Vegas Teacher Posted April 19, 2019 Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 I just passed the written portion of the commercial drivers license test or what is known as the CDL written test. It is made up of 3 parts air brake, general knowledge and combo vehicles. General knowledge has 50 questions, air brakes 25 and combination vehicles has 20. The power point practice test had 240 general knowledge questions, 70 air brake questions and 70 combo questions, so for a 95 question test I crammed in 340 questions over possible material, and 90 pages of the CDL book over the last 2 weeks to get ready. The first week of the summer I will take the driving class at southwest trucking school. Later Cory Ossana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adept99 Posted April 20, 2019 Report Share Posted April 20, 2019 FYI Not sure what your truck school or state requires, but one little quirk cost me $600 bucks. I (foolishly) assumed that like the rest of the testing, that it would be on the basis of the Test Administrator asking questions and I would answer appropriately. When we got out to the truck, he told me to get in and do the in-cab checks and the air brake test. OK, got that. We got out and he says, "OK, show me the front left inspection for this truck" Right away, when he didn't offer any questions for me to answer and I'm just standing there scratching my rump and winding my watch, I knew I was in the death spiral. Seems that the "correct" method was to get out of the truck, open the hood, and explain (in order) what I was looking at and why it was important, using near verbatim words from the manual. Any deviation from that was points off. I didn't know that until he failed me and explained it to me. And then I got to pay another $600 for the truck & driver for a return test. Be sure you understand how to take the practical test. And good luck Paul & Paula + Daisy the amazing wiggle worm dog... 2001 Volvo 770 Autoshift, Singled, w/ Aluminum Bed - Toy Draggin 2013 395AMP XLR Thunderbolt Toy Hauler 2013 Smart Passion 2012 CanAm Spyder RT 2013 Harley Davidson Street Glide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vegas Teacher Posted April 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2019 Thanks! Dually noted to remember! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat & Pete Posted April 20, 2019 Report Share Posted April 20, 2019 39 minutes ago, Vegas Teacher said: Thanks! Dually noted to remember! You probably did that on purpose . Duly noted . LOL Goes around , comes around . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan412 Posted April 20, 2019 Report Share Posted April 20, 2019 If you are going through a school they will teach you the proper pre trip order and what to say. Most fail on the pre trip part of the test. Good luck 2011 Volvo D13 485/1750 Eaton 13 Speed 2016 Montana 3820FK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NDBirdman Posted April 20, 2019 Report Share Posted April 20, 2019 Good luck on the test. When I did mine for my CDL, we started at one corner of the truck, walked around and she did not say a word. I pointed out everything, even stooping down and pointing out the can and s-cam and how to properly adjust it, mentioned what to look for when looking over the springs, fuel tanks on both sides, (pointed out the brake light and turn-signal light.. She put me into a smart-ass mode from the git-go) I even pointed out the tank steps she needed to use to get into the passenger seat, opened up the hood, (being a mechanic for most my life), I pointed out every part on the engine, the suspension parts, I left nothing out. When we got in, she asked about a switch and a couple gauges so I pointed to every switch, every gauge and explained what every one was, when and how to use them up to the air horn which I loved holding down.. during the test, I explained the rpms I was using, how/when I was up/down shifting using the clutch every shift. I think she enjoyed the way she had me being a smart ass (she started it.. LOL), I truly thought she would fail me over it. When all was said and done, she said I gave her the best test ride she had ever given. (I had actually been driving farm trucks since I was tall enough to reach a clutch so I know what I was doing without being nervous). I didn't lose a single point. Just to be a smart-alec, the next day, I stopped by and gave her a rose. She loved it. Point is, don't worry, be happy, just study the book and you'll do fine. 2002 Fifth Avenue RV (RIP) 2015 Ram 3500 Mega-cab DRW(38k miles), 6.7L Cummins Diesel, A668RFE, 3.73, 14,000 GVWR, 5,630 Payload, 27,300 GCWR, 18,460 Max Trailer Weight Rating(For Sale) , living in the frigid north, ND. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big5er Posted April 20, 2019 Report Share Posted April 20, 2019 Cory, I am not criticizing the training but why are you getting a CDL? MY PEOPLE SKILLS ARE JUST FINE.~It's my tolerance to idiots that needs work.~ 2005 Volvo 780 VED12 465hp / Freedomline transmission singled mid position / Bed by Larry Herrin2018 customed Mobile Suites 40KSSB3 2014 smart Fortwo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runaway parents Posted April 20, 2019 Report Share Posted April 20, 2019 25 minutes ago, Big5er said: Cory, I am not criticizing the training but why are you getting a CDL? Good ? why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vegas Teacher Posted April 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2019 Insurance breaks plus in Nevada I can't register it as an RV. I am looking at other lot io options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big5er Posted April 21, 2019 Report Share Posted April 21, 2019 You get an insurance break for taking the class or for having a cdl to drive a non cdl vehicle? Are you just taking the class or are you actually getting a cdl? MY PEOPLE SKILLS ARE JUST FINE.~It's my tolerance to idiots that needs work.~ 2005 Volvo 780 VED12 465hp / Freedomline transmission singled mid position / Bed by Larry Herrin2018 customed Mobile Suites 40KSSB3 2014 smart Fortwo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyretired Posted April 21, 2019 Report Share Posted April 21, 2019 National General used to give an insurance break for CDL holders. It about covered my medical. Randy 2001 Volvo VNL 42 Cummins ISX Autoshift Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NDBirdman Posted April 21, 2019 Report Share Posted April 21, 2019 I've heard NV is pretty anal about it. Make sure when you go to get the CDL you also have a current medical with you. They yanked a friends CDL when he went in to get his NV lisc after moving there, did not have a current med card. 2002 Fifth Avenue RV (RIP) 2015 Ram 3500 Mega-cab DRW(38k miles), 6.7L Cummins Diesel, A668RFE, 3.73, 14,000 GVWR, 5,630 Payload, 27,300 GCWR, 18,460 Max Trailer Weight Rating(For Sale) , living in the frigid north, ND. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vegas Teacher Posted April 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2019 4 hours ago, Big5er said: You get an insurance break for taking the class or for having a cdl to drive a non cdl vehicle? Are you just taking the class or are you actually getting a cdl? Just the class I am doing it only for the instructions 40 hours behind the wheel one on one with an instructor. Backing a trailer is a huge part of it. They teach you to slalom backwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vegas Teacher Posted April 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2019 Plus I have many questions I want to ask. I do put some on the forum but then some people get so pissy I feel stupid. If it were only guys like you who have a real background in trucks it would be better. I always give you credit and listen to what you have to say. I think I found the perfect house in Texas it was a farm 40 acres bardominium guest house pond and out in the middle of no where just shy of 200k, wish I could retire tomorrow and buy it, but that is not going to happen. Happy Easter Later Cory Ossana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runaway parents Posted April 21, 2019 Report Share Posted April 21, 2019 1 hour ago, Vegas Teacher said: Plus I have many questions I want to ask. I do put some on the forum but then some people get so pissy I feel stupid. If it were only guys like you who have a real background in trucks it would be better. I always give you credit and listen to what you have to say. I think I found the perfect house in Texas it was a farm 40 acres bardominium guest house pond and out in the middle of no where just shy of 200k, wish I could retire tomorrow and buy it, but that is not going to happen. Happy Easter Later Cory Ossana Hope I didn't offend any body it dose not hurt to get more info on these things. the more you no the better off you are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve from SoCal Posted April 21, 2019 Report Share Posted April 21, 2019 Knowledge and experience "seat time" is valuable in any endeavor. Driving a large combination vehicle is different enough from towing a small trailer with a pick up that competent instruction makes sense. Particularly for someone who has no background with large truck systems. Doing a walk around inspection, knowing how to do an air brake check and, understanding the vehicle dynamics of a heavy truck are not innate. Your desire to learn the nuances of driving a big truck is commendable. One thing I would suggest, make a list of the things that confound you. It is also easier to learn the right way from the start, rather than change bad old habits. Steve 2005 Peterbilt 387-112 Baby Cat 9 speed U-shift 1996/2016 remod Teton Royal Atlanta 1996 Kentucky 48 single drop stacker garage project Pulls like a train, sounds like a plane....faster than a Cheetah sniffin cocaine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big5er Posted April 21, 2019 Report Share Posted April 21, 2019 6 hours ago, Vegas Teacher said: Just the class I am doing it only for the instructions 40 hours behind the wheel one on one with an instructor. Backing a trailer is a huge part of it. They teach you to slalom backwards. I see a rally class in your future...Slaloming with Cory MY PEOPLE SKILLS ARE JUST FINE.~It's my tolerance to idiots that needs work.~ 2005 Volvo 780 VED12 465hp / Freedomline transmission singled mid position / Bed by Larry Herrin2018 customed Mobile Suites 40KSSB3 2014 smart Fortwo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr. cob Posted April 22, 2019 Report Share Posted April 22, 2019 2 hours ago, Big5er said: I see a rally class in your future...Slaloming with Cory I see a million hit YouTube video 2001 Peterbilt, 379, Known As "Semi-Sane II", towing a 2014 Voltage 3818, 45 foot long toy hauler crammed full of motorcycles of all types. Visit my photo web site where you will find thousands of photos of my motorcycle wanderings and other aspects of my life, click this link. http://mr-cob.smugmug.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl&Rita Posted April 22, 2019 Report Share Posted April 22, 2019 2 hours ago, Big5er said: I see a rally class in your future...Slaloming with Cory If you can drive it in, you better be able to back it out. I have been wrong before, I'll probably be wrong again. 2000 Kenworth T 2000 w/N-14 and 10 speed Gen1 Autoshift, deck built by Star Fabrication 2006 smart fourtwo cdi cabriolet 2007 32.5' Fleetwood QuantumPlease e-mail us here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runaway parents Posted April 22, 2019 Report Share Posted April 22, 2019 As far as backing a trailer is concerned find your self the smallest trailer like a utility trailer maybe a log splitter cement mixer learn how to back these . get good at it , you will find the bigger the trailer the easier they are to back up. Hey Teach the more you know from a legit source the more you can tell what advice is legit on this forum and what is not .Do what makes you comfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted April 22, 2019 Report Share Posted April 22, 2019 9 hours ago, Steve from SoCal said: Knowledge and experience "seat time" is valuable in any endeavor. Driving a large combination vehicle is different enough from towing a small trailer with a pick up that competent instruction makes sense. Particularly for someone who has no background with large truck systems. Doing a walk around inspection, knowing how to do an air brake check and, understanding the vehicle dynamics of a heavy truck are not innate. Your desire to learn the nuances of driving a big truck is commendable. One thing I would suggest, make a list of the things that confound you. It is also easier to learn the right way from the start, rather than change bad old habits. Steve X2 As they say, Good On Ya Cory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dollytrolley Posted April 22, 2019 Report Share Posted April 22, 2019 13 hours ago, Vegas Teacher said: Just the class I am doing it only for the instructions 40 hours behind the wheel one on one with an instructor. Backing a trailer is a huge part of it. They teach you to slalom backwards. Teach, I have been a bit busy dealing with getting a couple of Lawyers Defrocked and some orange-undies so............I have been giving you some time off from me bully-ing and karping at you........... Thankfully Phil has taken up some geezer-advice chores to keep you bruzzzed-and-abuzzed so here is a bit of advice from the Gumps-Grave...................Grumps had a old high-lead-spar rig that was 80 feet long and it had a hitch on the end with a 1939 Wilson-Wasp V-4 Wisconsin powered 400 AMP DC welder sitting in the bed of a Ford model A pick-up bed with the rear diff torque-tube being the hitch of the welder trailer and most of the time it was towed with a Oshkosh 6 X 6 service monster cobbled from a Vee-nose-snow-plow-rig older than your grand-dad.............so..........on some of the worst days of my life as a high-school-punk-know-it-all I wold have to herd this monster down some hilly-narrow-rough-as-hell-logging-road (I not allowed on paved roads) and this monster was HEAVY and UNDERPOWERED (220 Cuminz) but it had FORTY GEARS FORWARD and TOO MANY GEARS IN REVERSE to count AND 4 inch round rear view mirrors that wobbled so bad you could see NOTHING to the rear of the monster...........so how could you make the worst-day-of-your-high-school-age-life worse than having to have to drive the monster rig .......FORWARD............well Teach here is how I made my day even worse.............At the end of the Pig-Trail-Logging-Spur I had to..........I had to.........I had tooooo ...........BACK UP ..........BACK UP......the 80ft Trailer with the 10 ft short tongue trailer hitched to the end of the EIGHTY FOOT trailer...............BAD JUJU........... So............Grumps having well earned ..........Dis-Trust in my driving skills would leave me about ONE HOUR to make 123,000 wiggly tire tracks all around the end of the logging spur and scrape most of the bark and limbs off most of the trees within 100 feet of the road and then........and then.............Grumps would drive up and get out of the K W and shake his head and kick a few pine cones out of the road and then............and then he would pick up one of the broken limbs that I had scraped off one of the trees and then ............he would ..........he would.......scribe a nice flowing ark in the dirt and roll a smoke and light it up and then motion me over into the co-pilot seat and then sloooowly mumble ...........N O W........E i n s t i n eee.....j u s t w a t c h ...... t h i s....i t i s s o o.... s i m p l e .........just put the darn truck in reverse.....and......and wiggle the wheel around some.........A N D ...........just pit the trailer wheel on the stick mark in the DIRT...................S O O O ...........simple ...........sooooo S I M P L E ............. And you know Teach when Grumps backed up that mess right on top of the stick mark in the dirt with a cig hanging out of his mug and not too much steering it sure looked.............S I M P L E............... Teach don't sweat backing Up..........just get out and scratch a ark in the dirt and ......just make sure the trailer tracks stay in the scratch mark............S I M P L E........ Drive on..............(Backing up is just........forward.......the other way) P S Phil.............it's your turn with Teach.......again 97 Freightshaker Century Cummins M11-370 / 1350 /10 spd / 3:08 /tandem/ 20ft Garage/ 30 ft Curtis Dune toybox with a removable horse-haul-module to transport Dolly-The-Painthorse to horse camps and trail heads all over the Western U S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vegas Teacher Posted April 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2019 To all: No offense was taken, I take all suggestions, comments and constructive criticism on driving and safety to heart and try to learn from everybody. Teachers are life long students. I think this backing thing gets the best of me sometimes. You know I studied 340 questions and read the driving book cover to cover, I annotated the text and outlined parts of the book I have it committed to memory. I am a good student I know how to study, I know how to learn. The backing is difficult for me, I know the trick put you hand at the 6 O'clock position and just turn the wheel the way you want the back of the trailer to go but how do you guys position the mirrors so you can see. On my Tundra I am so used to the mirrors and how far out they stick plus I just seem to know them better. I could really use advice here and any advice on backing up the the trailer bobtail and putting it on along with backing that trailer would be nice. I also know you back to the drivers side but how do you know what is going on, on the passenger side if the angle of the trailer makes it a little difficult to see. I ask this because when I was backing into the spot at a truck stop a frew weeks back, between two 860's, I was more than a little nervous. Later, Cory O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vegas Teacher Posted April 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2019 23 hours ago, runaway parents said: Hope I didn't offend any body it dose not hurt to get more info on these things. the more you no the better off you are. Not offended at all, I just feel stupid sometimes asking so many questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vegas Teacher Posted April 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2019 15 hours ago, mr. cob said: I see a million hit YouTube video It might be on America's funniest home videos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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