The class of truck that a rental place will rent that will quality for my test is referred to as a CDL truck by the rental companies. Ryder has very few that will work for my road test and none available within my region. Penske only has one...about an hour and a half from where I live.
I actually had an arrangement worked out with a local truck driving school. But...they only test for a full CDL. So my plan was to return to DMV already having taken the general knowledge test as well as the air brake test. The plan was to add the passenger test and then I could use the truck driving school's bus to take my test. Turns out DMV gave me the non-CDL class b test yesterday...which was correct....but was actually not required to test me on air brakes since that is a CDL license thing. So...to work with the truck driving school...I had to take the CDL class b exam, re-take the cdl air brake exam, and then also take the cdl passenger exam. THEN...I could pay the truck driving school, $950...yes...$950...to have them give me a few hours of instruction and then use their bus for the test. But...it being a CDL test...I had to memorize the pre-inspection booklet which is 16 items, about 60 or so sub-items, and the full descriptions and how to measure each, do that perfectly, and then do the driving test. I just don't have the time between now and Monday to do all that. On the plus side, the DMV said if I can come up with a rig, they will test me as a walk-in without an appointment which was nice of them. Incidentally....there is no air brake non-CDL test...and therefore...any 26,001 lb rig...with or without air brakes...will quality for the non-CDL class b driving test. And even if it DOES have air brakes, they do not do the walk-thru of the air brake system, make you fan out the brakes to check to make sure the lower air warning goes off...and the parking brake pops out when it gets low enough. It's simply a driving test. Get in the RV or truck, don't run over any curbs, stop at stop signs, don't hit anyone...done.
I already took an RV driving class before getting my 5th wheel...and have driven that for a few seasons now....with a total length of 61' when I had the bike rack on the front of my truck. So while a motorhome is different, I have experience driving a long rig, backing it up, using mirrors, turning, etc. etc. Just need to take my class b driving test and all this goes away. :)
Rob
