well at work we have semis tagged from 26,000 to 85,500 they all can haull 80,000 but you can tag them for lower... so you cant base a cdl for what the potentail is... cus if you are hauling a toy hauler fifthwheel you are not gonna have 15,000 on the trailer and another 11,000 on the truck too... you might get the 15,000 on the trailer but unless you hauling lead in lil blocks to put in the bed around the gooseneck you will never get 11,000 in the truck too... so in this thoery the potential is not there... cus only way you gonna get 11,000 on the truck is in the bed.. i would just to to the dmv and see what they say.. if he has to get qa cdl which i dont see why he would but if so its not that hard he should just have to take the general knowledge test...