When stopping a commercial motor vehicle, how should a driver apply the brakes?

Explanation

Under ordinary conditions, a driver should bring a commercial motor vehicle to a stop by applying the brake pedal with steadily increasing pressure, adjusted so the stop stays smooth and controlled rather than abrupt, varying that pressure for the vehicle's speed and how quickly the stop is actually needed. Putting the vehicle in motion and stopping are grouped together as one basic maneuver CDL applicants must know under 49 CFR 383.111(a)(4)(ii), but that paragraph only names stopping as a required knowledge topic; it does not itself specify pedal pressure, so this graduated-braking technique is standard driver-training guidance rather than a codified federal rule. Braking as hard as possible on every stop confuses an ordinary stop with emergency-stop technique, and can lock the wheels or upset the vehicle's balance when full pressure is not actually needed. Pumping the brakes regardless of conditions and releasing the pedal partway through a stop are both uncontrolled techniques that trade away the steady, modulated pressure the situation actually calls for.

Source: 49 CFR 383.111(a)(4)(ii)