What type of driver's license is required for a yellow-plate minivan?
3 Answers
Holders of B or A class driver's licenses can drive yellow-plate vehicles. Yellow-plate vehicles are categorized into large trucks and large buses. Large trucks require B2 or A2 licenses, while large buses require an A1 license. Yellow-plate vehicles generally refer to large vehicles, such as trucks weighing over 2 tons or buses, including minivans with 12 or more seats. More details about vehicle license plates are as follows: 1. Introduction 1: The background colors are divided into four types, mainly blue, yellow, white, and black. Blue plates are the most common and are used for small passenger cars. Yellow plates are used for larger vehicles, such as motorcycles, test vehicles, agricultural vehicles, and training vehicles. 2. Introduction 2: White plates are specifically for certain special-purpose vehicles, such as military vehicles, police cars, and racing cars. Black plates are for special administrative regions, foreign investors, and their enterprises with imported vehicles, such as Hong Kong and Macau plates. 3. Introduction 3: Blue-plate vehicles and yellow-plate vehicles have different requirements for driver's licenses. Blue-plate vehicles can be driven with a C class license, while yellow-plate vehicles require a B class license. Additionally, the procedures for obtaining an operating permit differ between blue-plate and yellow-plate vehicles. Only yellow-plate vehicles need an operating permit, while blue-plate vehicles do not.
Yellow-plate minivans are typically large vehicles with 9 or more seats, used for long-distance transportation of goods and passengers. Driving such vehicles requires at least a B1 license, and a regular C1 car driver's license is definitely not sufficient. Last year, a rookie in our fleet used a C license to drive a yellow-plate vehicle for delivery, and ended up being fined, penalized with points, and had to call a tow truck on the highway. Additionally, some yellow-plate vehicles are for commercial use, requiring not only a B1 license but also a road transport permit and a vocational qualification certificate. Their insurance costs are 30% higher than private cars. It's safest to directly check the vehicle's registration certificate category at the DMV.
When I was getting my Class B license, the instructor repeatedly emphasized that yellow-plate vehicles are off-limits. These vehicles either carry over 4.5 tons of cargo or transport more than 9 passengers, making the trailer reversing techniques learned for the C1 license completely useless. I remember once driving a friend's small yellow-plate truck to deliver renovation materials—just past the inspection station, I was pulled over. The traffic police said my license didn't cover that vehicle type and penalized me 12 points. Later, I spent over 5,000 yuan retaking the theory test and didn't touch the steering wheel for half a year. Now I've learned my lesson—I always check the approved passenger capacity on the supplementary page of the vehicle registration certificate before driving.
