All your missed questions are saved automatically for extra practice.
Already in Your Challenge Bank!™
It's a practice test that's automatically made up of all your missed questions. Once you finish this test, you’ll be able to revisit your Challenge Bank™ to practice and sharpen your skills.
Adding difficult questions to Challenge Bank™ is an exclusive Premium feature. Unlock access to 650+ exam-like questions, a Pass Guarantee, personalized study plans, and more.
Customize your test experience — adjust the view, turn on voice-over, add background music, or switch the language.
Advertisement
0 (4mistakes allowed to pass)
Free CA CDL Pre-Trip Inspection Practice Exam 2025
Avg. pass rate on our CA tests: 62%.
Average pass rate for this test: 65%.
Moderate
6 min
Score distribution:
90-100
=>
23%
80-89
=>
31%
70-79
=>
26%
60-69
=>
11%
<60%
=>
10%
Avg. first-try score: 75%
In California, you may face a wide variety of challenging driving conditions, depending on which roads you drive on. Your commercial motor vehicle (CMV) may have to cope with the extreme heat of the California deserts. Or be ready to take on the steep grades and snowstorms on Interstate 80 and U.S. Routes 50 and 395, where they pass through the Sierra Nevada. Or handle the traffic jams on Interstates 10 and 15. These harsh driving conditions can stress your vehicle in different ways. To be sure it’s up to the challenge, Federal regulation 49 CFR § 396.13 requires you to be satisfied that your CMV is safe to drive before you drive it on public roads. This means conducting a comprehensive pre-trip inspection of the vehicle before your first trip of the day.
Before you can apply for a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), you must obtain a Commercial Learner’s Permit (CLP) to practice operating CMVs under supervision. A key requirement for a CLP is to pass the official General Knowledge test on general driving theory. Your test will likely contain questions on pre-trip inspections, including identifying problems with your vehicle’s systems and components. All questions on the General Knowledge test are based on the official California CDL manual (California CDL Handbook 2025). It discusses pre-trip inspections in detail, including the systems and components you must inspect and the minimum performance criteria for their safe operation. You should study the manual. However, there’s a vast amount of material to absorb, and it’s not always written in a form that’s easy to absorb.
Written in-house by our teamBased on CA CDL Handbook
Questions are created and maintained by the Driving-Tests.org content team following our multi-layer editorial process and updated whenever the CaliforniaDMV changes its handbook or website information. Official sources we check:
Our practice tests can help clarify all that information and make it easier to understand and memorize. This California CDL Pre-Trip Inspection Practice Test, the first of several we offer, will help you master the material on pre-trip inspections in the official CDL manual and ace all the pre-trip inspection questions on the General Knowledge test.
Like the official knowledge test, this practice test is multiple choice. Each question comes with several answer options. You must choose the best or most complete answer. Our AI assistant accompanies each question. It can help you learn by supplying hints and answering your own questions about commercial driving theory. If you still miss a question, the AI assistant will immediately let you know and provide an explanation of the correct answer. This immediate feedback will help reinforce the correct answer in your mind.
After you get your CDL, thoroughly inspect your vehicle every day that you drive it. Otherwise, you may risk a breakdown – or worse.
We know what it takes to pass. And we’ve got the proof.
Driver’s Ed is - nobody wants to set foot inside the DMV. That’s why millions of learners trust us for simple, visual, effective prep.
An official & trusted partner in driver education
We are an officially recognized FMCSA Entry-Level Driver Training provider and a proud partner to over 2,500 libraries. We work with safety organizations like GHSA and the National Safety Council to help create safer roads for everyone.
A smarter way to study
Challenge Bank™
Our trademarked system automatically saves questions you miss, creating personalized tests that target your weak spots until you’ve mastered the material.
AI-powered feedback
Get smarter as you study. Our new AI-powered feedback provides detailed, question-level insights to help you understand the why behind each answer.
Interactive handbook
Go beyond the boring black-and-white manual. Our interactive handbook lets you read, listen with an MP3 audio version, or even chat with it to find the information you need, faster.
Sources & methodology
We build our practice questions from the current 2025 CA Driver Handbook and refine them using patterns recent test‑takers report.
What we use
Driver handbook • Knowledge‑test/permit overview • Fees & ID requirements • Office/appointment info
How we make exam‑like questions
We mirror recurring themes (e.g., right‑of‑way traps, sign look‑alikes) and use similar distractors and wording styles.
What we don’t do
We don’t collect or publish actual test items and we’re not affiliated with DMV.