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Who has their CDL?

Patyota
we are talking semantics here....
my point is the class c guys chiming in about cdl tech.
If dot is involved you need what THEY DEEM NECESSARY, not what yer cousins girlfriends dads friend said!
Op looking for an answer thats getting burried is what I was sayin....
I dunno shit anyhow, got mine in 78:beer:
In that OTHER world we used ta have...
 
Thanks for all the responses, I know I am in CDL territory, thats not up for dispute. There is a gray area I can claim to be under, but I dont like doing that.

I will try to get it all at once, I would like to get a semi some day as my equipment keeps getting bigger. I havent had much luck finding a trainer to go through, all I can find look like the learn to be a super trucker over the road type. I would prefer someone to just do 1:1 with me and let me drive their truck around, might not be an option.
 
Not to add any thing of importance. I got my class A 15 years ago and now have a non commercial class A. I took my driving test in a straight truck with a 10k rated trailer. It was simple.
 
Keep in mind that a CDL cuts the DUI limit in half. That means that every Christmas, New Years and most Saturdays after 10pm the cops (assuming their department is rich enough for an ALPR abd can run your plates real time) will pull you over just to check if you've had anything to drink because if you have it's likely an easy win for them. And they will do the same to anyone driving a vehicle that's registered in your name.

If you live in a shithole with bore cops who write revenue tickets this means that every time this happens you will get a ticket for 5-over, rolling a stop, inspection violation, light out or some other bullshit that was the pretext for the fishing stop. Overloading a truck and railer that's nominally too light to put you in CDL territory suddenly seems cheap.
 
arse_sidewards said:
Keep in mind that a CDL cuts the DUI limit in half. That means that every Christmas, New Years and most Saturdays after 10pm the cops (assuming their department is rich enough for an ALPR abd can run your plates real time) will pull you over just to check if you've had anything to drink because if you have it's likely an easy win for them. And they will do the same to anyone driving a vehicle that's registered in your name.

If you live in a shithole with bore cops who write revenue tickets this means that every time this happens you will get a ticket for 5-over, rolling a stop, inspection violation, light out or some other bullshit that was the pretext for the fishing stop. Overloading a truck and railer that's nominally too light to put you in CDL territory suddenly seems cheap.
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Understand, and I dont drink so thats not an issue.
Its more than an overweight ticket though, they shut you down and make you get towed off the side of the road or have someone with a CDL come move your rig off the road, plus a $500 ticket.
 
Baconator said:
Understand, and I dont drink so thats not an issue.
Its more than an overweight ticket though, they shut you down and make you get towed off the side of the road or have someone with a CDL come move your rig off the road, plus a $500 ticket.
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It's not about drinking and driving. It's about painting a target on every vehicle registered in your name.
 
I was pulled over by the county sheriff today for a commercial vehicle inspection, I was a bit pissed that the only reason he pulled me over was because I was towing something painted yellow, he flat out said that.
I was moving the machine from my shop to my actual farm, so I plead Ag Use. He ended up letting me off. I saw him on my way home with another pickup/trailer pulled over so I guess they are really getting after them.
Sort of pisses me off while we were sitting on the side of the road a nasty looking dump truck with no plates on it went rolling by, yet the new truck/trailer gets pulled.
 
Baconator said:
I was pulled over by the county sheriff today for a commercial vehicle inspection, I was a bit pissed that the only reason he pulled me over was because I was towing something painted yellow, he flat out said that.
I was moving the machine from my shop to my actual farm, so I plead Ag Use. He ended up letting me off. I saw him on my way home with another pickup/trailer pulled over so I guess they are really getting after them.
Sort of pisses me off while we were sitting on the side of the road a nasty looking dump truck with no plates on it went rolling by, yet the new truck/trailer gets pulled.
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Why would they pull the pos over? The guy driving the pos don’t have the cash to pay a ticket. The guy that had nice stuff sure will.
 
Baconator said:
I was pulled over by the county sheriff today for a commercial vehicle inspection, I was a bit pissed that the only reason he pulled me over was because I was towing something painted yellow, he flat out said that.
I was moving the machine from my shop to my actual farm, so I plead Ag Use. He ended up letting me off. I saw him on my way home with another pickup/trailer pulled over so I guess they are really getting after them.
Sort of pisses me off while we were sitting on the side of the road a nasty looking dump truck with no plates on it went rolling by, yet the new truck/trailer gets pulled.
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Let me guess:

Machine was new enough to be commercially viable and not a historical curiosity.

Trailer was rated for the load and then some.

Truck was new enough to not be a clapped out POS and rated for the load.

You made the mistake of looking commercial. Don't wanna get treated like commercial traffic don't look like commercial traffic.
 
ThePanzerFuhrer said:
Why would they pull the pos over? The guy driving the pos don’t have the cash to pay a ticket. The guy that had nice stuff sure will.
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You're right about that, the company I work for has basically brand new dump trucks and fairly new machines we haul on our low boy, and we get pulled fairly often. A company owner I know though runs notoriously ragged dump trucks and he's hardly ever pulled over, I mean so ragged the tandem axles are wobbling side to side getting out of line with each other going down the highway. Rarely see him pulled over, he finally got pulled today though, and the truck stayed on the side of the highway for hours and hours. Last time i saw one of his trucks pulled over, the next week I saw it at a scrap yard, his stuff is that raggedy lol.
 
All I will say is some tests are weird. Some use the Feds test, others make their own. Not all use the same answers to the same questions, so keep that in mind if you are looking for online study guides. My advice would be to get the manual from your state's DMV and just study it. Keep in mind that in my experience, the DMV wants the answer they want, not the one you think works best or the most logical. They want their answer and no amount of arguing will change that. Learn what they want you to know, then form a logical opinion based on real world experience once you get on the road. Just my .02
 
Are you talking about the driving test? Mirrors. Check BOTH mirrors before you stop, check BOTH mirrors while stopped, and check BOTH mirrors when taking off. You cannot check your mirrors enough. Also, pay attention to street signs, instructors like to ask what the signs were after you are blocks down the road.

Pre-trip. Know it inside and out. Know what the components are and what they do. It wouldn't hurt to know the legal specs on tire tread also.
 
bradp674 said:
Are you talking about the driving test? Mirrors. Check BOTH mirrors before you stop, check BOTH mirrors while stopped, and check BOTH mirrors when taking off. You cannot check your mirrors enough. Also, pay attention to street signs, instructors like to ask what the signs were after you are blocks down the road.

Pre-trip. Know it inside and out. Know what the components are and what they do. It wouldn't hurt to know the legal specs on tire tread also.
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^^^^^^ This is all true and somewhat funny. During the pre trip portion, I basically acted like a salesman and after pointing out what I was checking, I would say "and is in good working order". Must of said that 50-60 times lol.
 
bradp674 said:
Are you talking about the driving test? Mirrors. Check BOTH mirrors before you stop, check BOTH mirrors while stopped, and check BOTH mirrors when taking off. You cannot check your mirrors enough. Also, pay attention to street signs, instructors like to ask what the signs were after you are blocks down the road.

Pre-trip. Know it inside and out. Know what the components are and what they do. It wouldn't hurt to know the legal specs on tire tread also.
Click to expand...

Know the pre trip by heart, and go above and beyond if possible. Grab everything and say it's securely fastened, etc..steps, mirror brackets, everything. point out everything under the hood and what you're checking for, belt tension, etc.. bore the fuck out of the inspector by checking EVERYTHING outside, and they'll likely know that you know your shit and skip some of it and let you get inside. Don't forget to blow both horns, don't forget the brake bleed down check, that's automatic fail on the brake check. I forget all the rest of the inside test, been 20 years, but taught a few young guys to do it, but that was 5 years ago too so i forgot again. Once on the road, read all the signs you pass. if you go under an overpass, read the height sign on it (if it has one, they'll ask and you better know there wasn't one if it wasn't height restricted) and know the bridge weight loads you might cross, because they will ask, and only ask after you passed it.
 
I made it through the "written" tests without any issues. I was asking about the skills (pre-trip & driving) tests. Thank Brad, Og, and Drummer - that's just the sort of thing I was looking for.

Pre-trip, I've been told similar to Og and Drummer - identify the item, that it is (as applicable) securely fastened, isn't damaged, loose, cracked, or leaking, and then any particular specifications (belt deflection, tread depth), etc. Drummer puts it well - bore the fuck out of them.
 
Og48 said:
^^^^^^ This is all true and somewhat funny. During the pre trip portion, I basically acted like a salesman and after pointing out what I was checking, I would say "and is in good working order". Must of said that 50-60 times lol.
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Ive been studying some youtube pre trips, I was wondering if you actually had to say "this is the mirror, and its in good working order"
 
Fire extinguisher, 3 reflective triangles, and 3 points of contact getting in and out of the vehicle, were big points when I took mine years ago, and the air brake test, if you didn’t word and perform it “exactly” like they wanted, you automatically failed.
 
So I have thought about this, but honestly, I don't want a job, or license that requires a drug test.

If I want to smoke before bed one night, or even every night, It's NOBODY's business.
( I am not some burn out stoner or anything, I just don't want to take the stupid test)

So with that said, is a class B or a class A license out of the question?
 
grumpy356 said:
So I have thought about this, but honestly, I don't want a job, or license that requires a drug test.

If I want to smoke before bed one night, or even every night, It's NOBODY's business.
( I am not some burn out stoner or anything, I just don't want to take the stupid test)

So with that said, is a class B or a class A license out of the question?
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Pretty much. You’ll need to enroll in a random drug test program. I’m not sure what is disqualification because the drug test results get sent back to the employer. Idk if you license gets suspended if you fail?
 
grumpy356 said:
So I have thought about this, but honestly, I don't want a job, or license that requires a drug test.

If I want to smoke before bed one night, or even every night, It's NOBODY's business.
( I am not some burn out stoner or anything, I just don't want to take the stupid test)

So with that said, is a class B or a class A license out of the question?
Click to expand...

So I just got my DOT physical, they do make you piss in a cup but arent checking for drugs. Its for blood in urine and kidney function.
I was a little surprised by it, but they told me that the DOT physical doenst care about drugs, that is up to the employer.
 
Baconator said:
So I just got my DOT physical, they do make you piss in a cup but arent checking for drugs. Its for blood in urine and kidney function.
I was a little surprised by it, but they told me that the DOT physical doenst care about drugs, that is up to the employer.
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This, at least in California anyway. I have my class A but am not a hired driver, so I just have to take the same physical as above. Once I start operating my own "for hire" truck, then, I would have enroll in a drug clearinghouse program, plus random drug pull program, and if I'm correct, as a hired employee you still need to enroll in the federal drug clearing house, but it would be up to your employer to have you enroll in a random drug pull program.

Again this is if you are driving "for hire". Now I feel never dug into it, but don't they have a non commercial A/B license for rec vehicles?
 
Yep, got mine last year. Work was endorsing it. Trained, drove, tests on company time plus a small bonus to get it. Figured why not. Got all endorsements accept hazmat.
 
Baconator said:
So I just got my DOT physical, they do make you piss in a cup but arent checking for drugs. Its for blood in urine and kidney function.
I was a little surprised by it, but they told me that the DOT physical doenst care about drugs, that is up to the employer.
Click to expand...

He's right. I've had my CDL for 21 years now, and yes they piss test you for the medical card, but it's for kidney function or something, not sure what they're looking for, but not drugs if you are having the medical done for yourself as a CDL holder. The 5 years that I worked for a company that cared about drugs, I got random piss tests through the company, but went to my normal doctor for my normal medical card like I always had, and no piss test. The company was stupid and didn't know any better, they assumed medical card means you got drug tested and they accepted it. I did still have to take their random piss tests, but I didn't care, I wasn't on drugs.
With that said, I have always heard, and it's probably true, that if you're in some kind of accident in a CDL vehicle, the DMV officer can require you to take an on the spot piss test , which I assume means they escort you somewhere to get tested right then, but never seen or personally heard of it happening.
 
ThePanzerFuhrer said:
Pretty much. You’ll need to enroll in a random drug test program. I’m not sure what is disqualification because the drug test results get sent back to the employer. Idk if you license gets suspended if you fail?
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Not true as a personal CDL holder, at least not in NC. If your employer requires random drug testing, thats company policy, there is no state policy requiring any recorded drug tests here in NC.
 
Yes no maybe
can you repeat the question?
Thee ibb
Irate bickering board
Love the net...
 
Drummer79 said:
With that said, I have always heard, and it's probably true, that if you're in some kind of accident in a CDL vehicle, the DMV officer can require you to take an on the spot piss test , which I assume means they escort you somewhere to get tested right then, but never seen or personally heard of it happening.
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I know many companies and municipalities have that as a requirement, no matter who is at fault you have to take a test.
Few years back 6 guys in a crew cab pickup going to a training meeting, 3rd shift jail guard coming the other way falls asleep, crosses the median and and comes into their lane, they take to the shoulder to avoid a head on and he still sideswipes them.
All 6 guys had to go get tested.

Aaron Z
 
Drummer79 said:
Not true as a personal CDL holder, at least not in NC. If your employer requires random drug testing, thats company policy, there is no state policy requiring any recorded drug tests here in NC.
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In Northern California, it’s not required, but most companies do for insurance reasons, if you have an accident CHP will test you on site, no matter who is at fault. But there’s plenty of tweaker fucking idiots driving trucks around here....
 
Clb said:
Yes no maybe
can you repeat the question?
Thee ibb
Irate bickering board
Love the net...
Click to expand...

thats because most every state has different rules when it comes to commercial licenses and everyone in this thread is from a different state :laughing:
 
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