Wanderers

Oledog3,

I went to Texas.gov and TxDPS.gov and did not find any public accessible information on what tests are required for the Class A exempt. You could try calling the DPS service during the work week, working through the menus until you talk to a human and see if they can point you to the requirements. They really need to do a better job of explaining the requirements for RVers. I had to educate the folks at United RV because they did not know about the requirements for when their clients might require a Class A or B exempt license. If the RV dealerships don't know, how can they expect the rest of us to know?

I know the Texas legislature was working on a bill to allow for CDL type training facilities for RVers. But never heard what happened to that bill. 

Best Regards,

The Wanderers

Oledog3,

Unfortunately I did not speak to the supervisor directly, the young lady I was talking to following the test took the initiative to ask a couple supervisors. I might have been sounding a little frustrated since I notice a few other people looking at me while I was explaining why the air brake test should not apply. She did not know an air brake from an electric brake. 

Best Regards,

Wanderers

4 hours ago, OLEDOG3 said:

Wanderers, I literally just had the exact same experience (well, almost...day one, after waiting for 3 hours, their computers went down, day two, there computers went down for about 2 more hours, all said I was there for 7 hours today) at the same location you were at, but I guess I didn't argue loud enough about the air brake test.  Thus walked away with failed second test.  No-one there would listen to me when I tried to tell them it was wrong.  They even brought in a DPS officer which was of no use to me.  Can any of you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me where you got the info for proper test, as I cannot find it anywhere on TX.GOV sights regarding the "CVO knowledge test"  to show the nitwits at the test center, as they don't seem to want to take my word for it.  Now I'm just a little mad that I folded too quickly.  Thank you. and congrats for getting through to these folks.

Oledog3,

I guess I was persuasive in arguing my Fifth wheel did not have air brakes so it did not make sense to make me pass an air break test. I had to go through up the chain until I found someone who would agree. Maybe David and Cheryl have more references to the code they can provide.

good luck,

the Wanderers. 

Hi folks, 

I just finished my Texas Class A exempt test. I took it at the Fort Worth mega center off Brentwood Stair road in East Fort Worth. I took the vision and written test in Early April. There was a LOT of confusion when, after waiting four hours, I told them I was applying for a class A exempt license. They thought that was a CDL and I went through three different people until they seemed to figure it out. They did the vision test, finger prints, and took the $11 fee. Then told me I needed to take two written exams. I told her I was informed there was only one, but she insisted I had to taken two. I decided to go along with it and see what the second test was. I figured if I passed, it was no big deal, and if I failed I could always argue. The second rest was on truck air breaks. Needless to say I failed that test, but passed the normal test described in this post. I successfully argued my case about the air break test ( after going through three supervisors) and they dropped it. Later that day I tried to schedule my driving test at the same mega center, but when I selected "Recreational Vehicle" on the website it kept trying to send me to a drivers test location over 200 miles away! Tried to call the mega center and of course all calls are now routed to a central line in Austin. They had no explanation for the websites behavior. Best they could offer was for me to go back to the mega center in person. Which I did a couple days later. The folks at the information desk did not believe me when I told them what was happening with the website until they tried it for themselves. The solution was to select class A CDL instead of Recreational Vehicle and I was finally able to schedule my drivers test. 

Went for the drivers test today with my F-350 and our 43 foot New Horizons fiver. At first I pulled into the waiting area where all the other Class A vehicles were waiting which is where I had seen other RVs in the past. Found out I needed to go around the back of the building where they did the Class C tests. So I had to back out into traffic on Brentwood Stair. Fortunately they held traffic for me. Then drive through the parking lot which was a very tight squeeze for my big rig. Made it around back only to find where they had directed me had a overhang that had only 12 foot clearance ( our rig is 13.6 tall). Fortunately I stopped short. Then they directed me to go down the fire lane and park. Waited about 30 minutes for the instructor to come out. Very pleasant young lady. 

She did a quick safety inspection then climbed in the truck and directed me out of the lot. I did NOT have to back up for the test. She took me through a series of neighborhood streets, left turns, right turns, merge onto the freeway, changed lanes, and then finally back through that tight parking lot and around back. I had scrubbed the trailer tires on the curb on the turn in the parking lot and one other tight corner. That cost me a few points, but I did not climb the curb. She told me if I had climbed the curb it was an automatic failure. I had not heard this before. So watch the tight turns!!

So, it's a painful process because the mega drivers license centers don't handle enough Class A exempt applications to allow them to treat as business as usual. But perseverance, and knowing the information from this post, will get you through. 

David and Cheryl did a very thorough job of explaining the process. Thank-you for all the attention to detail and the references!!