Alaska requires 40 hours of supervised driving before a teen can move from an instruction permit to a provisional license, and at least 10 of those hours must be in progressively challenging conditions. Alaska is unusual in how it words that: instead of a flat night minimum, the DMV asks for experience in harder conditions, which in practice means darkness, snow, ice, and poor visibility. A parent or guardian certifies the hours. Alaska also has one of the youngest permit ages in the country at 14.
Alaska supervised driving requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Alaska |
|---|---|
| Total supervised hours | 40 hours |
| Night hours | 10 hours in "progressively more challenging conditions" — darkness and bad weather both count |
| Professional / instructor hours | None required by the DMV |
| Minimum permit age | 14 (instruction permit) |
| Permit holding period | 6 months on the instruction permit before the provisional license at 16 |
| Permit validity | Alaska instruction permits are commonly issued for a 2-year term — check the date on your permit |
| Who may supervise | Licensed driver 21 or older with at least 1 year of driving experience, in the front passenger seat |
| Official log form | No standalone statewide log PDF is widely published; the parent or guardian certification is part of the license application packet |
| Certification method | Parent or guardian signs the certification of supervised driving when applying for the provisional license |
| State app or program | None. Alaska does not publish an official hour-logging app. |
Who can supervise practice driving in Alaska
Alaska adds an experience requirement on top of the age floor, which trips people up when an older sibling or a recently licensed relative volunteers.
- At least 21 years old and licensed, with a minimum of one year of driving experience.
- Seated in the front passenger seat for the whole drive.
- Alaska's permit age is 14, which means a lot of practice happens well before the teen is anywhere near the road test — the supervision rule does not relax because the permit holder is young.
Night hours, and what "night" means here
Alaska frames the extra 10 hours as "progressively more challenging conditions" rather than a straight night count, and the DMV includes both darkness and adverse weather in that. If you live in Alaska this is either the easiest requirement in the country or the hardest, depending entirely on the month. In Fairbanks in December, almost every drive is a night drive and the 10 hours accumulate without trying. In June, actual darkness barely exists north of the Alaska Range, so the challenging-conditions hours have to come from rain, gravel, low sun glare, and unfamiliar road types. Plan the calendar around that: bank the hard-condition hours in the winter half of the permit period and use summer for volume.
What counts as a loggable hour
- Public-road driving with a qualified supervisor counts. The trip to school, errands, highway miles, practice loops around the neighborhood — it all counts as long as the permit holder is at the wheel and the supervising driver is in the front passenger seat.
- Time parked, idling, or waiting in a drive-through does not count. Log driving time, not trip time.
- Empty parking lots and closed courses generally do not count. The point of the requirement is real traffic.
- Hours before the permit was issued do not count. The permit has to be in hand first.
- Note the condition, not just the time. Because Alaska's requirement is about conditions rather than the clock, a log entry that says "ice, dark, 45 min" is worth more to you at the counter than one that just says "7 PM."
How to actually get to 40 hours
Forty hours over the six-month minimum permit period is a bit under two hours a week. Most Alaska families find the total is not the constraint — the daylight and the road conditions are. Start in the fall if you can, so the challenging-conditions hours land naturally, and use the long summer evenings for the bulk of the remaining time.
Official Alaska resources
- Alaska DMV — Graduated Driver License — the permit, provisional, and full license steps with ages and waiting periods
- Alaska DMV — Driver Licensing — forms, office locations, and the current application packet
Tracking your hours
Because Alaska's requirement is about conditions and not just totals, a log with condition tags is genuinely more useful here than a plain hour count. Whatever you use, the parent or guardian is the one signing off, so the record needs to be honest and dated.
PermitReady is a free iPhone and iPad app that does two things: practice questions for the Alaska DMV permit test, and a supervised driving hours log. Each drive is one entry — date, duration, and condition tags including night, highway, rain, and heavy traffic — with a running total at the top so you always know how far you have left to go. Entries can be backdated, so a log you started late can still be complete. It works offline, and there is no account to create: nothing is uploaded, and the log lives on the phone.
Honest limits: PermitReady does not detect drives automatically, does not use GPS, is iPhone and iPad only, and does not generate a signed state affidavit. It is a record you copy from when you fill in the DMV's certification of supervised driving. If you would rather have automatic drive detection or an Android app, RoadReady has both — we compare them directly in PermitReady vs RoadReady. There is also a full write-up of the driving log and a set of printable paper templates if you would rather keep it on paper.
Frequently asked questions
How many supervised driving hours does Alaska require?
40 hours, including at least 10 hours in progressively more challenging conditions, before a teen can apply for a provisional license. A parent or guardian certifies the total.
What counts as challenging conditions in Alaska?
The DMV's wording covers darkness and adverse weather. Snow, ice, rain, fog, gravel, and night driving all fit. Because of Alaska's daylight swings, most families bank these hours in the winter half of the permit period.
How old do you have to be to get an Alaska instruction permit?
14, which is one of the youngest permit ages in the country. The provisional license comes at 16, after at least six months on the permit and the 40 logged hours.
Does Alaska have an official driving log form?
Alaska does not publish a standalone log PDF that is in wide use. The parent or guardian certification is handled as part of the license application, so keep your own dated record and confirm the current form with the DMV.
Who can supervise practice driving in Alaska?
A licensed driver at least 21 years old with a minimum of one year of driving experience, seated in the front passenger seat.
Also for Alaska
Alaska permit test practice · Supervised driving hours log · Printable log templates · Supervised driving hours by state
Verification and disclaimers
Requirements verified August 2026 against Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles, Graduated Driver License. Requirements change, and the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles can revise them without much notice — always confirm the current rules with the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles before your road test.
PermitReady's driving hours log is a personal tracking tool. It is not a state form and has not been approved or endorsed by any state licensing agency. Check with your state's DMV, RMV, DPS, BMV, or equivalent agency for which log format they require, and use their official state form if one is mandated.
RoadReady® is a registered trademark of Safe Roads Alliance, Inc. PermitReady is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Safe Roads Alliance, Inc.
PermitReady is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles or any government agency.