Kentucky CDL Practice Test

Everyone takes General Knowledge. Add Combination Vehicles for Class A, Air Brakes to drive with air brakes (without it the CDL is restricted), and a test for each endorsement: Doubles/Triples, Tank, Passenger, Hazardous Materials and School Bus, which also needs the Passenger endorsement. Kentucky Commercial Driver’s License Manual p. 2 to 3

General Knowledge has 50 questions, Air Brakes 25 and Hazardous Materials 30; Combination Vehicles, Doubles/Triples, Tank, Passenger and School Bus have 20 each. You need 80% on every test. Our practice tests use the same sizes. Kentucky Commercial Driver’s License Manual p. 2 to 3

The Kentucky State Police give every CDL knowledge and skills test. Finish the paperwork at a Driver Licensing Regional Office first (self-certification and a background check), then book the written and vision tests online with the State Police; skills tests are booked by phone.

Sections 1 to 10 of the Kentucky State Police’s 2025 CDL manual, the national AAMVA text with Kentucky’s own front pages: licensing, tests and restrictions, vehicle inspection, safe driving, cargo, passengers, air brakes, combination vehicles, doubles and triples, tank vehicles, hazardous materials and school buses. Kentucky Commercial Driver’s License Manual p. 1

Take it again after 24 hours: there is no limit on attempts, but only one try a day. Skills tests can also be retaken as often as needed while your CLP is still valid and your skills test fees are paid.

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 Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Division of Driver Licensing. Why 80% in every state →

18 to drive within Kentucky and 21 to drive across state lines. A CDL issued at 18 to 20 carries a K (intrastate only) restriction, allows no school bus or hazmat driving, and its skills test must be taken in Kentucky.

The manual gives the CDL instruction permit six months, with one renewal. You must hold it at least 14 days before the skills test, and if your permit or CDL has been expired for over a year, the fees and written tests start again. Kentucky Commercial Driver’s License Manual p. 2

A CDL holder at least 21 years old with the class you are training for (or a higher one) and any endorsement the vehicle needs, such as passenger or school bus. You can never drive a CDL vehicle alone on a permit.

Yes, for a first Class A or B CDL, an upgrade from Class B to A, and a first School Bus, Passenger or Hazardous Materials endorsement. Train with a provider on FMCSA’s Training Provider Registry and finish before scheduling the road test.

Since June 8, 2026, medical examiners send medical certificates straight to FMCSA’s National Registry. Kentucky’s Division of Driver Licensing no longer accepts paper copies, and the myCDL portal the manual mentions has been discontinued.

A pre-trip inspection, basic control skills and a road test, in your own vehicle of the class you’ll drive, with a licensed driver for it. The basic skills part has a 30-minute limit, the first fee covers one attempt, and after four attempts you wait seven days. A missed appointment without 48 hours’ notice counts as a failure. Kentucky Commercial Driver’s License Manual p. 3 to 8

Yes. A valid CDL from another state transfers without testing (drivers from Mexico or Canada must test), but a hazmat endorsement needs the hazmat knowledge and vision tests. You list every state that licensed you in the last 10 years, and surrendering your CDL means starting over with a permit.

Farm-to-market drivers in private carriage, run by the farmer or farm employees, within Kentucky or 150 highway miles of the starting point across a state line; drivers of firefighting and other emergency equipment; uniformed, military-licensed service members on military business; and drivers of motorhomes, campers and other recreational living-quarters vehicles.

Neither. Kentucky goes by the manufacturer's rating (GVWR or GCWR), usually on a plate inside the driver's door or on the trailer tongue, not the weight on your license plate. Air brakes alone don't require a CDL, and a vehicle with no verifiable GVWR may be refused for testing.

Usually two years, but a doctor can shorten it for a condition that needs closer monitoring, and drivers with a school bus endorsement get a card that lasts only one year.

Possibly, inside Kentucky only. Under 601 KAR 11:040, intrastate-only drivers who fail the federal physical rules can apply for an intrastate medical waiver, decided on the medical reports, the DOT physical and your driving record. If a required medical update is 45 days late, the waiver and your CDL privileges are downgraded.

Yes. Kentucky law (KRS 281A.300) requires a National Crime Information Center check for CDL applicants, done at the Driver Licensing Regional Office before your written test, and again whenever you transfer or renew a CDL there.

Not by mail. If you're stationed elsewhere in the U.S., transfer the CDL to your current state. Overseas, renew your Kentucky operator's license by mail and surrender the CDL; it can be reinstated within five years of your medical certificate's expiration once you're back and meet the requirements.

Get a CDL or CDL permit, book fingerprinting with the Kentucky State Police for the TSA security threat assessment, finish hazmat Entry-Level Driver Training, then pass the hazmat test. You retest at renewal unless your last test was under two years ago, and the threat assessment is repeated every five years; a TWIC card can stand in for it.

Kentucky disqualifies you for 180 days for a first conviction, 2 years for a second and 3 years for a third within 10 years. The manual’s national section still prints older figures, so these practice tests don’t ask them.

A Class B license for people who work in farm-service businesses, such as farm suppliers and retailers, agri-chemical dealers, custom harvesting crews and livestock feeding operations. It is valid 60, 120 or 180 days in a 12-month period, only within 150 miles of the farm served, and needs a Kentucky license held at least one year.

Yes, with a military waiver: Kentucky residents in active, reserve or Guard service, or within a year of leaving it, with comparable military driving in the past two years can skip the skills test. Certain jobs, such as Army 88M Motor Transport Operator or Marine Corps 3531, also waive the knowledge test.

Only with H-2A, H-2B or E-2 visa status, or as a citizen of Micronesia, Palau or the Marshall Islands, under current FMCSA rules. Every transaction is in person, and the CDL lasts one year or until your authorized stay ends, whichever comes first.

Any alcohol- or drug-related driving conviction suspends your commercial status for one year, even if you were in your own car, and you start over with a CLP. In a commercial vehicle, any measurable alcohol below 0.04 puts you out of service for 24 hours, and a second conviction means a lifetime disqualification.

Yes, if it lasted a year or more: you start over with a commercial learner's permit. Kentucky also disqualifies anyone who knowingly falsifies information to get a CDL, permit or duplicate, for at least 60 days after an administrative hearing.

No. Under KRS 281A.185, every moving conviction is posted to the record of a CDL holder, or of anyone convicted while driving a commercial vehicle. State Traffic School can stop the points, but the conviction still shows.