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CDL tet


rick37

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Have had mine for about 20 years...... back then the written was pretty easy to get through, just gotta use common sense. the driving is a bit of a pain....... but I don't know if they still do the skills the same. I had to do a 90 degree turn and come as close to the cone without hitting (this all with a trailer), back into a dock.... which is all cones and you have to put the icc bumper in this foot deep rectangle or its a point. parallel park the trailer, again with a small box at the back that you have to try and get the bumper in, then the serpentine........... they have 3 barrels a tractor/trailer length apart and you pull up till the back of your trailer is at the first barrel. then you back up going between the first two and bringing the trailer back to the right to go between the middle and last barrel....finish by straightening the unit up after you clear the last barrel and back it till the front bumper is at the barrel. any pull ups on any of these was a point....... like I said, don't know how they do it now. backing is by far the hardest..... just remember, turn left to go right and right to go left.

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the written test is not doo difficult. i've had mine for about 12 yrs, so i'm a little foggy on the exact course. but, some of the things i remember about the course are making a right-hand turn with a cone set as the corner and a line with measurement painted on the ground. you have to make the turn and keep your trailer as close to the cone as possible without hitting it and there were cones accross the 'street' to mark where the curb would be and you couldnt hit them either. there was a backing section where you had to put the trailer in a box just big enough for it to fit so that the tractor was jackknifed at 90 degs. i think i had to back in a straight line for some distance. sorry, cant remember too much more. however, on the driving test pay very close attention to the road signs. i was asked about a clearance sign that was ahead, but we turned before it. also, know which lane you can go into when making a right turn (you can go into the opposing lane of the road onto which you are turning, not the road on which you are currently traveling, etc). watch for no parking signs, no trucks, etc. slow down to an appropriate speed for train tracks and be sure to be accelerating (under power, rather) over them. stuff like that, putting what you've learned in the book to use.

also, the truck will more than likely be a single axle day cab with an automatic, so that helps too.

i took my test at a private test center so my experience may be different than yours.

hope this helps!

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dont have to study hard for the pretrip most dont know this but its not on memory only you can have your pti book in hand and go donw the list you wont miss a thing that way ive trained 3 drivers at work so far and took them for thier tests its cake as long as you can drive nad easest if you use a day cab and flatbed

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I got my CDL about 5 years ago, using the driving school at the community college in Springfield-- it was a lot cheaper than Roadmaster and such. The test wasn't bad-- like others have said, remembering the important parts of the pre-trip was the hardest part of it. Although the whole thing would have been easier if I hadn't taken the damned thing in the snow.

The parallel park thing was kind of a pain, too, but not earth-shatteringly so.

As for the written test (which you only do for your temps, if I recall right), it was really easy. I did the main test, doubles/ triples, hazmat, tankers, and air brakes in like an hour total.

Edited by Aerik
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I have had mine for about two years. The written portion was easy, The driving part wasn't bad. Pay attention to your signs, expessialy bridge weights and over head clearences as they asked me what signs said as I was driving. The hard part for me was the pre trip inspection. You have to use the terminology "cracked or broken" all bolts are there, nothing visiable leaking. I did not pass the pre trip the first time due to not using the terminology they wanted. Other than that it wasn't bad at all

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Well back when I drove I was given the keys..if I could start it I was a driver..but things have changed I know..I was finger printed,took a lot of tests and driving tests...backing up is not that hard,when exhausted which you will be just remember to grab the steering wheel at the bottom and turn it in the direction you want the trailer to go...and watch the wheels and not the box...tankers ya just have to get close...

Good luck...ya don't have to be a good driver but always have your paperwork in order...that is the only thing PUCO cares about.

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And if you go OTR, learn to make friends with night dispatch. They're always short-staffed, laid-back, and willing to shift the good runs to the drivers that save their ass a time or two. At Crete, I had them so well trained that they wouldn't even bother asking me to go north in the winter.

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