- Today, we're going to give you five tips to
pass your CDL pre-trip inspection,
when you show up at the DMV.
This is directed towards tractor trailers,
but it'll work for buses and smaller trucks as well.
First tip for tractor trailer,
you have 45 minutes to complete your pre-trip inspection,
so you need to be moving don't dawdle when you're
doing your pre-trip inspection
and don't get stuck on a component
if you can't remember the name of it.
Simply touch it, secure, not damaged, not leaking.
If you make a mistake, just keep going, take a breath,
and carry on because the examiner may not even
have seen the mistake that you thought you made.
Keep it simple.
Don't make it over complex.
Otherwise you're going to forget the major components
of the vehicle and be able to determine if they're working.
And I'll put a video up in the corner here for you,
up here on ways to memorize the information you need
for your pre-trip inspection, because there's a lot of it.
So, 45 minutes to complete your pre-trip inspection.
Don't dawdle.
Tip number two.
For the purposes of your CDL test, you are not determining
if the vehicle is safe, you are demonstrating a competency.
You know how to do the pre-trip inspection.
You know, the names of the major components of the unit
and you can determine if they are working
and they are safe to go up and down the road.
So, you are determining a competency
and demonstrating that to the examiner.
You know, not determining if the vehicle is safe or not.
That's for after you get out and start working.
So again, this goes back to point, number one,
you got 45 minutes.
Keep going, get it down and time yourself
when you're getting near the end and getting closer
to your test date so that you're within the 45 minutes,
because most examiners are only going to give you a couple
of minutes and then they're going to cut you off
and you're going to be unsuccessful on your CDL
pre-trip inspection.
Tip number three, stick to the sequence.
Don't get out of your sequence
because then you'll forget stuff.
If you stick to your sequence,
then you're going to remember all
of the information that you need to present
to the examiner to be successful on your test.
For me, the best sequence that I have found is
on the passenger side of the engine compartment.
Driver's side of the engine compartment.
Close the hood in the cab, outside front of the truck
around the truck and unit in a counterclockwise direction
and then under the truck, and then back
in the truck at the end.
That is your path of travel around the vehicle.
When you're breaking the vehicle into sections,
do the section, start at the top left or right.
If you stick to the sequence
it's less likely that you're going to forget something
on your pre-trip inspection when you're doing your test.
Blood, sweat and tears.
That's what went into this video, cause it was hot.
And I cut my head on the end of that angle iron,
underneath the trailer.
Ah! that's going to bleed.
If you want the complete list, detailed list
of what you need to say, what you need to inspect
for the purposes of passing your pre-trip inspection,
click up in the corner here,
head over to the Smart Drive test website.
Tip number four, if you forget something,
you can go back and check it.
If you're in the cab, you're finishing up, you're filling
out your pre-trip inspection sheet, and you look
at it and you go, oh, I forgot my emergency equipment.
Yes, you can go out, check your emergency equipment
which is your fire extinguisher, your first aid kit,
your flares, which are not flares in this day and age
because we've figured out that, you know
fire and flammable materials, tend to create fires so,
now they're triangles, flashlight, fluids, extra fluids.
Those are your five F's.
You can go out and check that, come back in.
And once you sign the pre-trip inspection
and hand it to the examiner,
that's when you're finished your pre-trip inspection.
But until that point, yes you could go back
and check something else.
Tip number five.
When you show up at the DMV or the test center,
get everything ready.
Chock the wheels, release the parking brakes on the truck.
If you've got an older truck with an older air brake system,
you'll have to drain the wet tank.
Most newer trucks are going to have an AD-IS system
air dryer integrated system.
And you'll know that through the course of your training,
get all your tools out.
If you're doing the pry bar method
you're not going to have measuring tape
and markers and those types of things
but that'll all be set up with the driving school
cuz most of you're going to be going to a driving school.
If you're using the pry bar method
you might need some safety equipment.
Make sure you wear gloves, you want to protect your hands
and keep the dirt outside of the vehicle.
So have all your tools ready,
your overalls and those types of things
cause you're going to have to go underneath the truck.
If you need a creeper as well, have that ready.
So have that all set up, ready to go,
so when the examiner comes out, you can launch right
into your pre-trip inspection and get that done
within the 45 minutes that you're allotted.
Good luck on your test and remember, pick the best answer,
not necessarily the right answer.
Have a great day. Bye now.