Passing a CDL Road Test is serious business. It’s taken a lot of hard work to get to this point, and now your life, your career and everything will depend on a passing grade from the CDL Examiner. Are you ready?

Before you get behind the wheel of that 18-wheeler, take a lesson from the unwritten book, How to Fail Your CDL Road Test:

Automatic Fail #1: Hitting a curb

Many drivers are surprised to find out that they have failed the test just because they barley rubbed their wheel against a curb. What may seem like the smallest of mistakes, the “curb check”, is actually a potentially deadly one. The danger to pedestrians makes this unsuspecting mishap #1 on the list of automatic fails.

Automatic Fail #2: Taking your hands off the wheel

When driving a truck, your hands should only leave the steering wheel for essential functions, such as shifting gears. It may seem obvious, however, many people make this mistake unconsciously. They itch their nose, they loose a point. They readjust their glasses, they lose a point. They fix their hair or mess with their phone, and they are automatically failed.

Automatic Fail #3: Forgetting your turn signal

The trucking industry is no place for the absent-minded. If you want to drive for a living, then you will need to use every safety feature at your disposal, and that includes turn signals. Using turn signals can prevent accidents, as well as improve traffic flow.

Automatic Fail #4: Rolling backwards

It’s important to master the art of taking off from a stop, especially on hills and in heavy traffic. If you roll backwards when taking off from a stop during the exam, you are guaranteed to receive a failing grade.

Automatic Fail #5: Losing your cool

The stakes are high. The time, the money, and the effort have been invested. The examiner looks tough, and the pressure is on. That’s the way they like it. CDL examiners want to see if all this pressure will make you lose your cool. Driving thousands of pounds through dangerous traffic and road conditions every single day is no job for the faint-of-heart. They need to know that you are mentally prepared to perform well under pressure.

Failure is a necessary evil. Without it, we would never learn anything. So fail early, fail fast, and fail often. Get in plenty of practice, work out all the kinks. Build your muscle memory, and of course your mental memory. Then, when test day comes, you won’t fail. You will succeed!