I have been waiting to start my az course but now iam hearing a lot of people are failing. This is all to do with the pre trip questions. They are wording the question differently so you make the mistake or they completely change what you said. Driving is not the issue I no 2 guys ace the driving portion. has any one else run into this. I no one guy has failed 2 times all over 1 question. He has a job waiting and this keeps happening . Even the drive trainer lost his #### on the instructor giving the test.
In the military they use to ask confusing questions on their multiple choice exams. They said they knew generally people knew the answer. But they wanted to see who paid attention to the details.
Often times, there are several 'right' answers, and they're just looking for the one that's most right.....like said above, it's in the details.
Sometimes an examiner/agency notices a pattern of similar deficiencies from one instructor or one school, so they might address that. An examiner/agency may feel an instructor or school is just "teaching to the exam" (as most do, in my experience) and will add in something to see what level of knowledge the student has. While driving skill is no doubt especially critical, many drivers give short shrift to the pre-trip and if a driver is prepared to depart with a deficient truck they may end up in a scenario where no amount of skill will prevent a disaster. If an examiner notices any lack of understanding or an attitude of "I only need to know this for the test" then they should fail the student. You would not want me as an examiner. This industry and the agencies that regulate it have been abysmally terrible over the past number of years in turning out grossly unqualified drivers. Sadly, I believe professionalism is the exception, not the rule. A proper pre-trip is not that difficult. It can look daunting if the student thinks they have to regurgitate every word ... and if they do that generally means they've missed the point. Understand what you're looking for and why and that will go a long way to success. Develop a routine and group similar items together to make it easier. However, do make sure you understand certain multi-step processes like checking brakes (e.g. brake chambers, slack adjusters, push rod travel, etc.) and the air brake test because sometimes an examiner will ask the student to describe the process rather than show it. Listen to the examiner and answer the question they actually asked, not the one you think they asked (see Posts #2 & #3). And if you missed it, ask them to repeat it. This is probably my number-one pet peeve in life... people are so busy trying to show how smart they are, they rarely listen to the actual words.
if this is happening in Thunder Bay demand new instructor. There been issue with one there failing anyone over 65,,,she’s a real piece of work. Among her issues, thinks 65 too old for commercial driver
When i was in school, most people who failed the non driving portion part of the exam were inviduals who had English as a second langauge or were 50+ in age with very limited education. The minsitry exam is actually easier than what is required when applying to jobs and doing their road tests
Back in the 90' whiles taking my exam I thoroughly studied the pre trip to the point if the examiner told to start it from any point I knew the exact process, application & function of the tractor & trailer. This could be what is possibly occurring with the examiner. I know that in Ontario there's a lack of verbal communication with a good majority of the drivers on the Highway & Roads. Some either act as they don't understand English or literally don't speak English yet 'How do they read the road & highway signs?' To much corners have been cut & possibly because there's a slight slowdown because of covid19 they're now streamlining the whole exam more throughly. I'd suggest stating the application of the pre tip as though its second nature when administering/applying it. As for the guy having an "Job" waiting after his exam. Hopefully it's a Straight truck job 1st?... to much corners are being cut for new drivers who lack the skills of understanding what to when driving heavy loads on the highways & roads. This is even more concerning with the abundance of bad four wheeler drivers who no longer signal & cut in front a semi last minute. Imo the exam is only 10% of Truck driving from what they teach you in the school (basically just to pass the exam) whiles a lot is learned from various driving experience on the roads which I think for $10k at colleges they should teach more.!
There was a 6 week log haul course conducted by college at Quetico Park 40 years ago. Guys come out of that course fully competent and ready to work. Courses now just teach people to pass test
