Louisiana Class D Chauffeur's License for NEMT Drivers: The Test, the Fees, and the Taxi Exemption

Louisiana sorts driver’s licenses by what you drive and why. A Class E covers personal driving, and a Class D chauffeur’s license adds paid passenger work. Louisiana Medicaid will not let an NEMT company driver without a Class D or a CDL carry its members. This guide covers how each of your drivers gets the Class D, what it costs, and what the brokers check once it is issued. For plates, insurance, and the rest of the state’s rules, see the Louisiana NEMT guide.

Who needs a Class D chauffeur’s license in Louisiana

State law sets three types of license: commercial (Classes A, B, and C), chauffeur’s (Class D), and personal (Class E). Under R.S. 32:408, a Class D covers everything a Class E does, plus two kinds of vehicles:

• Any vehicle designed or used to carry passengers for hire or a fee. This is the line most NEMT drivers cross. A sedan or minivan on paid trips counts.
• Any single vehicle used in commerce to carry passengers or property with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 to 26,000 pounds, such as a heavier wheelchair bus.

A vehicle designed for 16 or more people, driver included, needs a Class C commercial driver’s license instead. See do NEMT drivers need a CDL for where that line falls.

R.S. 45:181 adds the business side. No one may carry people for pay over Louisiana highways unless the driver holds the appropriate license and the vehicle has “for hire” plates.

Louisiana Medicaid sets the floor for your drivers, whatever else the law allows. The managed care manual (updated May 28, 2026) and the fee-for-service manual (section 10.3, issued July 14, 2025) both require each driver to hold a valid Class D or a CDL. The parishes with their own NEMT permits say the same:

• Jefferson Parish. Its driver application asks for a Class D chauffeur’s license and states that a Class E is not accepted. See the Jefferson Parish page.
• New Orleans. The driver permit requires a Louisiana chauffeur’s license or a CDL. See the New Orleans page.

Rideshare is the one exception. Since November 20, 2025, the state plan lets drivers for a rideshare company under contract carry members who can walk with only a regular driver’s license, while every driver of a traditional NEMT company still needs a Class D or a CDL (state plan amendment LA-25-0017). See Louisiana rideshare NEMT.

Does the 2025 taxi exemption cover NEMT drivers

No. Act 66 of the 2025 Regular Session, House Bill 170, took effect August 1, 2025. It added two sentences to R.S. 32:408: the Class D rule does not apply to taxi cab drivers, who need only a Class E.

Three things keep NEMT drivers on the Class D:

1. OMV’s definition of a taxi. The Office of Motor Vehicles’ Policy 1.00, revised September 21, 2026, gives the exemption only to the operator of a taxi: a vehicle built and run in good faith as a taxi, carrying six or fewer people including the driver, and subject to call from a garage, office, taxi stand, or central dispatch.
2. OMV’s plate rules. Policy 124.00 lists the non-emergency medical transportation vehicle as its own type of hire passenger vehicle, separate from the taxi. The two pay different plate fees.
3. The Medicaid rules. The state plan amendment approved December 12, 2025, after Act 66 took effect, still requires each traditional NEMT driver to hold a CDL or chauffeur’s license. The managed care manual, updated May 28, 2026, and the fee-for-service manual say the same.

If your company also runs taxis, the exemption covers only that work. Every one of your drivers who takes a Medicaid trip still needs the Class D or a CDL.

How a driver gets a Class D chauffeur’s license

Most of your hires already hold a Class E, which keeps the upgrade short. OMV’s FAQ, as of October 2026, lays out the steps.

1. Check the basics. OMV issues a Class D at 17 (Policy 1.00), but Medicaid trips need a driver who is at least 21. The current license cannot be suspended or revoked.
2. Study chapter 10 of the Class D and E Driver’s Guide (DPSMV2052, revised August 2025). It covers vehicle size limits, loads, speed limits, railroad stops, required equipment, and air brakes. It also says any vehicle carrying passengers for hire must carry at least a type 2-BC fire extinguisher.
3. Go to an Office of Motor Vehicles office with the current license, proof of residency, and proof of insurance on any vehicle the driver owns.
4. Pass the vision test, which screens for 20/40 vision.
5. Pass the chauffeur knowledge test with a score of 80 percent or better. R.S. 32:408 sets that score, and most offices give the test on a computer.

There is no road test for a Class E holder. OMV’s Policy 12.00, revised September 23, 2026, requires one only from a Class D applicant who never held a Class E. That test is free at an OMV office, and the applicant brings an insured vehicle on which they are not listed as an excluded driver.

OMV’s Policy 10.00, revised September 22, 2026, adds three details that save a second trip:

• A driver who fails may retake the test once the same day, if time allows.
• The computer test runs in English, Arabic, Cantonese, Farsi, French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Vietnamese, and an interpreter may help with the chauffeur test.
• A driver who has held a chauffeur’s license or a CDL before, in Louisiana or another state, needs no test, even if that license has expired, as long as OMV can confirm it.

Drivers new to Louisiana

New residents have 30 days to get a Louisiana license, according to the OMV driver’s guide. They surrender the out-of-state license and bring one primary and one secondary identity document, their Social Security number, and proof of insurance on any vehicle they have registered in Louisiana. Under Policy 10.00, a driver who never held a chauffeur’s license or CDL anywhere still takes the chauffeur knowledge test to get the Class D.

What the Class D costs and how long it lasts

OMV’s Policy 2.00, revised July 1, 2026, sets the fees below. The license fee comes from R.S. 32:412, and OMV adds a $12 handling fee to each one. Some offices add a service fee of up to $8.

License	License fee	With handling
Class D, outside New Orleans	$42.75	$54.75
Class D, New Orleans residents	$54.00	$66.00
Class D, age 70 or older, outside New Orleans	$22.13	$34.13
Class E, for comparison	$20.25	$32.25

For New Orleans residents, R.S. 32:412 sends $15 of the fee to the city’s police pension fund.

A driver who upgrades mid-term does not pay twice. R.S. 32:412 credits each whole month left on the Class E toward the Class D fee, and OMV’s FAQ confirms the credit. The new Class D expires on the driver’s birthday nearest six years after it is issued.

Renewal follows the same rules as any Louisiana license:

• Drivers can renew up to 180 days before the license expires, and they pass the vision test again.
• A 10-day grace period follows the expiration date. After that, OMV charges a $15 delinquent fee (Policy 2.00).
• OMV may invite drivers under 70 to renew by mail or online, but never two cycles in a row.
• A driver who moves must change the address on the license within 10 days.

An expired license ends a driver’s Medicaid trips until it is renewed, since both manuals require a current, valid license.

What Louisiana Medicaid and the brokers check

The license is the first item, not the last. For plan trips, the managed care manual (updated May 28, 2026) also bars drivers under 21, drivers with more than two moving violations in three years, anyone ever convicted of driving under the influence or of refusing a chemical test, and anyone required to drive with an ignition interlock device. The Louisiana guide covers the rest of the plan rules. Three license checks matter most when you hire:

• Monthly record checks. The same manual has each plan review every active driver’s official driving record each month to confirm the license is still valid. For an out-of-state license, the plan checks the record in the state that issued it, also monthly.
• Years licensed. MediTrans, which arranges rides for all five Healthy Louisiana plans, lists a valid license held three or more years among its driver requirements, as of October 2026. Ask MediTrans before you hire someone licensed for less time. See the MediTrans page.
• Drivers who live out of state. MediTrans’s operations manual for Louisiana Healthcare Connections, last revised February 20, 2025, accepts a Class D, a CDL, or an equivalent license from the driver’s state of residence. A driver who lives in Mississippi or Texas should confirm with MediTrans which home-state license qualifies.

For fee-for-service trips, Verida lists a current motor vehicle driving report for every driver among the documents it requires to join its network, as of October 2026.

Keep each driver’s license file ready for the broker

MediTrans has you upload each driver’s license, background check clearance, and drug test before activation. Build the file as you hire:

1. A clear copy of both sides of the license, showing Class D (or a CDL class) and the expiration date.
2. A current official driving record from OMV. The driver can buy one online by card, using the details exactly as they appear on the license, and print it for 30 days. To request a driver’s record by mail yourself, include the driver’s written authorization.
3. The renewal date on your calendar, with reminders 180 days and 30 days before each license expires.
4. Parish permits for drivers who work in New Orleans or Jefferson Parish, which both ask for the chauffeur’s license before they issue a driver permit.
5. The yearly criminal history check and drug screen the plans require. See NEMT driver background checks.

Track all of it with the driver file checklist. To compare Louisiana’s driver rules with other states, see NEMT driver requirements.