry that runs on tight margins and chronic vacancies — and to the veterans, including Punjabi-American service members, whose military driving years previously counted for little at a civilian DMV counter. The program does not create drivers overnight, but for a service member leaving the military with heavy-vehicle experience, the path from discharge papers to a paying seat in a truck is now measurably shorter in New York.
What happens next
The state has not published a separate start date beyond the announcement itself; the program is a participation decision, so eligible applicants should check the DMV's commercial driver licensing pages for the Even Exchange route and bring documentation of their military training and vehicle experience. The announcement is separate from the six veterans bills Governor Hochul signed the same day covering tax relief, accessibility license plates and campus gym access — a different Veterans Day package that does not include the CDL change.