Failed CDL Test, looking for advice.

So my examiner failed me because I forgot to mention the brake chambers. She said the pre-trip will consist of from the passenger door to the rear (it's a Bus). I did very well for the in-cab inspection, but I forgot to mention the brake chambers. I got everything else though including the spare tires, emergency exit doors, and lights. My question is was I also supposed to mention the shock absorber?

With that being said, I need help. Is it common for CDL drivers to fail in their first couple of tries? If so, how many tries did it take for you until you finally passed? I struggle a lot with the Pre-Trip Inspection.

 

It is sequential in NJ and you need to pass each section, pretrip, closed course with alley dock, then road driving...

It is not uncommon to fail a few times.

 

Failing because you didn't mention one item? You sure that was the only thing?

 

Twice at the most.
Try a different DMV testing center.

 

I also didn't mention the hoses, upper or lower steering arm control. This is as far as I can remember.

 

I passed my B license test the first time and went back to get my A about a year later. Took me 3 try’s to get my A.

First time I failed the pre-trip because I forgot to mention the brake lines which apparently is an automatic fail. Second time I failed to shut the truck engine off during the leak down test which was also an automatic fail.

Third time I got an older gentleman and I think he cut me some slack as after going under a bridge that the height was displayed I couldn’t recall what that height was when he asked. I remembered seeing the posted height and new it was plenty tall, but I just couldn’t recall the actual height.

Then he had me pull on the shoulder and park the truck as if I had a problem and needed to stop. After pulling back into traffic he asked me to repeat the shoulder stop maneuver again which made me think that I messed up the first time. Maybe I forgot to signal or didn’t get completely out of the travel lane.

I was so focused on shifting correctly that it took a lot of my focus away from the more mundane stuff that I shouldn’t have had any issue with.

I trained another driver a few years ago and it took him 2 tries. Unfortunately we had to ride about 3 hours away to State College Pa as that was the only testing facility that had appointments available at that time.

 

Here is a list of what I said told them (From passenger door to rear):

• Brake Lights
• Clearance Lights
• Back Uplights
• Warning Lights
• Loading Lights
• Tail Lights
• Reflectors
• Brake Shoes
• Brake Linings
• Brake Drums
• Tire sidewall
• Tire rim
• Lug nuts
• Reflective lights on the side
• Battery
• Electrical Fuses and Circuit Breakers

The In-Cab, I got everything correct as I passed that.

 

if you know what it is , mention it.

better too much than not enough.

 

When I was in class we got to watch people do each portion of the test, pretrip/ slow manuevers etc… most people failed being too cautious or just outright nervous…on either the pretrip or the slow manuevers.. if the school did you any justice you know the information. Don’t look at it as this grand test but just another day in class. Plenty people were doing just fine on their back and kept getting out and looking or pulling up with plenty of time to fix the issue.. my advice would be to just let it flow

 

Not sure how long a bus pre trip is when you talk it out, but my CDL A pre trip was over 28 minutes of talking. It was the longest speech I've ever given. I failed my first pre trip at the Fullerton, CA DMV back in like the late 1990's. I was in a group of three from Dootson School of Trucking, we all failed, but we complained and were given a second chance that day. We all passed.