Michigan CDL Combination case studies
Michigan CDL Combination · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Michigan CDL Combination (Class A Combination Vehicles) knowledge test is the endorsement-specific written exam a Michigan commercial driver's license applicant takes to add combination-vehicle authority to a CDL. It is aimed at drivers who will operate a tractor-trailer or other combination unit, where the trailer's weight, length, and articulation change how the vehicle brakes, turns, backs, and stops. The Michigan CDL Combination case studies are 5 cases and about 4,100 words.
1A Leak Test That Fails by One Pound at 18 Degrees
It is 2:10 a.m., 18°F, in a yard outside Grand Rapids. You are doing the pre-trip on a three-axle tractor pulling a 53-foot van with tandem trailer axles, loaded to 41,000 lb in the box.
809 words, about 4 min2The Right Turn, the Utility Pole and the Pedestrian
You are driving a tractor with a 230-inch wheelbase pulling an empty 53-foot van, about 70 feet bumper to bumper, in Grand Rapids. You need a 90-degree right turn from a three-lane one-way street onto a two-lane street.
814 words, about 4 min3The Coupling That 'Held' but Never Locked
At 05:40, already 20 minutes behind schedule, you walk out to couple to a loaded 53-foot van at a shipper's yard. The trailer sits at an angle; the kingpin is roughly 18 inches right of the tractor's centerline.
837 words, about 4 min4Four Straps, Twenty-One Thousand Pounds, and 600 Pounds Over on the Drives
At a lumber yard in Cadillac you take on 10 bundles of 24-foot kiln-dried lumber, 42,000 lb total, on a 48-foot flatbed with tandem trailer axles behind a three-axle tractor. The forklift operator centers the bundles over the trailer.
767 words, about 4 min5Empty Trailer, Wet Downgrade, Trailer ABS Light On
You are 20 miles into a 300-mile run with an empty 53-foot van, about 12,300 lb, behind a three-axle tractor. It is a light rain on a two-lane road, and a 4% downgrade ends in a curve posted 45 mph.
873 words, about 4 min