Pre Trip

Cracked , broken, bent or missing! Check for fluid leaks. And listen for air leaks. Knowing the names of the parts you are looking at is also very helpful

 

Heh, some of those threads need to be bumped once in a while.
http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...cary-when-you-are-driving-in-colorado.135472/

 

Mine was an old driver working for C1 in Indy for my class A. I got grandfathered in my class B. On the day of my pretrip I studied the pretrip handout given to us and went over there and took the test. The examiner started with the front of the tractor. By the time we got to the king pin and 5th wheel he stopped me and said lets get in and do the brake test. That was it. After that we went to the range for the backing. He was a fantastic guy that put me at ease right off. After the test was over he congratulated me told me to be careful in places like Chicago and the northeast then gave me the coin to take back to the school showing I had passed.

 

My New Mexico examiner was a crusty old driver whose handle was "Whitey". He would cut you some slack as long as you didn't appear to be completely ignorant. He could tell right away if you were going to make it or not.

My Texas examiner was a regular Department of Public Safety examiner who never drove a truck in her life.

 

Texas does not make you take a pretrip test. At least they didn't when I got my license.

Other than the written tests the driving test just consisted of the air brake test and the driving.

 

are you going to be going to a school, or are you getting your cdl on your own with someone you knows truck or whatever?

also, the below post is really good in general, but like he said your state will be a little more specific, I tried finding a ohio dot one on google but no luck, if you go to the cdl dmv they might be able to give you a copy I'm not sure. but if you are going to go to a school you will be doing it a lot so no worries.

 

Here is a basic checklist. Not sure if it will work in every state.

https://t2.unh.edu/sites/t2.unh.edu/files/documents/publications/truck_checklist.pdf

 

I am new here, thought I would add my two cents lol. Not sure if other states do this, but in wi. They let me use a cheat sheet on the test which listed every item we had to check. I still had to be able to locate the part and specify what I had to check. For example, the list will say "alternator." I then would have to point to the alternator and say what I would check for. For every item on the list, you just have to say what you would check, you don't have to physically do it. Just remember to clearly point to the specific part and touch it if you can. It's easier than it looks, keep repeating it and all the sudden you will have it down. Good luck!