Important info to new people who haven't taken the CDL that no one will tell you

Can't you skip some questions? I could on my cdl exams.. (in MT). I skipped anything that seemed iffy. There was a limit to how many I could skip.. Forget how many now though.

 

First off I do not claim to know anything. Now for my post. I am going for my permit test on Tuesday. I have been taking the free online practice tests. They are the actual test questions, 9 test versions are available. They are really great to prepare you for some of the questionable questions, once you miss the question and are given the correct answer it really sticks in your head. With 9 versions available that means only the maximum possibility of 900 different questions. Not too bad. All of the questions that have been mentioned in these previous posts "rang a bell" with me. I hope this helps.

 

It's not dumb at all. You take the written exams to get your CDL permit.
The schools only attempt to teach the basics of driving so that students will (hopefully) be able to pass the pretrip/driving test and earn their CDL. At that point you still have no experience--all you've got is a license to learn more. The more you learn before school, the more you'll learn in school, and the easier it will be for you to integrate into the industry. Pitching hissy fits and throwing down clipboards because you've been misinformed won't get you very far. Pull that stunt at a dock or a dispatch window and you'll see what I mean. Attitude is a big part of this game.

 

Hi, i have too agree with ace 120 , throw a hissy fit in the trucker world and better get used too standing at the end of the line, myself when i get too shipper or rec, i hand em my paperwork , meanwhile my truck double parked in the lot, i sit down , while they go thru the paperwork , keeping very still, just sitting there, then they say my company name go too the little window and tell me too drop the trl in the lot and then i ask for empty , no mt, np , i tell em have a nice day and away i go, seen a driver come in there throwing a very big hissy fit, big, he was all dirty , sweaty, smeely, yucky, i was just sitting there waiting for my door, he was allready at the door , getting unloaded, but had a hissy fit why they havent started yet, now i knew this company , they take up to a hour to 2 hours too start on your trl, well he threw a fit , they threw a fit, he looks at me , what number are you i hold my card up dock 45, this driver was in 18, he told me put in dock 18 when pulls out , the other drivers says you cant do that, well they went at it again , back and forth they went the place threaten with a big wrecker too get the dock empty for me, and made him sit in the bull lot and change his day too 3 days away,he was not a happy camper, but yes always keep a cool head when at shippers or rec and you will go far,

 

Just to let you know how it all got this way. When the federal government mandated the CDL to all states they sent out a pool of questions and told the states to pick from that. They could word them anyway they liked as long as the content stayed the same. You can find those federal questions at a library if the libraery is equiped well. When I was grandfathered in I was lucky because the states didn't have much time to rewrite the questions. So out of all the test for every endorsement I missed 1 question which I thought was stupid. The question was this,
Q- What vehicles do you yield to
1. A truck with placards on
2. An ice cream truck
3. An emergency vehicle with no lights on
4. A State vehicle

I thought this was one of the stupidest questions I have ever seen and the answer is an ice cream truck. They said because the kids would be around it. I asked what if it's going down the interstate? So stupid questions have been around along time because I took my CDL test in 1988.

All you can do is get the state DMV CDL Manual. That's where they draw the questions from. You can use all the study questions on the computer you want as long as you remember the state is going from the DMV manual.

 

Years ago long before the CDL CA had some really tough questions on their class A test. Back then there would be a designated person qualified by the state to give you a road test. Road test at the DMV were unheard of. But a lot of questions on the test you had to take were tricky. One question my father told me was this,

Q What part of the load can you legally drop on the highway?
1. Sand and/or Salt
2. Dirt from the truck
3. Bird Feathers
4. Rocks or pebbles thrown from the wheels

I'll let anyone answer this one.

 

Thanks, Everett. Yeah, keep it cool. Tell it to the steering wheel.

GasHauler:
1) An ice cream truck on the interstate
2) Bird feathers?
3) What you said about the DMV manual.

 

I knew the answer was Ice Cream Truck,,remember my dad telling me that one...
I also believe the answer for the 2nd question is; Rocks or Pebbles thrown from the wheels..
And yes on the DMV manual.. My wife didn't even study the manual last time and failed the test. She is studying the manual this time..

 

Act 120 you won a cookie. I would have never thought ice cream truck but that's how the wanted it. Bird feathers are part of a load, all others are not considered a load.

 

People,

I think I know why there is the added requirement of the other info in the state of TN... Wasn't there a huge scandal a few years ago in TN with actual CDL Dot testers... having people come in(they were paid) slip the DOT tester a few hundred doller bills, and they would take the written test... then some obvious non-English speaking person would go up and get 'their' picture taken for 'their' soon to be CDL.

Well, they got busted... and they removed CDL's from all who tested under these bogus CDL testers... Legit or non-Legit.