Free MO CDL Pre-Trip Inspection Practice Exam 2025

In 2020, Missouri had the 12th-highest rate (15.7) of traffic fatalities per 100,000 population. There were several reasons for this: the high rate of drunk drivers involved in fatal accidents, the poor condition of many roads and bridges, relatively lax laws on distracted driving and new drivers, and some evidently dangerous commercial routes. For example, U.S. Highway 63 is a major north-south corridor through central Missouri. Unfortunately, it’s a curvy, twisting road with sharp turns but only limited exits for side roads. Some sections of U.S. 63 are narrow two-lane roads with no barriers separating opposing lanes. Also, fog occurs often in the Ozark regions. Despite these hazards, drivers often try to use the opposing lane to pass a slower vehicle, risking a head-on collision.

On roads with hazardous driving conditions or dangerous drivers, your Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) must be up to the job and able to make emergency maneuvers if necessary to prevent an accident. You must be sure that your brakes, horn, lights, mirrors, steering, and tires are in good condition. Federal regulation 49 CFR § 396.13 requires you to be satisfied that your CMV is safe to drive before you drive it. To ensure this, you must conduct a thorough pre-trip inspection before your first trip of the day in that vehicle.

To practice operating CMVs under supervision, you must obtain a Commercial Learner’s Permit (CLP). 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 conducting pre-trip inspections. All questions on the General Knowledge test are based on the official Missouri CDL manual (Missouri CDL Handbook 2025). It discusses pre-trip inspections in detail. You should study the manual. However, there’s a vast amount of material to learn, and it’s hard to absorb it all.

This Missouri CDL Pre-Trip Inspection Practice Test, the first of several we offer, will help clarify all that information and make it easier to understand and memorize. By intensive practice with tests like this one, you’ll soon be prepared to ace all the pre-trip inspection questions on the General Knowledge test.

Like the official General Knowledge test, this practice test is multiple choice. For each question, you must choose the best or most complete answer. Our AI assistant can help you 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.