
Improper and unsafe driving can quite literally put other lives at risk as well as your own. When trucking companies hire new drivers, they want to make sure that they’ve been adequately trained and know how to handle driving a tractor-trailer.ĭriving a truck is not like driving a car. Hiring someone who obtained their CDL without attending formal training is a serious risk for the trucking company. Sure, you may have your CDL, but trucking companies will have no idea whether you received proper training. If you want to get your CDL and give yourself the best chance to get hired by a trucking company, then your best bet is to attend trucking school. A CDL means nothing if you can’t put it to work. But that doesn’t mean anyone is going to hire you. So, yes, you can get a CDL without school – if you have some kind of hands-on training from another trucker. You can read and study to prepare for the written test, but you can’t possibly prepare for the road test without some kind of hands-on training. If you don’t have a trucker buddy to help you out, you’ll likely have a hard time passing the road skills test. Once you feel comfortable, nothing is stopping you from taking the exam and getting your license. They can likely teach you the basics of driving a truck and how to operate a rig. Maybe you have a truck driver friend who has offered to give you one-on-one lessons. That’s why the Hazardous Materials CDL test is the same in every state.Technically, yes, you can get a CDL without going to school. Are Hazmat placards placed in a different location on your trailer depending on what state you’re in? Not so much. Is there a different braking technique on a mountain in Colorado than there is in West Virginia? No, that’s why the questions and answers on the Air Brakes test are the same on the California CDL test as they are on every other state’s test. The way you drive a big truck doesn’t change from one state to the next. These rules must be consistent nationwide. The FMCSA’s mission “is to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities involving large trucks and buses”. Each state turns this template into their own CDL manual and adds such things as an introduction, state DMV/DPS locations, requirements, and fees for that state. This information doesn’t change from state to state. The California CDL manual is based on the same template given from the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) and based on Federal Guidelines. Link to our main CDL Practice Test pageĪdditional Information About California CDL Tests.


