How many fail their pre-trip on the CDL test?

It does depend on the tester. Regardless, I have seen a ton of people fail it on the first try, because memorization is not a strong suit for a lot of people, and they get nervous and start skipping or forgetting parts altogether.

 

Everyone I remember passed,most of us didnt really know what we were doing,we just pointed at every part and said "Not bent,broken,cracked and Securely Mounted". Thats what we were programmed to say. THE DRIVING PART OF THE TEST seemed like the worst. Kinda made you nervous with Iowa HP riding with you watching you like a hawk. I sat there like 6 minutes waiting for a clear spot to pull out on the street.Finally just kinda gunned it a little,made some drivers slow down a little.She didnt dock me any points"Said he agreed I had to get out there".

 

What kind of a school takes off DOT equipment and broken equipment and sends a student off to test. You my friend were destined to fail before it even began.

Just remember your ABC's in anything rubber. No Abrasions, Buldges or Cuts

And your 1,2,3's for anything plastic or glass. 1: Not Missing 2: Not Cracked 3: Not Broken

 

My pre-trip test is tomorrow,an instructor came today and tested us to see if we were ready for the real test and all of us passed it i dont think is that hard all you have to do is do not be nervous i got a score off 93 for today but i dont know what is going to happen tomorrow,in cab is the easy one than air brake,steep downgrade and RR crossing

 

Don't feel bad.. I failed mine first 2 times. But since did otr now working local for unionized carrier. You will be ok.. Under the gun and stress..

 

I had a 1 1/4 hrs commute to school every morning. I would do a complete pretrip just picturing the truck and parts, out loud every morning while driving to school. Once at school, we would pair up and pretrip the road diesels that we were driving that day. We had a check k list we went by. One did the pretrip, one checked off the items. I took those pretrip seriously. I found things like flat tires, nails in tires, blown bulbs, even a broken alternator belt.
By the time I got to do the pretrip test, I got a 99. Missed the windshield wipers! Lol The instructor wanted to hear at least one or two things you were checking for. Example: 'alternator is securely mounted and belt has no more than 3/4" play ' or 'springs are not cracked or separated' or 'exhaust is securely mounted, no signs of soot that could signal a leak' ect
Repetition, repetition, repetition
Do it everyday, a couple times a day. You will get it. Get a flow and a script going in your head. Do it the same way every time. When you miss something, hammer that one into the brain.

I'll be the noob at the truck stop doing a thorough pretrip every day. I'm the type of person that likes to do something the same way every time. I develop habits and like the repetition. Start a new job on Sunday, ill be there early, with the hood up, checking everything on that truck! Just the way I am. If I don't, ill be second guessing myself while I drive down the road. I would rather to focused on driving....

 

I think it's BS that the instructor wouldn't let you say that you're checking one side the same as you checked the other. Good luck. It's just a minor setback.

 

Its been a day or two so since I had to do those tests, but as I recall I was stressed badly and had a planed walk around that took me ninety minutes ,and another ten for the in cab, but then the tester told me I only had ninety minutes to complete the entire test, walk around,on cab,skills, and road, I about soiled myself not knowing how long the skills or road part would take, anyhow I passed both walk around and in cab in less then twenty minutes, then drove a rented truck out to the skill area, where I touched a curb while parking, figuring I failed I relaxed and told my tester I thought that waiting to shift going threw intersections sucked and I hate double clutching , when he told me to drive however I liked, so I did, at the end of it all I asked him how soon could I come back for a retest, he told me why I passed that touching the curb during the skill was OK, so what I'm trying to say is just relax and drive but be bold and ask the tester if you can drive the way that's best for you.

 

In school we were taught to recite, "Not cracked, bent or broken"

But on test day all the examiner would accept was, "In good working order"

We only had 8 in our class. 6 passed the pretrip. Only 4 passed all tests to be licensed on the first try. The four of us that paid cash for the schooling!

Mikeeee

 

Some examiners will look for slightly different verbage than others. When I failed my pretrip I had 18 points deducted because I said, "Tire pressure" instead of "Inflation". I think in some cases they feel they have to fail SOMEBODY today...