CDL test guides
Short answers to the questions drivers ask before the CDL knowledge test, written from the FMCSA CDL manual and the state licensing agencies' own pages. Every guide links to the free practice test it goes with.
Guides
- How many questions are on the CDL test?Fifty on general knowledge, 20 to 30 on each endorsement test, and you can miss one in five. The count for every test, in one place.
- What is the passing score on the CDL permit test?Eighty percent on every knowledge test, set by federal rule. What that means in questions, and why the skills test is scored differently.
- How to get a CDL permit (CLP), step by stepAge, the DOT physical, the paperwork, which tests to pass, what it costs in your state, and what the permit lets you do once you have it.
- CDL Class A vs Class B vs Class C: which one do you need?The weight limits that define each class, which vehicles they cover, which knowledge tests each one needs, and how the restriction codes cut them down.
- CDL endorsements and restrictions explainedEvery endorsement letter, the test and checks behind it, and every restriction code that can appear on a CDL, in plain words.
- The CDL air brakes test: what it covers and the numbers to knowTwenty-five questions, most of them numbers. Every pressure, time and distance from Section 5 of the manual, what it means, and why skipping the test costs you.
- How to get a hazmat endorsement on your CDLA 30-question test, a TSA background check, a training course and a five-year renewal. The steps in order and what the test actually asks.
- Failed the CDL permit test? What happens nextMost people who fail miss by two or three questions. The waiting time and fees by state, whether your passed tests still count, and how to fix the gap before the retake.
- CDL general knowledge test: what is on it and how to studyThe topics Section 2 covers, the numbers that come up again and again, and a study order that gets most drivers to 90% in about ten days.
- ELDT explained: the entry-level driver training ruleWho must take ELDT, what the theory and behind-the-wheel parts involve, how the Training Provider Registry works, and the exceptions.