Maine CDL Practice Test

Maine’s CDL manual and BMV pages 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). No interpreters are allowed at CDL knowledge exams. Maine Commercial Driver License Manual p. 4

The Maine Commercial Driver License Manual (Modernized Testing System edition): Maine’s pages on who needs a CDL, the permit, classes, endorsements, skills testing, school bus and hazmat, then inspection, safe driving, cargo, passengers, air brakes, combination vehicles, doubles, tankers, hazmat and school buses. Maine Commercial Driver License Manual p. 4 to 10-11

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 Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), Department of the Secretary of State. Why 80% in every state →

Get the CDL application from a BMV branch, most town offices or online, and mail it with the fees to the CDL Examination Section in Augusta, which books your knowledge tests. After the eye and knowledge exams you receive the learner’s permit and a skills test request card; the separate skills appointment also meets the federal 14-day wait. Maine Commercial Driver License Manual p. 4 to 5

A licensed driver with the right class and endorsements for the vehicle, who has held a valid license for two years, sits beside you and is at least 20 (22 for a bus or school bus). For school bus practice, they must also have held a school bus license for at least a year. Maine Commercial Driver License Manual p. 5 to 8

Not always. Maine exempts “F”-plated farm trucks run by a farmer and used within 150 miles of the farm, small-town employees (3,000 people or fewer) plowing in an emergency, firefighting apparatus, personal recreational vehicles and recreational antique trucks. Maine Commercial Driver License Manual p. 4

Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), Department of the Secretary of State lists the current fees for the commercial learner permit, the CDL tests and the license on its official fee page.

Only when it carries an endorsement for a bus, a tank vehicle, double trailers or placarded hazardous materials. Without one, a Class C is a regular license. Class A and Class B licenses are always commercial licenses in Maine.

The examiner screens your eyes at the knowledge test: you need 20/40 in your best eye and a total field of vision of at least 110 degrees. Fall short and you are referred to an eye doctor; no permit is issued until the doctor's form comes back. Passing with glasses adds a corrective-lens restriction.

Maine law says that failing to finish the driving test within the term of your learner's permit means you take the permit examinations again. The permit lasts only for a limited time, or until you receive your CDL, so book the skills test early.

You can change your class, add an endorsement or remove a restriction at any time. An upgrade means a new knowledge exam, vision screening, a learner's permit and a full skills test. Removing the air brake restriction takes the air brake knowledge test and a skills test in a vehicle with air brakes.

If you self-certify to non-excepted interstate or intrastate driving, give the BMV a copy of your DOT medical certificate and send a new one before the old one expires, or your medical status is downgraded. You can switch your type of driving at any time with a new self-certification form.

Yes, through the Military Even Exchange if you are licensed, held a military driving job within the past 12 months, drove the same class and type of vehicle for at least two years without a suspension, hold no other state's license and have no disqualifying convictions. Passenger and school bus endorsements can't be transferred this way.

Maine law allows reinstatement, under the federal rule, for drivers disqualified for life for most major offenses. A felony involving severe human trafficking in which a commercial vehicle was used is different: the Secretary of State revokes that CDL permanently, without a preliminary hearing.

A Maine CDL expires at midnight on your 5th birthday after it is issued, a year sooner than a regular license. If you are 65 or older when it is issued, it runs to your 4th birthday. For an applicant who isn't a citizen or permanent resident, it ends with the authorized stay if that comes first.

Refusing a test when police have probable cause suspends your CDL for one year, or three years if you were hauling hazardous materials; a second refusal makes it permanent. If an OUI conviction from the same stop also suspends the CDL, the refusal time already served is taken off that suspension.

Apply within 30 days of becoming a Maine resident. You surrender every license you hold from other places when the Maine one is issued, and Maine allows you only one commercial license at a time.

Maine is moving to the modernized CDL skills test: a shorter vehicle inspection with fewer items and a checklist you may use, followed by new basic control skills. Each of the three parts has 30 minutes, 90 in all.

One of the class you’re applying for, like what you will drive, with its original registration and a valid inspection sticker. Placarded hazmat vehicles, combinations over 74 feet and trailers over 53 feet aren’t allowed, loads must be secured, and only you and the examiner may ride. Tests aren’t given on weekends or holidays. Maine Commercial Driver License Manual p. 6 to 7

Yes, unless you hold a valid out-of-state license for that class. A licensed driver whose license covers the vehicle must come and stay at the test site until you finish. Bring your appointment notice and permit; when you pass every part, you hand in the permit to receive your CDL.

It follows the Class B maneuvers, but a bus turnaround replaces the alley dock. In the pre-trip check you point to and explain each part, and you must check at least 80% of the items correctly; missing that ends the test. An unsafe or badly equipped bus means the road test is rescheduled.

N (tank), H (hazmat), X (tank with hazmat) and T (doubles; triples aren’t allowed in Maine) need only a knowledge test. P (passenger) and S (school bus) also need a skills test, and passing S earns P. Maine’s “3” endorsement lets you drive a school bus for 15 or fewer people on a regular license. Maine Commercial Driver License Manual p. 6

It depends on the bus: 26,001 pounds GVWR or more needs a Class B CDL; 26,000 pounds or less for over 15 passengers needs a Class C CDL; 26,000 pounds or less for 15 or fewer passengers can be driven on a regular license with the school bus endorsement. Maine Commercial Driver License Manual p. 8

Pass the hazmat knowledge test, then start the TSA security threat assessment (fingerprints and a check of citizenship or immigration status) through the TSA’s enrollment provider. You must be 21 to carry hazardous materials. Maine Commercial Driver License Manual p. 4 to 9

Yes. Maine law requires you to pass the hazardous materials written test again at each CDL renewal to keep the endorsement, and you must also keep meeting the federal security threat assessment rules for hazmat drivers.

You must be at least 21, have held a license for at least a year, pass a test in the bus you will drive or one like it, and pass a physical every year, paid for by your employer. Maine refuses the endorsement after an OUI conviction in the past 10 years or certain license revocations in the past 6.

A first OUI conviction suspends it for at least 3 years, though after one year you may ask the Secretary of State to restore it with your school superintendent's recommendation. A second OUI within 10 years means at least 6 years. If you were driving a school bus or school activity bus at the time, it is revoked for good.