Hawaii CDL Practice Test

Hawaii’s manual and the Motor Vehicle Safety Office don’t publish the test sizes. Our practice tests use the usual CDL format: General Knowledge 50 questions (40 to pass), Air Brakes 25 (20), Hazmat 30 (24), and Combination, Tank, Doubles/Triples, Passenger and School Bus 20 each (16). You take the knowledge tests for your vehicle class and endorsements before the learner’s permit. Hawaii Commercial Driver License Manual p. 13

The Hawaii Commercial Driver License Manual (AAMVA 2005 testing system, Hawaii edition June 2025): the federal notices on entry-level driver training, National Registry II and the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, Hawaii’s own pages on the permit, skills test, restrictions and disqualifications, then inspection, safe driving, cargo, passengers, air brakes, combination vehicles, doubles and triples, tankers, hazmat and school buses. Hawaii Commercial Driver License Manual p. 4 to 10-11

Everyone takes general knowledge. Add air brakes for a vehicle with air brakes, combination for a combination vehicle, passenger for 16 or more people, hazmat for placarded loads, tanker for a tank over 1,000 gallons, doubles/triples and school bus as needed. Your permit then lists the endorsements you passed.

80% on each of the 8 tests, each graded on its own (General Knowledge: 40 of 50). Every test's numbers are in the table on this page. Always confirm the current tests with the Hawaii Department of Transportation. Why 80% in every state →

Yes, for driving inside Hawaii only. Under Act 22 of 2026, Hawaii may issue a CDL to drivers 18 to 20 with a K restriction (intrastate commerce only) if they are enrolled in or have finished an approved training program, such as a registered apprenticeship or their employer’s on-the-job training. You still need to be 21 to drive across state lines. Hawaii’s manual hasn’t caught up yet and still says 21, so ask your county driver licensing office how it applies the new law.

Be domiciled in Hawaii, fill out the application (DOT 4-764), pass a vision test and the knowledge tests for your class and endorsements, and bring proof of name and date of birth, your social security number, your medical certificate, proof of citizenship or permanent residency, proof of your Hawaii address and your license history for the last ten years. You must have no outstanding traffic violations. Hawaii Commercial Driver License Manual p. 13 to 14

180 days. You can renew it one time for 180 more days, and the knowledge tests don’t have to be taken again. You must hold it at least 14 days before the skills test, practice only with someone licensed for that class of vehicle, and carry your Class 3 license with it. Hawaii Commercial Driver License Manual p. 14

Each county in Hawaii sets its own fees for the commercial learner permit, the CDL tests and the license, and they change over time, so we don't list amounts here. Honolulu's are on its official fee table; other counties list theirs on their own sites.

30 days from the time you arrive. You may hold only one valid driver's license at a time, so the old one is replaced. An out-of-state commercial learner's permit can't be used to take tests in Hawaii: you apply for a Hawaii permit instead.

Yes, as long as your previous state can verify them. A hazmat endorsement is the exception that needs more: you pass Hawaii's hazardous materials written test, and your TSA clearance must have at least a year left.

In person at the CDL office, not by mail, with your current DOT medical certificate and a vision test (20/40 in both eyes, corrected if needed). Hazmat holders retake the hazmat written test at every renewal, and their CDL expires on the same date as the hazmat endorsement, up to five years after TSA approval.

You can renew up to 90 days after it expires, but an expired license isn't valid for driving. Once it has been expired over a year, you start again with the written and road tests. Service members deployed overseas get 90 days after returning. An expired out-of-state CDL gets no grace period.

No. Every CDL Hawaii issues is REAL ID compliant, and you may hold only one REAL ID card from any U.S. jurisdiction, so you can't have both a REAL ID state ID and a REAL ID CDL.

Yes. On Oahu you can get the motorcycle permit at any driver licensing office, but adding the motorcycle (category 2) endorsement to a CDL, like any other change to a CDL, is done only at the Commercial Driver Licensing Office.

Hawaii law exempts only two groups: military drivers (active duty, reserves, National Guard on duty and active-duty Coast Guard, but not reserve technicians) driving for military purposes, and government-trained federal, state and county firefighters and police driving fire trucks or emergency vehicles with lights and sirens.

Without hazmat, up to eight years: a first CDL expires on your birthday no more than eight years after it is issued, and a renewal runs up to eight years from the old expiry date. If you are 72 or older, it expires on your second birthday after issue. A hazmat CDL follows the endorsement's shorter term.

Three parts at one appointment, in order: pre-trip inspection (Hawaii picks items at random), basic control skills and the on-road test. Fail any part and the whole test is failed; failing the air brake check ends the test. The whole test may take up to 1½ hours in a Class B or lower vehicle and 2 hours in a Class A. Book it at your county’s CDL office. Hawaii Commercial Driver License Manual p. 14 to 15

Closed-toe shoes and your driver’s license, learner’s permit, medical certificate, vehicle registration, insurance card, safety inspection certificate and test payment receipt, in a vehicle like the one you will drive. No memory aids or marks on the vehicle: following the examiner’s instructions is required, and a cancelled test means waiting at least 7 days. Hawaii Commercial Driver License Manual p. 15

At least one week after any failed CDL test, and the retest fee applies again. In the skills test the backing maneuvers come before the road test, and you must pass them before you are allowed to drive the road test.

Yes. If you hold a Hawaii commercial learner's permit and train in another state, that state may test you under the federal rules and send your skills test results straight to Hawaii electronically. If you passed and meet every other requirement, Hawaii issues your CDL. Examiners in Hawaii speak only English during the skills test.

Yes, a limited number of times: once in straight-line backing and twice in each of the other maneuvers. Secure the vehicle first (park, brakes set, engine off, keys in hand) and climb down facing it with three points of contact. A second unsafe exit fails the test. Hawaii Commercial Driver License Manual p. 15

R means the CDL is valid only on Lanai and Molokai. Q limits you to commercial vehicles under 18,001 pounds GVWR. Hawaii also uses the usual codes (E, K, L, M, N, O, P, V, X and Z). Hawaii Commercial Driver License Manual p. 15 to 16

Major offenses (such as DUI, 0.04% BAC in a CMV, refusing a test or leaving an accident) generally bring a one-year suspension for a first offense, and lifetime disqualification for using a vehicle in a drug felony or a CMV in human trafficking. A second serious traffic violation brings 60 days, and lying on a license application brings a 60-day disqualification. Hawaii Commercial Driver License Manual p. 16 to 17

Yes. Hawaii law bans using a mobile electronic device while driving a commercial vehicle, and convictions are penalized like serious traffic violations: a second in three years brings a 60-day disqualification, a third 120 days. Using the device to call 911 is a defense.

If you are required to give up the hazardous materials endorsement, for example after failing the federal security check, and you don't, Hawaii disqualifies your CDL with no end date until the CDL with the endorsement is surrendered.

Yes if you are getting a Class A or B CDL for the first time, upgrading from B to A, or adding S, P or H for the first time: train with a provider on FMCSA’s Training Provider Registry before the skills test (or the hazmat knowledge test). Medical exam results now go electronically from the National Registry to the state. Hawaii Commercial Driver License Manual p. 4 to 9

Yes, for drivers who miss the federal standard only because of a lost or impaired limb but are otherwise qualified. The state Director of Transportation can grant a waiver for driving inside Hawaii, using the same process as the federal limb waiver; the request goes to the director, not to FMCSA.