CDL School

Explanation: Use high beams when it is safe and legal to do so. Use them when you are not within 500 feet of an approaching vehicle. 

Explanation - For an e-route inspection: check the tires, wheels, and truck body for signs of heat whenever you stop during a trip.

Wedge brakes and disc brakes are less common than s-cam brakes.

Basic method for shifting up: release accelerator, push in clutch and shift to neutral at the same time. Release clutch. Let the engine and gears slow down to the rpm required for the next gear. Push in clutch and shift to the higher gear at the same time. Release clutch and press accelerator at the same time.

Converter dollies built on or after March 1, 1998, are required to have antilock brakes. These dollies will have a yellow lamp on the left side of the dolly.

Empty trucks actually require greater stopping distances because an empty vehicle has less traction. It can bounce and lock up its wheels, giving much poorer braking.

Explanation: To drive a vehicle safely, you must be able to control its speed and direction. Safe operation of a commercial vehicle requires skill in accelerating, steering, stopping, and backing safely.

Tire problems include: too much or too little air pressure, bad wear, at least 4/32-inch tread depth on front tires, 2/32 inch on all other tires, no fabric should show through the tread or sidewall, cuts or other damage, tread separation, dual tires that come in contact with each other or parts of the vehicle, mismatched sizes, radial and bias-ply tires used together.

ABS helps you avoid wheel lock up and maintain control. You will not be able to use stab braking on a vehicle equipped with ABS.

What you should do is make a lane change or slow down to prevent a crash if the car suddenly cuts in front of you, and you should not honk or stay close behind the car.

Some vehicles have sight glasses, see-through coolant overflow containers, or coolant recovery containers. These permit you to check the coolant level while the engine is hot. If the container is not part of the pressurized system, the cap can be safely removed, and coolant added even when the engine is at operating temperature.

Commercial vehicle must be equipped with 3 red reflective triangles, 6 fuses or 3 liquid burning flares.

Air pressure increases with temperature. Do not let air out or the pressure will be too low when the tires cool off.

If an oncoming driver has drifted into your lane, a move to your right is best. If that driver realizes what has happened, the natural response will be to return to their own lane. No one is likely to be driving on the shoulder, but someone may be passing you on the left.

You need at least one second for each 10 feet of vehicle length at speeds below 40 mph. At greater speeds, you must add 1 second for safety. If your vehicle is 40 feet long and you are traveling at 50 mph, your following distance should be 5 seconds or more.

Protect the accident area: if your vehicle is involved in the accident, try to get it to the side of the road, if you're stopping to help, park away from the accident, put on your flashers, and set out reflective triangles to warn other traffic.

When driving a loud bang, vibrations, or heavy steering can indicate that a tire has failed.

¾ second to 1 second.

With the stab braking method, you apply your brakes all the way and release brakes when wheels lock up. 

Most vehicles now have an ABS light on the instrument panel that will light up briefly when the vehicle is started to alert you that the vehicle has ABS, you can check to see if the vehicle was built on or after March 1, 1998, or you can check for wires from your brakes.

Without ABS you still have normal brake functions. Drive and brake as you always have.

You should brake in a way that will keep your vehicle in a straight line and allow you to turn if it becomes necessary. You can use the "controlled braking" method or the "stab braking" method. 

Hauling liquids in tanks requires special skills because of the high center of gravity and liquid movement.

A stale green light is a traffic light that is green when you first see it, thus you do not know how long it has been green - so we have to assume it will change at any moment.

Explanation: Warn following drivers by flashing your brake lights, don't stop suddenly. If you see a hazard that will require slowing down, warn the drivers behind by flashing your brake lights. At dawn, dusk, in rain, or snow, you need to make yourself easier to see so turn on your lights. 

Before you change lanes, you must first make sure that no vehicles are hiding in your blind spots.

To know how much space you have, wait until the vehicle ahead passes a shadow on the road, a pavement marking, or some other clear landmark. Then count off the seconds like this: "one thousand-and-one, one thousand-and-two" and so on, until you reach the same spot.

In a front-wheel skid, the front end tends to go in a straight line regardless of how much you turn the steering wheel.

Blocking is used in the front, back, and/or sides of a piece of cargo to keep it from sliding. Blocking is shaped to fit snugly against cargo. It is secured to the cargo deck to prevent cargo movement.

Whether or not you load and secure the cargo yourself, you are responsible for inspecting your cargo, recognizing overloads and poorly balanced weight, knowing your cargo is properly secured and does not obscure your view ahead or to the sides, knowing your cargo does not restrict your access to emergency equipment.

Watch for: vehicles that may drift over the lane divider lines or within their own lane; vehicles traveling at inconsistent speeds; drivers who are preoccupied with maps, food, cigarettes, cell phones, or other objects; drivers who appear to be involved in conversations with their passengers.

Stopping is not always the safest thing to do in an emergency. When you don't have enough room to stop, you may have to steer away from what's ahead. Remember, you can almost always turn to miss an obstacle more quickly than you can stop.

Poor weight balance can make vehicle handling unsafe. The cargo should be loaded so that it is balanced in the cargo area.

Explanation: A skid happens whenever the tires lose their grip on the road. Most serious skids result from driving too fast for road conditions. Drivers who adjust their driving to conditions don't over-accelerate and don't have to over-brake or oversteer from too much speed. 

The B:C type fire extinguisher is designed to work on electrical fires and burning liquids. These are usually the following types of fire extinguishers: Regular Dry Chemical, KCl Dry Chemical, Carbon Dioxide (Dry), Halogenated Agent (Gas).

Front-end header boards ("headache racks") protect you from your cargo in case of a crash or emergency stop. The front-end structure should block the forward movement of any cargo you carry.

 If possible, avoid using the brakes until your speed has dropped to about 20 mph, and gently return to the road.

Perception Distance + Reaction Distance + Brake Lag Distance + Braking Distance = Total Stopping Distance

All vehicles with air brakes have a pressure gauge connected to the air tank. If the vehicle has a dual air brake system, there will be a gauge for each half of the system.

When people are working on the road, it is a hazard. There may be narrower lanes, sharp turns, or uneven surfaces.

In a front-wheel skid, the front end tends to go in a straight line regardless of how much you turn the steering wheel. On a very slippery surface, you may not be able to steer around a curve or turn.

Do the following to correct a drive-wheel braking skid: stop braking letting the rear wheels roll again and keep the rear wheels from sliding; counter-steer as a vehicle turns back on course, it tends to keep on turning. Unless you turn the steering wheel quickly the other way, you may find yourself skidding in the opposite direction.

Your CDL will be disqualified after two or more convictions of any state law on texting while operating a CMV. No motor carrier shall allow or require its drivers to engage in texting while driving.

When you're in an accident and not seriously hurt, you need to act to prevent further damage or injury. The basic steps to be taken in any accident are to: protect the area, notify authorities, and care for the injured.

Inspect the cargo and its securing devices again within the first 50 miles after beginning a trip. You need to inspect again after you have driven for 3 hours or 150 miles and after every break you take while driving.

Too much weight on the steering axle can cause hard steering. It can damage the steering axle and tires.

It takes a typical tractor trailer unit at least 14 seconds to clear a single track and more than 15 seconds to clear a double track.

Inspect the tires more often than usual, or every two hours or every 100 miles when driving in very hot weather.