WHen I go to take my CDL driving exam, can I use my truck and trailer (30' horse gooseneck, 15k gross), or will they provide me with a commerical rig? I'm pretty confortable driving my truck and trailer, but have never driven anything else. This is in Washington State.

 

From what dad and I understand, you can take your truck and trailer as long as you have a 24M tag. But all you can get with that rig is a Class A. You have to take the drive test in their truck with trailer to get the Commercial part of the license . I got my CDL and the truck we used was Beloit Vo-Tech's truck. A single axle with the allison and a single axle soda delivery trailer. Not too hard.

 

You will have to provide truck/trailer. In Texas, you can not use a trailer with Farm Tags, assuming you are going for Class A. Also remember that if you want a regular CDL, you must be in a vehicle with air brakes, etc for pre-trip inspection.

 

I am almost sure they will not provide transportation. Is all your stuff up to snuff, cause here you have to do the pre-trip inspection and if something is broken or not working it has to be fixed before you cna take the drive.

 

In Washington, you will need a truck/trailer rated and licensed for 26,000 or better. You can buy tonnage at the DMV, but I don't kow if they will sell that much on a Dodge Ram. Your truck will need to be tagged, and the registration with the tonnage on it (or purchased) will need to be provided to the tester.

The state testers do not provide vehicles. That is your responsibility. If you are using a training firm, they may provide a vehicle.

Remember that the purpose of a CDL test is to measure the aptitude of the applicant and that person's skill at handling commercal vehicles. The testing program is written from the point-of-view that applicants want or need to drive heavy commercial vehicles, not necessarily overloaded or over-licensed pickups.

In 2003 the insurance regulations in WA changed so you can't rent a commercial vehicle without a CDL first...an annoying change to a lovely loophole which allowed my students to rent CDL trucks for the purposes of testing.

Hope this helps.

 

Answered my questions, and I confirmed by getting hold of someone at a commerical testing facility. He was actually able to give me the RCW number for the state legislation that exempts horse trailers from the CDL requirement. So...I'm going to pass on the CDL for now.

However, am I going to have to look up state laws for every state I pass through, or is the horse trailer exemption a federal law too?

 

I have seen some pretty durned big horse trailers rolling down the interstate, no way to know if they had their CDL or not, something to check into. I would imagine if you could borrow a single axle tractor and single axle trailer it would not be that hard. You would set higher than normal, overall length may be shorter than what you have now.

 

I would think you are exempt unless your for hire. I would be quick to get some gauges installed since you will be pulling that trailer around too!

 

CDL Testing Question

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WHen I go to take my CDL driving exam, can I use my truck and trailer (30' horse gooseneck, 15k gross), or will they provide me with a commerical rig? I'm pretty confortable driving my truck and trailer, but have never driven anything else. This is in Washington State.

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2001 2500 4x4, Sport, auto, 76k miles, tow package, auto, 3.55s, mechanically stock. Tow 15k lb gross gooseneck horse trailer. Wanted: gauges, bypass oil filter, maybe a chip.



The gvw of your 2500 is 8800 right? and your trailer is 15000 right that adds to 23800. This is under CDL, you don't need it! Over 26000 gcwr you need CDL! commercial or not it doesn't matter!

 

I don't know about washington state but my guess is that if you have a truck where the GVWRs do not add up to more than 26000 they will not let you use it for the CDL test. Secondly here in NJ if you show up WITH a vehicle with a GCWR over 26000 (trailer over 10K) and you are driving it ... you're in trouble because you don't have your CDL yet!

 

First let me say that I can read and I do see that you are in Washington, the information that I am going to provide applies in Texas. May or may not be different in WA.

In Texas you have several vehicle/trailer choices for the driving part of the CDL[ you must provide your own truck and trailer]:

1. Semi-truck and trailer
2. Any truck equipped with air brakes will get you a Class B CDL
3. You can use your Dodge truck and horse trailer then for the driving test to upgrade to the combination rating of the class A CDL
4. Single axle truck with air brakes pulling a farm trailer gooseneck.......this will get you a class A CDL ( this is what I used for my test)

Depending upon the test course in your town, taking your driving exam in a tandem axles semi pulling a 48'-53' trailer wouldn't be very smart when you can do it in your pick-up truck pulling a little farm trailer( after you have completed the pre-trip and air brake test using a truck equipped with air brakes..................

Good Luck and keep them tickets off that CDL..................