Virginia CDL Practice Test

Everyone takes General Knowledge. Add Air Brakes to drive with air brakes (otherwise your license carries an air brake restriction), Combination Vehicles for Class A, and a test for each endorsement: Hazardous Materials (H), Tank Vehicles (N), Passenger (P), School Bus (S) and Doubles/Triples (T). School bus drivers take General Knowledge, Passenger and School Bus.

DMV requires at least 80% on the general knowledge test but doesn't publish the test sizes. Our practice General Knowledge test has 50 questions with 40 to pass; Air Brakes has 25, Hazmat 30 and the others 20, each at 80%.

The Virginia Commercial Driver's Manual (DMV 60A, the national CDL manual): licensing basics, vehicle inspection, safe driving, cargo, passengers, air brakes, combination vehicles, doubles and triples, tank vehicles, hazardous materials and school buses. Virginia Commercial Driver's Manual p. 1-1

Yes. DMV publishes a Virginia Supplement to the Commercial Driver's Manual (DMV 60V) with the state's classes, restrictions, vision standard, CDL alcohol rules, hazmat and school bus requirements and military programs, and its knowledge tests draw on it. Our questions come from the national manual, so read the supplement too.

Once per business day. Tests are on a computer and offered in several languages, except Hazmat, which is given only in English with no translator or oral version. A passed knowledge test counts for one year: get your CLP or CDL within that time or test again.

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 Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Why 80% in every state →

18 to drive commercial vehicles within Virginia, with a K restriction on the license. You must be 21 to cross state lines, haul hazardous materials or carry interstate freight such as mail.

At least 14 days before the skills test, unless you've held a CDL before or completed an approved Virginia CDL driver education course. With the permit you drive only with a person licensed for the same type of vehicle. Time on an out-of-state CLP counts toward the 14 days, but that permit can't be swapped without testing.

Yes, for a first Class A or B CDL, an upgrade to A or B, or a first Hazmat, Passenger or School Bus endorsement. Theory and behind-the-wheel training come before the road skills test, and Hazmat theory before the Hazmat knowledge test. The provider must be on FMCSA's Training Provider Registry; DMV can't accept paper certificates.

Three parts: a pre-trip inspection, basic vehicle control and on-road driving, about 90 minutes in all, in a vehicle you provide that matches the class you want. Only you and the examiner ride along, you may test once per business day, and a passed skills test counts for six months. Missing a booked test without notice brings a fee.

Class A: combinations with a GCWR of 26,001 pounds or more towing over 10,000 pounds, such as tractor-trailers. Class B: single vehicles of 26,001 pounds or more, such as straight trucks, large buses and school buses, towing up to 10,000 pounds. Class C: smaller vehicles carrying placarded hazardous materials or designed for 16 or more people, driver included.

Drivers of emergency vehicles such as fire trucks, active-duty military driving military vehicles, people driving RVs or rental moving vans for personal use, and farmers moving their own goods, supplies or machinery within 150 miles of the farm. Volunteer church or school bus drivers do need one.

Not at present. DMV stopped all non-domiciled CDL and CLP transactions on September 29, 2025, when FMCSA tightened the federal rules (they are now limited to certain employment-based visas and last a year at most), and it has no date for resuming. Holders of a credential issued before then may drive until it expires but can’t get a replacement.

You need 20/40 or better in each eye (with or without lenses), 140 degrees of horizontal vision and the ability to recognize red, green and amber signals. Drivers certifying non-excepted interstate or intrastate commerce need a medical examiner's certificate from a National Registry examiner; intrastate-only drivers get a K restriction.

Your medical examiner sends it. Since May 5, 2025, Virginia DMV no longer accepts medical examiner’s certificates directly from drivers: the examiner submits them electronically through FMCSA’s National Registry.

Pass the Hazmat knowledge exam (after ELDT theory if it's your first), prove citizenship or immigration status, and complete a TSA fingerprint background check at a DMV center; a valid TWIC can replace the check. A first check can take more than 45 days, and hazmat endorsements from other states don't transfer without the Virginia test.

Be at least 18 with a Class B or C CDL carrying the passenger and school bus endorsements. A bus built for fewer than 16 people needs no CDL, but you still pass the school bus tests and the license is restricted to such buses. Drivers must wear seat belts and may not use handheld or hands-free phones except in emergencies or when parked.

Driving a commercial vehicle with a BAC of 0.04 percent or more, under the influence, or refusing a test disqualifies your CDL or CLP for one year up to life. Drinking or carrying alcohol while driving a school bus with children aboard is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Yes, through the Military Skills Test Waiver: two years of safe experience in heavy military vehicles, certified by a commanding officer, lets you take only the knowledge tests. With an approved military occupational code and a military driver's license held within the last year, the Even Exchange program can waive the knowledge test too.

Yes, a few federal rules. A first violation of an out-of-service order now costs your CDL for at least 180 days (the manual still says 90). If your license is suspended, revoked or canceled, or you are disqualified, tell your employer by the end of the next business day (the manual says within two business days).

J limits you to a school or activity bus and no other commercial vehicle. Q bars you from using a commercial vehicle to take children to events run by a school or by a day care center that Virginia's Department of Social Services licenses or approves.