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What should I know about the CDL backing test?

diagram of a truck backing up during the CDL backing exam

Backing a tractor-trailer is one of those activities that notoriously gives truck drivers, both new & experienced, the most trouble.

Each state may handle the backing test a little differently, and your examiner will let you know specifically what is expected of you.

The backing exercises could include any or all of the following: straight line backing, offset backing left or right, parallel parking, and alley dock. The number of times that you get out and look (GOAL) could affect your final score, depending on the state.

What is the CDL backing test like?

Article - The Backing Range At Trucking Driving School - It's Like Clown Soup For The Soul

So here we go. You're backing up a rig for the first time and you discover right away that you turn the wheel to the left and the trailer goes to the right. Great! How could that be confusing? On top of that, you turn the wheel but nothing happens for a few seconds.

Article - Learning How To Back Up A Big Truck

The backing test consists of many different maneuvers. The type of test varies from state to state, but for the state of Missouri, my student will need to perform the following types.

Forum - A little backing tip for the DMV testing

Yep, I was standing at the back of the trailer and noticed where the shadow was on the ground in relation to the back of the trailer. It happened to be about 1 foot behind the back of the trailer. Well I used that to my advantage and had no issue with stopping in that 3' box.

Forum - Failed my backing tests again! Ugh!

I made improvements from last week, and almost finished the backing part of the test. I finished two of the maneuvers (straight-line and off set) but failed on the alley dock.

Video - CDL Training Lesson Backing 04 offset right

This video shows how to do an offset backing maneuver for the CDL backing exam.

Video - CDL parallel parking - Mooney CDL Training Online

This video shows how to do parallel parking for the CDL backing exam.

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