Minnesota CDL Practice Test

Everyone takes General Knowledge. Add Combination Vehicles for Class A, Air Brakes if your road test vehicle has air or air-over-hydraulic brakes (otherwise the CDL is restricted to vehicles without air brakes), Passenger for a bus carrying more than 15, Passenger and School Bus for a school bus, Tank Vehicles for a tank vehicle, and a test for each endorsement you want. Minnesota Commercial Driver’s License Manual p. 4

Minnesota DVS doesn't publish question counts or passing scores for its CDL tests. Our practice tests use 50 questions for General Knowledge, 25 for Air Brakes, 30 for Hazardous Materials and 20 for the others, with 80% to pass. Minnesota Commercial Driver’s License Manual p. 3

Part B of the manual is Minnesota's own School Bus Driver's Handbook: school bus laws, background checks, Type III vehicles, 8-light loading and unloading, railroad crossings and crash procedures. Section 10 adds the national school bus material. Our School Bus test draws on both. Minnesota Commercial Driver’s License Manual p. 19 to 34

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 Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS). Why 80% in every state →

At least 18 with a valid Minnesota driver's license for a commercial learner's permit, and 21 to drive commercially outside Minnesota. Hauling placarded hazardous materials generally requires being 21.

At least 14 calendar days. A CLP is valid for 180 days and can be renewed, but not past one year from when it was first issued. Minnesota Commercial Driver’s License Manual p. 3

Yes, for a first Class A or B CDL, an upgrade from B to A, and a first school bus, passenger or hazmat endorsement. You can take the classroom part any time; the behind-the-wheel part comes after you get your CLP, within a year of the classroom training.

Three parts, each passed before the next: a vehicle inspection, basic control skills (forward stop, straight-line backing, forward offset tracking, reverse offset backing) and a road test. They're given in English, on the same CLP, in the type of vehicle you'll drive.

Every CDL and CLP applicant fills out a medical self-certification form. If you need a medical certificate, the certified examiner uploads it to the FMCSA National Registry; DVS doesn't take certificates from drivers. School bus drivers must always keep a current medical certificate.

Transfer it within 30 days. At 21 or older with an unexpired CDL, no CDL tests are needed, except that school bus and hazmat endorsements need their written tests again. Under 21, or with a CDL expired less than a year, you take the Class D written test.

Only in limited cases: a non-domiciled CLP or CDL requires an unexpired foreign passport, an I-94 with an unexpired Admit Until date and an H-2A, H-2B or E-2 visa, and applying at one of the listed DVS exam stations.

Minnesota DVS (Driver and Vehicle Services) lists the current fees for the commercial learner permit, the CDL tests and the license on its official fee page.

A Class B or C CDL, issued without written tests, for workers at farm suppliers, agrichemical businesses, custom harvesters or livestock feeders. You must be 18 and licensed for a year with a clean two-year record. You drive commercially only in the season you pick: at most 210 straight days, or three 70-day periods in a year.

You must stay within 150 miles of the farm or business you work for. With placards, you may haul only up to 1,000 gallons of diesel, liquid fertilizer (anhydrous ammonia included) in vehicles holding 3,000 gallons or less, or solid fertilizer not mixed with organic material. Every CDL disqualification rule still applies.

Your license is restricted to what you test in. No air brakes means no air-brake vehicles; an automatic means automatics only; a truck and trailer instead of a tractor-semitrailer limits you to truck-trailer combinations. Bring current insurance and a DOT inspection for both units.

At the license screening, commercial drivers need at least 20/40 in one usable eye or in both eyes together, with glasses if you wear them, and school bus drivers need 20/40 in each eye. Side vision must reach at least 140 degrees with one or both eyes.

Class A can add hazmat, passenger, school bus, tank, tank-hazmat and doubles/triples. Class B can add all of those except doubles/triples. Class C must carry hazmat, passenger, or school bus with passenger.

Being at least 18, a criminal history and driving record check (with an FBI check if you've lived in Minnesota under five years), a medical exam at least every two years, a written and road test, and a new school bus knowledge test every four years at renewal.

Complete entry-level driver training the first time, pass the hazmat knowledge test, and apply with TSA for the security threat assessment, including fingerprints. Renewals need the knowledge test again, and the TSA application should be done at least 30 days before your CDL expires.

The background check. DVS won't issue or renew it after a disqualifying offense, a gross misdemeanor or a DWI or implied consent violation within five years, or four moving violations in three years. A DWI conviction later cancels the endorsement for five years, and a fourth moving violation in three years cancels it for a year.

Yes, in small vehicles. A regular Minnesota license is enough to drive pupils in a vehicle seating ten or fewer, driver included, for a school or its contractor, or a Head Start bus seating fifteen or fewer. Larger school buses need a CDL with passenger and school bus endorsements.

Minnesota can renew the CDL, but without the hazmat endorsement until TSA approves you, so you can't haul hazmat loads in the meantime. Start at least 30 days before expiry. Fingerprints must be taken by an authorized TSA agent, not local police, and CLP holders can begin the process before passing the road test.

At least one year for a first major offense such as driving impaired, refusing a test or leaving a crash scene (three years if hauling hazmat), and life for a second. Two serious traffic violations in three years cost at least 60 days, and three cost at least 120 days.

Yes. Before any new license, renewal, upgrade or endorsement, DVS checks national records for suspensions, revocations or cancellations in other states, with no time limit. You must clear the issue with that state first, and DVS won't issue a work license meanwhile. If your current Minnesota license is valid, you may keep driving.