Doing a pre-trip inspection is one of the biggest parts of learning about how to become a trucker and studying to get a CDL drivers license. A significant amount of your time at a truck driving school will be spent time learning this procedure. You will have to learn to identify all of the mechanical parts of a tractor-trailer combination as well as the study order from front to back of a tractor trailer and be able to name them all verbally out loud as you look and inspect each of the items. This just might be the hardest part of learning to get a commercial drivers license for new drivers.
Study the pre-trip inspection sections of the CDL study guide thoroughly. There are many pre-trip inspection questions in the general knowledge test part of the CDL permit test. You will have to physically or manually perform a pre-trip inspection test with a licensed CDL examiner when you test for your commercial driver’s license. To prepare for the written portion of the pre-trip inspection use free CDL practice tests from the Internet to get ready.
To get a better understanding of how a pre-trip inspection is performed, look on YouTube for pre-trip inspection videos to watch. A big part of performing the pre-trip inspection is doing the different types of air brake checks and tests. There are several videos on YouTube as well that depict drivers performing these different types of air brake tests. An example of a question from the pre-trip inspection test would be the following; name some things on the front of your vehicle which you should check during the pre-trip inspection test? Usually you would be given 5 multiple-choice answers to choose from with a question like this. All of the test questions for the permit test will be in this format.
Becoming a truck driver is serious business. You need to more than just memorize things like the pre trip inspection test and air brake tests. You really need to learn and absorb this information because you’ll use it on a daily basis as a truck driver. Failing to be able to recognize defects on a tractor-trailer combination can cost people’s lives. Doing a proper pre trip inspection can save you hours and hours of sitting on the side of the road waiting for a towing company to show up to get you up and going again. Most truck drivers are paid by the mile and you will not be making any money if you are not moving. Make doing a pre trip inspection a part of your daily routine.