The 185 Day Clock
Your American driver's license works in the Netherlands for 185 days after the gemeente registers you. Then it does not. And unless one specific thing is true about you, there is no exchange. There is only the full Dutch exam.
This is the most expensive surprise on this whole website. It is also the easiest one to plan around, if you know about it before you land.
Your US license works for 185 days after the gemeente registers you in the BRP, not from the day your plane lands. There is no exchange for Americans unless you hold the 30 percent ruling. Without it, the only route is the full Dutch exam.
Your BRP registration date, not your landing date. The clock starts when the gemeente registers you, not when your plane lands, so a slow registration quietly extends your runway. Do not plan around that, because registration is required within five days anyway. If you have not registered yet, put the date you expect to.
Your three questions
The clock starts the day the gemeente registers you
The 185 days begin the day you are registered in the BRP. The clock starts when the gemeente registers you, not when your plane lands, so a slow registration quietly extends your runway. Do not plan around that, because registration is required within five days anyway. It runs quietly in the background while you are busy with everything else, and nobody sends a reminder.
Renew before you leave
A license that expires during your first year abroad is a license that cannot be exchanged. Renew it in the US even if it still has a year left. It is the cheapest insurance in this whole move.
You hand over the original
The exchange takes your American license. It goes to the RDW and is usually destroyed. If you fly home and need to drive there, sort that out first, because some states will not simply reissue on request.
Ask about the ruling early
Whether the 30 percent ruling applies to you at all is a question for a Dutch tax advisor, not a website, and self-employed situations are their own conversation. Ask before you assume, because this one decision quietly costs or saves thousands.
This deadline also lives on the Master Timeline.