CDL Skills Test: Pre-Trip, Basic Control, and Road Test (Current vs Modernized)

The three CDL skills test segments, in federal order

Federal rules fix the order: the pre-trip vehicle inspection, then basic vehicle control, then the on-road test (49 CFR 383.133(c)(6)). Fail one segment and you cannot go on to the next. The skills each segment covers are listed in 49 CFR 383.113, and your state's FMCSA-approved examiner manual sets the scoring.

Testing takes place on public streets, or on a mix of street and off-street areas. A state may use simulators, but never in place of the on-street testing (49 CFR 383.113(d) and (e)).

Before you can book: the CLP, the 14 days, and ELDT

Three federal gates come before the first segment.

1. You hold a commercial learner's permit. A CLP is required before a first CDL and before any upgrade that needs a skills test (49 CFR 383.25(d)). Getting it means passing the knowledge tests for your class, and full CDL prep planned for launch covers those knowledge tests, not the skills segments.
2. Fourteen days have passed. You may not take the skills test in the first 14 days after your CLP is first issued (383.25(e)).
3. Your training is on record. For a first Class A or B CDL, an upgrade from B to A, or a first P or S endorsement, you must finish entry-level driver training (ELDT) with a provider on FMCSA's Training Provider Registry. The state must confirm it electronically before it tests you (383.71(a)(10) and 383.73(b)(11)). Drivers removing an L, Z or E restriction through the modified skills test are exempt from ELDT (49 CFR 380.603(a)(4)).

Those gates still apply for 2027 tests. FMCSA proposed on February 2, 2024 to drop the 14-day wait, make out-of-state skills testing easier, and let a CLP holder who has passed the skills test drive without a CDL holder beside them, but no final rule had been published as of October 28, 2026. Until one is, plan around the rules above.

States add their own booking rules. As checked on October 28, 2026, California gives skills tests by appointment only and allows three tries, with a retest fee each time, and Washington's guide asks you to book at least three days ahead. The CDL guides cover the permit clock and ELDT in more detail.

Which passed segments still count after a failure

Federal rules let you keep the segments you passed, with one catch. Those scores are valid only during the initial issuance of your CLP. If the CLP is renewed before you finish, you take all three segments again (383.133(c)(6)(ii)).

Marisol is a fictional Class A applicant in a state that issues 180-day CLPs, as California and Washington do:

States can add conditions. Washington's guide, for example, requires the CDL to be issued within 180 days of the first passed segment.

How your test vehicle sets the restrictions on your CDL

Because the test vehicle decides your restrictions, take the skills test in the type of vehicle you plan to drive. The vehicle is judged by its weight rating, not by what it weighs on the scale that day. A straight truck rated at 30,000 pounds GVWR is a Group B test vehicle even when it arrives empty (383.133(c)(3)). Equipment the test vehicle lacks becomes a restriction code on the license.

The passenger endorsement follows the same logic. A P skills test in a Group B bus brings an M restriction (no Class A passenger vehicle), and a P test in a Group C bus brings N (no Class A or B passenger vehicle), under 383.95(e) and (f). Failing the Air Brakes knowledge test also brings L, whatever vehicle you test in (383.95(a)), so the knowledge side matters here too: the Air Brakes test is one of the eight with its own question set in the planned full CDL prep.

Current vs modernized vehicle inspection and basic control tests

AAMVA, whose model manuals state CDL manuals follow, offers two FMCSA-approved versions of the skills test. The modernized version from 2022 rewrote the vehicle inspection and basic control chapters (modules 11M and 12M). AAMVA says states may offer the modernized version, the current one, or both, with no mandate to switch. The road test is not part of the change.

The switch is still spreading. AAMVA's news items reported in February 2025 that Delaware was ready to become the 33rd jurisdiction to adopt the modernized test, and in March and September 2026 that AAMVA had given transition training to Pennsylvania and then to Maine and Vermont for what it calls the 2025 Modernized CDL Testing System. Washington says it already implemented the modernized test and replaced Sections 11 and 12 of its CDL guide with a supplemental guide, as checked on October 28, 2026. No announced date retires the current version, so in 2027 your state's choice still decides which test you take.

To find out which version you will face:

1. Look on your state's CDL page or manual for the word "modernized," a module named 11M or 12M, or a supplemental skills guide.
2. Check the manual's revision date. A chapter written before your state switched may describe the old version.
3. Ask your ELDT provider or third-party tester which version your test site uses, then confirm it with the state.

This guide has no pre-trip script on purpose. Scoring sheets and examiner instructions come from the examiner manual FMCSA approves for state agencies (383.131(b)), and AAMVA does not distribute its training materials to third parties. A script from another state or version can teach you the wrong sequence, so study your own state's skills chapters, and use the knowledge-test practice planned for full CDL prep for the written side only.

English-only skills testing and automatic failures

Federal rules require the skills test to be given in English. Interpreters are not allowed. You must understand and respond to the examiner's spoken instructions in English, and neither of you may use another language during the test (383.133(c)(5)). That rule is separate from the language of the knowledge tests. Federal rules allow those in another language as long as no interpreter is used (383.133(b)(3)), and each state decides what it offers: Washington, for example, lists four languages, as checked on October 28, 2026. Check your state's current page.

Some mistakes end the test outright. Federal rules require an automatic failure if you disobey traffic laws, cause a crash during the test, or commit any other offense your state's driver and examiner manuals list as an automatic fail (383.135(b)(2)). Your state's skills-test manual lists its own automatic failures, so read that list before test day.

After you pass the CDL skills test

The last step is issuance, and states handle it differently. Washington's guide tells you to wait 24 hours after passing before you visit a licensing office to have the CDL issued. California issues an interim CDL that is valid for 60 days, and says that if you passed the skills test in another state on a California CLP, the results are sent to California and you finish the application at a DMV commercial driving test office.