Illinois SOS CDL warm-up test

  • Questions30
  • Correct to pass24
  • Passing score80%
  • Minimum age18 years

Minimum age: 18 years for an intrastate CLP or CDL; 21 years for interstate operation or to transport passengers

10 questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why; you need 8 correct answers to pass.

  1. 1. What is the minimum tread depth required in every major groove of a steering axle tire?

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    Answer D: 4/32 inch

    Federal rules set a higher tread minimum for front steering tires than for other positions because a steering tire failure is far harder to control.

  2. 2. Where are regrooved, recapped or retreaded tires not allowed on a truck or truck tractor?

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    Answer C: On the front steering wheels

    Regrooved and retreaded tires are prohibited on the front wheels of a truck or truck tractor because a steering tire blowout is extremely difficult to manage.

  3. 3. Most rollovers of loaded trucks on exit and entrance ramps happen for which reason?

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    Answer B: The ramp was taken faster than the load could tolerate

    A posted ramp speed is set for cars, and a loaded trailer with a high center of gravity can roll at a speed a car would take easily.

  4. 4. What must a written driver vehicle inspection report cover at the end of the day?

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    Answer C: Any defect or deficiency that would affect safety or could cause a mechanical breakdown

    The report identifies the vehicle and lists defects that affect safe operation or could lead to a breakdown, so they are repaired before the next trip.

  5. 5. Which clues warn you that a parked car may pull out or open a door?

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    Answer A: Exhaust smoke, turned front wheels, a person in the seat

    Signs of life in a parked vehicle, such as a running engine, turned wheels or an occupant, mean it may move or open a door into your path.

  6. 6. A car is following you far too closely. What is the safest response?

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    Answer A: Open up more space ahead so you can slow gradually, avoid sudden changes, and do not speed up

    Extra room in front lets you slow smoothly instead of braking hard, which is exactly what the driver behind cannot cope with.

  7. 7. When should a lower gear be selected for a long downgrade?

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    Answer D: Before you start down the hill

    The gear is chosen at the top, while speed is still low, because a heavy vehicle already rolling fast may not go into a lower gear at all.

  8. 8. Total stopping distance is made up of which parts?

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    Answer A: Perception distance, reaction distance and braking distance

    The vehicle travels while the hazard is recognized, while the driver moves to the pedal, and again while the brakes slow the vehicle.

  9. 9. What is the payload of a truck?

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    Answer C: The weight of the cargo the vehicle is carrying, that is the loaded weight less the empty weight

    Payload is what is left of the legal or rated weight once the weight of the empty vehicle is taken off, and it is the weight of cargo that can be carried.

  10. 10. What is wrong with resting your foot on the clutch pedal between shifts?

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    Answer B: It slowly wears the clutch out, because the pressure plate is never fully engaged

    Any weight on the pedal partly disengages the clutch, so it slips and wears; the foot belongs off the pedal once the shift is finished.