CDL Class C Practice Test
Class C is the odd one out, and it confuses more people than the other two put together. It is not defined by weight. Group C is anything that fits neither Class A nor Class B, but which either carries 16 or more people including the driver, or carries hazardous materials in quantities that require placards.
50 questions, 40 right to pass. Free, untimed, no account.
Correct · A
A driver is behind a 60-foot rig at 35 mph. Using the one-second-per-ten-feet rule, how many seconds of following distance should they keep?
- 6 seconds Correct answer
- 4 seconds
- 5 seconds
- 7 seconds
Texas Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers Handbook, 2.7.1 – Space Ahead, p. 2-16
Class C practice test: quick facts
What this practice test does. Your state's own numbers are cited separately.
- Questions per test
- 50
- Right answers to pass
- 40
- Time limit
- None
- Cost
- FreeNo account, no card, no limit on retries
- Questions in the bank
- 321Drawn fresh every time you start
- Every answer cited
- YesDocument, section and page on each one
- Last reviewed
- September 2026Re-checked against the source once a year
- Written from
- Official state handbooks
What this test covers
Every subject below has cited questions behind it. The number is how many are in the bank right now, and each draw is weighted across them.
- Vehicle inspection 28
- Basic vehicle control 12
- Shifting gears 11
- Seeing 7
- Communicating 11
- Space management 14
- Speed management 15
- Night driving 16
- Extreme driving conditions 19
- Hazard perception 24
- Emergencies 13
- Skid control and recovery 10
- Accidents and fires 13
- Alcohol and drugs 15
- Staying alert and fit to drive 13
- Cargo 20
- Railroad crossings 12
- Rules and disqualification 11
- Getting and keeping a CDL 16
- Carrying passengers 41
How hard the bank is
Every test you start pulls a mix, so you get the easy marks and the ones people actually fail on.
- Straightforward 86
- Moderate 170
- Hard 65
Sample Class C questions
Real questions from the bank, with the answer and the page it came from. Open a few, then take the test properly.
A driver is behind a 60-foot rig at 35 mph. Using the one-second-per-ten-feet rule, how many seconds of following distance should they keep?
- 6 seconds
- 4 seconds
- 5 seconds
- 7 seconds
Below 40 mph the rule is one second of following distance for every ten feet of vehicle length, with no extra added. A 60-foot vehicle is six ten-foot units, so six seconds is the minimum gap at this speed.
A driver of a 40-foot combination vehicle is traveling at 45 mph. How many seconds of following distance should they keep?
- 5 seconds
- 4 seconds
- 6 seconds
- 3 seconds
A 40-foot vehicle needs four seconds under the one-second-per-ten-feet rule, but the handbook adds one more second whenever speed is above 40 mph. That makes five seconds the right gap here.
To check your following distance, from what point should you start counting seconds?
- The moment the vehicle ahead passes a fixed point on the road
- The moment you first spot the vehicle ahead in the distance
- The moment you take your foot off the accelerator
- Only once your speed passes 40 mph
Pick a landmark, such as a shadow or a pavement marking, and start counting "one thousand-and-one, one thousand-and-two" the instant the vehicle ahead passes it. Comparing your count to the same landmark shows whether you're keeping enough space.
Total stopping distance is the sum of which three distances?
- Perception distance, reaction distance, and braking distance
- Following distance, braking distance, and coasting distance
- Reaction distance, coupling distance, and braking distance
- Perception distance, signaling distance, and coasting distance
Perception distance is how far you travel before your brain registers a hazard, reaction distance is how far you travel before your foot hits the brake, and braking distance is how far the vehicle travels while braking. Add all three for total stopping distance.
At 55 mph, on dry pavement with good brakes, total stopping distance is closest to which distance?
- About 419 feet
- About 216 feet
- About 142 feet
- About 61 feet
The handbook adds perception distance (about 142 feet at 55 mph), reaction distance (about 61 feet) and braking distance (about 216 feet) to reach a total minimum stopping distance of about 419 feet at that speed.
If a vehicle's speed increases from 20 mph to 60 mph, how much greater do impact and braking distance become?
- About 9 times greater
- About 3 times greater
- About 4 times greater
- About 16 times greater
Tripling speed from 20 to 60 mph makes impact and braking distance about nine times greater, not three times. Doubling speed from 20 to 40 mph only gets you to four times greater, which is why high speed is far more dangerous than it feels.
About how much should a driver reduce speed on a wet road compared to a dry one?
- About one-third, for example from 55 to about 35 mph
- No reduction is needed if the vehicle has good tires
- About one-tenth, since wet roads barely affect traction
- By half, the same reduction used for packed snow
Wet roads can double stopping distance, so the handbook calls for cutting speed by about a third on a wet road. Packed snow calls for a bigger cut, about half or more, and ice calls for slowing to a crawl.
Hydroplaning, where the tires lose contact with the road on a wet surface, can begin at speeds as low as what?
- 30 mph
- 45 mph
- 55 mph
- 65 mph
It doesn't take much water to cause hydroplaning. The handbook warns it can happen at speeds as low as 30 mph, and it's more likely with low tire pressure or worn tread that can't channel water away.
How to use this test
-
Take it cold, once
Do not revise first. You want to know which subjects are actually weak, and a clean run tells you that in ten minutes.
-
Read the reason, not the score
The explanation for each answer opens on the next page with its handbook page. That is the bit that makes it stick.
-
Retry only what you missed
The result page has a button for exactly that. Far faster than sitting the whole thing again.
-
Come back on another day
A different draw each time exposes different gaps. Two runs a week beats ten in one evening.
Why this one is different
You can check every answer
Document, section and page on all of them, plus the date it was read. Nothing goes live without all four.
Nothing is behind a paywall
Every question in the bank is free, every time. There is no premium tier holding the hard ones back.
Scored by subject
You find out which topic is costing you marks, not just a number out of 50.
More about this test
So a fifteen-seat van is an ordinary vehicle and a sixteen-seat van needs a commercial license, on the same chassis, with the same engine, on the same road. The seat count is the line, and the driver counts towards it.
Why a small vehicle needs a commercial license
The logic is not about the vehicle. It is about what happens if it goes wrong. Sixteen people is a bus load whatever it is bolted to, and a placarded load is a placarded load whether it is on a tanker or in the back of a van. Class C exists so that the person driving has been tested on those consequences.
That is also why Class C is the only class where the endorsement comes first. You do not take a Class C test. You take general knowledge, and then you take whichever endorsement put you in this group in the first place: passenger if it is the seat count, hazardous materials if it is the load. Get the endorsement wrong and the license does not cover what you drive.
Hazmat takes longer than studying
If it is the hazmat route, plan around the timing rather than the exam. That endorsement needs a Transportation Security Administration background check on top of the written test, and that takes weeks you cannot shorten by revising harder. People who leave it to the end of their permit window run out of window.
The passenger route has no background check, but it has its own material that nothing else on the site covers. Loading and unloading. The danger zone around the vehicle. What you do at a railroad crossing with people on board. Evacuation. None of it appears on general knowledge.
How to use this
This test draws from general knowledge and the passenger bank together, because the passenger route is by far the more common way into Class C. If you are heading for the hazmat route instead, take this for the general knowledge half and then take the hazmat test on its own, where placards, shipping papers and segregation are covered properly.
Fifty questions are drawn fresh each run and you get a breakdown by subject at the end. Every answer names the handbook and page it came from, and the month someone last checked it there.
Also worth reading
Last reviewed September 2026. Sources are re-checked against their publishers once a year.
Questions about this test
What makes a vehicle Class C rather than an ordinary one?
Does the driver count towards the sixteen seats?
Which tests do I need for Class C?
Why does hazmat take so long to get?
Can I drive a Class C vehicle on a Class A or B license?
Is Class C the easiest commercial license?
Still not sure?
Every question names the document and page behind it, so a wrong answer is something you can prove rather than argue about.
Read up on this first
Other tests to take
- Class A 50 questions, 40 to pass
- Class B 50 questions, 40 to pass
- General Knowledge 50 questions, 40 to pass
- Air Brakes 25 questions, 20 to pass
- Combination Vehicles 20 questions, 16 to pass
- Hazmat 30 questions, 24 to pass
- Tanker 20 questions, 16 to pass
- Doubles/Triples 20 questions, 16 to pass
- Passenger 20 questions, 16 to pass
- School Bus 20 questions, 16 to pass
- Pre-Trip 30 questions
Ready when you are.
50 questions drawn fresh from 321 cited ones. No account, nothing to pay, and every question in the bank is free.