Maine supervised driving
How to fill out Maine’s MVE-21 Driving Log
Maine’s MVE-21 carries the heading Certification of Driving Time and states its own terms: at least 70 hours of practice, 10 of them after dark, with the permit held 6 months before a road test. Each row is one drive, and each row names the adult who supervised it.
Complete the header, then a row per drive
-
Fill the identity block, History Number included
Name, date of birth, mailing address and telephone are straightforward. The History Number is the one people hunt for — the form says where it lives: the top left of the learner’s permit, above the date of birth.
-
Give each drive its own row
The row is a single outing with its own supervising driver, not a whole day. Two drives on one date with different adults are two rows, because the supervisor columns belong to the drive rather than the date.
-
Enter driving hours, then the after-dark portion of them
Number of Driving Hours is the whole drive. Number of After Dark Driving Hours is how much of that same drive fell after dark — for a drive entirely in daylight it is 0.00, and for one entirely after dark the two columns match.
-
Name the supervising driver, and their age
The column asks for the supervising driver’s name and age together. The age is easy to skip because most forms do not request it, and a row missing it is incomplete on the form’s own terms.
-
Record that driver’s license number
Each row carries the supervising driver’s license number. Copy it from the license rather than from memory — it identifies a different adult on any row where the supervisor changed.
-
Track 70 hours and the 6-month hold together
The certification band states both. Finishing 70 hours quickly does not shorten the six months the permit must be held before the road test.
-
Certify the total, then send the log to the BMV
The second page is where the log is certified and where it goes. A parent, step-parent, guardian or spouse — an employer only where none of those exist — prints their name and relationship, then signs and dates, certifying 70 hours with 10 after dark. To schedule the road test the completed log is sent to the Secretary of State, Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Examination Section in Augusta; the form asks that no money and no learner’s permit go with it. Falsifying the log is a Class E crime.
A drive that ends after dark, across the two hour columns
The two time columns are the part worth getting right: the second is a portion of the first, not an addition to it. Take a drive on January 6 lasting 25 minutes, all of it after dark.
- Date and Time
- 01/06/2026, plus the time of the drive — the column heading asks for both
- Number of Driving Hours
- 0.42 — the whole drive
- Number of After Dark Driving Hours
- 0.42 — the same 25 minutes again, because all of it was after dark. Not an extra 25 minutes.
- Supervising Driver’s Name and Age
- Both halves — the adult’s name and how old they are
- License Number of Supervising Driver
- That adult’s license number, copied from the license
A daytime drive on the same sheet reads 0.45 and 0.00. Reading the second column as separate night time and adding the two together inflates the record — the 70-hour total is the sum of the first column alone, and the second only has to reach 10.
What leaves an MVE-21 incomplete
- Adding the After Dark column to the Driving Hours column, which double-counts every night drive on the sheet.
- Writing the supervising driver’s name and leaving their age out, when the column asks for both.
- Leaving the time out of the Date and Time column, which is the other half of a heading that is easy to read as a date field.
- Leaving the History Number blank because it is not on the license — it is on the learner’s permit, top left, above the date of birth.
- Assuming 70 completed hours bring the road test forward when the permit still has to be held 6 months.
- Handing the log in unsigned, or keeping it — the certified sheet is mailed to the BMV’s Examination Section in Augusta before a road test can be scheduled.
What fills an MVE-21 row
Maine’s export is per drive, matching the form’s per-session supervisor line:
| On the MVE-21 Driving Log | Comes from |
|---|---|
| Date and Time | The drive’s date. The column asks for a time as well, and that half is not filled — add it by hand alongside the supervising driver’s age. |
| Number of Driving Hours | That drive’s full logged duration in decimal hours. |
| Number of After Dark Driving Hours | Its after-dark portion, printed as the subset of the figure beside it, so the two columns cannot disagree. |
| Supervising Driver’s Name and Age | The supervisor’s name only. Age is not among the details recorded against a supervisor, so that half of the column needs completing by hand before the form is handed in. |
| License Number of Supervising Driver | The supervisor’s license, printed as issuing state and number together. |
| Name (header) | The student’s name. The remaining header fields — date of birth, address, telephone, History Number — are yours to complete, since the History Number is printed on the permit rather than held here. |
| Certification block (page 2) | Left blank by design. The certifying adult prints their name and relationship, then signs and dates the printed page — the export never signs on anyone’s behalf. |
Totals for practice and night driving are summed from the printed rows onto the form’s own total bands. The completed, certified log is then sent to the BMV’s Examination Section in Augusta to schedule the road test.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find the History Number?
The form says: the top left of the learner’s permit, above the date of birth. It is not the license number and not the permit number people usually reach for.
Do the two hour columns add together?
No. After Dark hours are a portion of the Driving Hours on the same row, so a drive wholly after dark shows the same figure twice.
Why does every row ask for a license number?
The row records who supervised that specific drive, and different adults can supervise different drives, so the identifying details sit on the row rather than in the header.
How much practice does Maine require?
At least 70 hours, of which 10 must be after dark, with the permit held for 6 months before applying for the road test — all three stated on the form itself.
Who signs the log, and where does it go?
A parent, step-parent, guardian or spouse certifies and signs it on the second page (an employer only where none of those exist). The completed log is then sent to the Secretary of State, Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Examination Section in Augusta to schedule the road test — with no money or learner’s permit enclosed.
Track your Maine hours
Log every supervised drive and Learner Log keeps the totals ready for the MVE-21 Driving Log.
Still deciding how to keep the record? Compare paper against an app. Not sure where the MVE-21 Driving Log ends up? See submitting a log versus certifying the hours.
Official sources: Official MVE-21 Driving Log. Maine licensing instructions. This guide was last reviewed against the official form on ; Maine can change its form or instructions at any time, so confirm the current version at the links above. Learner Log is an independent tracking tool, not affiliated with any licensing agency.