Michigan CDL Practice Test

Everyone takes General Knowledge; Group A adds the Combination Vehicles test, and an Air Brakes test is needed to drive with air brakes. Endorsements add their own tests: Double trailers (T), Passenger (P), School Bus (S), Tank (N) and Hazardous Materials (H).

Group A takes 70 questions (including a 20-question combination vehicle test), Groups B and C 50, each endorsement test 20, Hazardous Materials 30 and Air Brakes 25. Every test needs at least 80 percent to pass. Michigan Commercial Driver's License Manual p. 8

The Michigan Commercial Driver's License Manual (TS-004, Rev. 03/24) that the Secretary of State tells applicants to study: Michigan's CDL program (Section 1), driving safely, cargo, passengers, air brakes, combination vehicles, doubles and triples, tank vehicles, hazardous materials and school buses.

Wait one day before retaking it. You may take only one test per day from each testing category.

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 Michigan Department of State (Secretary of State). Why 80% in every state →

You can drive a commercial vehicle within Michigan from 18. You must be 21 to drive one across state lines or to haul hazardous materials that need placards.

Michigan calls the CDL classes 'groups'. Group A is a combination of 26,001 pounds or more towing over 10,000 pounds; Group B is a single vehicle of 26,001 pounds or more; Group C is a smaller vehicle built for 16 or more people or carrying placarded hazardous materials. This site's Class A, B and C match Michigan's Groups A, B and C.

At least 14 days, driving under the supervision of a CDL holder licensed for your vehicle type. Book the skills test with an approved driver testing business at least 2 days ahead; the results stay valid for one year.

Yes, for a first Class A or B CDL, an upgrade, or a first hazmat, passenger or school bus endorsement. Hazmat applicants must finish the hazmat part before the knowledge test; others must finish before scheduling a skills test.

No. Michigan's T endorsement covers double or triple trailers, but triple trailer combinations aren't permitted in Michigan.

Not within 150 miles of their farm. An F-endorsement, which takes a knowledge test but no skills test and is not a CDL, is needed for combinations whose towing vehicle is rated at 26,001 pounds or more; placarded hazardous materials still need a CDL with the hazmat endorsement.

Service members trained and employed in the past year to operate the military equivalent of a commercial vehicle can have the knowledge and skills tests waived and convert to a Class A or B CDL at a Secretary of State office.

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

In Michigan your CDL groups and endorsements are added to a chauffeur's license. You need a chauffeur's license if your job is mainly driving vehicles of 10,000 pounds or more, you carry passengers or goods for hire, or you drive a bus or school bus, a lower bar than the CDL's 26,001 pounds.

Yes. Michigan issues the CDL in a standard and an enhanced version. The enhanced card lets you return to the U.S. from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda or the Caribbean by land or sea with no extra identity or citizenship papers needed at the border.

Groups A, B and C each need one, and so do the Passenger (P) and School Bus (S) endorsements. The test has three parts: a pre-trip vehicle inspection, basic vehicle control and an on-road drive. It's given by public and private driver testing businesses the state has approved, not at Secretary of State offices.

Your CDL is then restricted, so you can't drive vehicles with air brakes. The same restriction follows if you don't pass the 25-question Air Brakes knowledge test. To drive trucks or buses with air brakes, pass that test and take the skills test in a vehicle equipped with them.

Pass the Hazardous Materials knowledge test, complete a Transportation Security Administration background check, and show proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residence. The hazmat test must be passed again at every CDL renewal to keep the endorsement. Michigan Commercial Driver's License Manual p. 14

Surrender your old CDL, pass a national and state record check and a vision test. Written tests are needed only to upgrade, add endorsements or remove the air brake restriction, except that keeping a hazmat endorsement always means passing the hazmat test. Michigan Commercial Driver's License Manual p. 15

No. The course that keeps points of an eligible ticket from insurers is closed to anyone who holds a CDL or got the ticket while driving a commercial vehicle.

The Secretary of State checks the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse before issuing, renewing, transferring or upgrading a CLP or CDL, and accepts medical examiner's certificates only electronically from the National Registry. Michigan Commercial Driver's License Manual p. 2

K means you may drive commercial vehicles only within Michigan. If you certified for interstate driving and later switch your driving type to Michigan-only, for example when you update your medical certificate, you must also apply for a corrected license showing the K restriction; the new card comes by mail.

If you certified as non-excepted intrastate (Michigan only), police can still ask to see a paper copy of your medical certificate, so keep it with you. An FMCSA medical variance, such as a waiver letter or skills performance evaluation, must be brought to a Secretary of State office; mail, fax and online updates aren't accepted.

Yes, unless it carries a hazmat endorsement. You need your license or renewal notice and, if you self-certified as a non-excepted interstate driver, an updated medical examiner's certificate to upload. A CDL with hazmat must be renewed at a Secretary of State office, where renewal includes a vision test.

If your license hasn't expired, yes: you get a 90-day temporary operator permit with the hazmat endorsement while the Secretary of State waits for TSA. If the license has already expired, you get a 60-day permit without hazmat and come back to add it once TSA approves you.

Five years from the day TSA issued it, and it must last at least as long as the Michigan license being issued, which runs up to four years. If it falls short, you need a new background check. Checks take 30 to 60 days, so start at least 60 days before the license expires.

Michigan must refuse or remove the hazmat endorsement, but your CDL group, other endorsements and base operator or chauffeur license are unaffected; an X endorsement becomes N (tank only). Appeals and waivers go to TSA alone: neither the Secretary of State nor Michigan courts can change a TSA decision.

Not if you dropped it within the last two years. In that case the Michigan Department of State lets you reapply for the endorsement without sitting its CDL knowledge exam again.