CDL testing in CA

Hey Commuter69,

IIRC you were one of the guys who went to Western Truck School like I did. I remember you posted in the thread I created. Reading your posts it sounds like you've had some pretty strict examiners, sorry about that, but don't give up hope! I got lucky and had one of the most lenient examiners in Bakersfield. I know first hand how frustrating getting your CDL can be so I'll try to help you by going over your attempts one-by-one.

The examiner was right to fail you for this. The range for the low air pressure warning is between 55-75 psi. I was told that you cannot miss a single thing on the COLA. When I did this I don't even think my examiner would have noticed because he was too busy sipping coffee and looking out the window.

If the governor cut-in between 85-110 psi then that is a good test. I don't know what the examiner was talking about. On your next test I would advise taking more air out of the tanks. Make sure the needle is well ahead of the 110 mark (but not before the 85 mark) before announcing the governor cut-in. If I'm reading this correctly the examiner wanted to know the exact psi that the governor cut-in. You have to be careful because the needle will dip on some trucks. Mark it out with your finger if you need to and announce it clearly. I know that there was a guy in our school that failed because he was only 3 psi off the mark.

Don't ever expect a truck to produce the same results every time. A truck might not provide the same readings for several reasons. It sounds like you were trying to memorize where the needle would land each time. Learn your gauges and you won't need to memorize.

Again, I'm not really sure what your examiner was thinking. Did you clearly state when the governor cut-in? If you said "The governor cut in at 95 psi" and the needle was at 95 psi then there should be absolutely no problem. You have to clearly state the exact psi the governor cut in. You can't just say "The psi didn't fall below 85" That won't work.

Yeah, I don't blame you for getting a little upset. It sounds like you had a pretty incompetent examiner. My examiner didn't even make me finish my pre-trip, I got about half way and he just said "okay, okay you got it, let's move on". He also let me fudge a little on my alley dock. I would have failed, but he gave me some slack.

I apologize if I misunderstood anything you said above, I was just trying to help.

Best of luck to you!

 

That DMV in West Sacramento had a reputation for failing students for all kinds of reasons, I heard they are under investigation in fact. If possible I would test at another location even if it means shelling out $200 for the truck rental, just my opinion.

 

Because they're fail rate is extremely high compared to the other DMV's that administer CDL drive tests. Yeah the wait times are longer at Stockton and Yuba City, but I've heard you can call everyday and see if there were any cancellations, could get lucky.

 

Yuba City is a breeze. The first time I got my CDL I tested in yuba city.

 

id ont know if it is or not. would you be using a discrete recording device or one that is very obvious?

 

Yeah no idea on that one. But my suggestion would be to speak a bit louder than normal during the pretrip and make frequent eye contact to make sure the examiner is paying attention. I know sometimes during pretrip, I would tend to just look at the tractor/trailer because you don't want to miss anything, and start going on about this and that. It's very possible the examiner doesn't hear a few key terms or phrases even if you say it. Because of road noise, or other possible distractions.