A neighbor down th street said her cousin took the course and he was the only one that past his cdl test out of 17 student. How hard is it and do you have to take the whole course all over again and pay all that big money again

 

Are you talkin' written or skills?
Written - STUDY the state CDL manual, do the manual review questions (highlite answers in manual), do practice test(s) on various websites, internalize answers, written should be cake.
Skills - Practice, practice, practice after being shown how to do the maneuvers. Get the kinesics (sp) down.

Too many people want the results but won't work to get 'em. If the CDL tests can't be passed, think burger flipper. The hours are better. BOL

 

1 out of 17 passed??????

Well then 1 of 2 things happened (if not both).


The school sucked

The students failed to apply themselves enough to pass.

The school I went to, we had 14 in my class and all but 1 person passed everything the first time around on both writtens and later on the skills test.

The person who did not pass flunked out on the skills test because of his own ignorance. He failed to listen to the examiners instructions.

 

SAGE SCHOOL I heard was very good and they said they have about 30% that will not pass the first time .She said it was mostly the driving part

 

If it's one of the "cdl mills" that give you a 2 week course, you shouldn't even expect to be able to pass the skills portion for the simple reason that you don't have enough driving time.

 

Oh boy, where to start?

First, your husband has been a employed all these years. Trucking companies will love him. He is stable with a good work ethic. I ran a machine and fabrication shop for many years. I KNOW what your husband does and I have GREAT respect for him. He has to have a sharp mind and always be aware of what is going on around him do do his job and to do it safely. Yet another thing that will serve him well in the trucking industry. I know in his job now he must use his planning skills and think ahead to do his job correctly. Same thing in trucking. He is a hands-on kind of guy. ( enough said ).

As for the school: Doing the same type work for so many years, yes it can be scary starting in a whole new field. I know, at the age of 43 I took the same leap that you guys are thinking about.

I will follow up on this later as I need to get some sleep. Have to work tonight.

 

Have confidence and you will be fine, it may take a few attempts.

It took me 3 attempts

1st attempt I pointed out on maneuvers

2nd attempt I passed manuevers but pressed clutch in middle of a turn and failed driving portion

3rd attempt I passed..There where 10 people in my class and 2 passed the 1st time. The rest of us passed after 2-4 attempts

 

I'm in CDL school at tech college in Wisconsin. Am told 97% pass the CDL exam the first time. Of course the class is 10 weeks with 1000 miles Behind the wheel minimun. Cost... $1,700. The MANY companies who send recuiters to vist (daily) have consistantly said that the one thing that they appreciate, is the BACKING skills their graduates demonstrate. I expect to perform somewhere around 150-200 backing maneuvers before graduation. With all due respect, why is it in today's society the focus is all too often about "the minimun requirement"? Part of the problem in industry? :roll:

 

The biggest worry I have for myself, when it comes time for me to take my test, is going to be the pre-trip. My memory is not the greatest. How in the heck do you memorize all of those things that you have to check, and practically recite it from the manual word for word? I personally believe that you should be able to use a cheat sheet, especially when it comes to critical safety components, such as suspension parts and the air brakes. If the driver is able to go down a check-list of components, therefore "almost" guaranteeing that they "will" be checked and nothing forgotten, wouldn't it benefit the driver and all involed, in the name of safety? I for one, will have a check-list made up to do my daily pre-trip, when I start driving.

 

hitman,

The best and easiest way to memorize the pre trip is to do it EXACTLY the same way every single time.

Also look at it this way. You really only need to memorize 1/2 of it, because the other side of the truck is the same thing. :wink: