about the 108 test

I assume you're talking about the pre-trip inspection here. Check with the DMV and/or your school, one of them should have a diagram and a step-by-step order that they want you to follow. About the easiest way is to foolow along on the diagram over and over and over in the same pattern until it's branded into your memory.

 

The school I went to had a video tape of one of the instructors doing the pre-trip (like bowles, I'm assuming that's what you mean by 108 test) and we watched it over and over and over and over and over again.

Ever watch a movie so many times that you know it by heart? That's what this video did for all of us at that school. Good ol' "Pre-Trip Bob". I tried searching for any kind of video like this on the web, but came up short. I'd recommend something like this, though.

I aced the pre-trip test when I got my CDL. The examiner actually stopped me by the time we reached the back of the trailer. She said, "I can't give you a perfect score. My boss would never believe it, and actually neither would the state. We're going to have to stop with 105 out of 108." I couldn't believe it. Oh well, doesn't matter one bit today. It certainly hasn't hurt or helped me in my career.

 

Start at the top and work down. Start at the drivers side and work back and when in the cab work from left to right. That way your less likley to forget something. And remember if your half way down the side of the vehicle and remember something you forgot mention it then you still get credit.

 

the dot/mv in iowa has cards you can use to study from that lists the points. i read it aloud everynight for 2 weeksish while visuallising in my head where the part on the truck was. i could still rattle it all off, but am nowhere near that thorough on my pretrips.

 

I would suggest that you study as all the others have said, then when you have a ball park idea about what you need to say about what, start having people test you. At first i had other classmates test me. Then I snagged the classroom instructor as the grand finale. He ran me thru a mock test and showed me how to handle the lights (have the tester stay at the back and tell him what you are going to check when). Each time you do that it will stick in your head what you missed. I missed zero on the outside and two on the incab ( I was nervous and as a hen in a rooster house)

 

When I was in school, our instructors had us repeat "Securely mounted, Not damaged and Not leaking" In Michigan its acceptable to use these terms and pretty much everything on the list fits into this...for the lights it was securely mounted, not damaged and working. Dont know if this will help, but it sure helped me.

 

In Wisconsin they have a memory aid that you are allowed to use on the test, it is in the book that you get from the DMV