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Basic Control of Your Vehicle

Basic Control of Your Vehicle is a required knowledge area under 49 CFR 383.111(a)(4) and (a)(6), which name the maneuvers (starting, stopping, backing, turning) a CDL applicant must know without specifying technique. The specific techniques tested here, such as controlling rollback and backing toward the driver's side, are standard driver-training practice, not federal regulation, and are cited to the manual topic map instead.

Practice Basic Control of Your Vehicle

5 Questions

  1. What does federal law require of a driver operating a commercial motor vehicle equipped with a seat belt?
  2. Why should a driver partly engage the clutch, or apply the trailer brake hand valve, before releasing the service brake when starting from a stop?
  3. How should a driver hold the steering wheel of a commercial motor vehicle?
  4. When stopping a commercial motor vehicle, how should a driver apply the brakes?
  5. When backing a commercial motor vehicle, why is backing toward the driver's side the preferred choice whenever it is possible?