Class A
The combination license.
- One run
- 50 questions
- To pass
- 40 of 50
Georgia issues commercial licenses through the Department of Driver Services, not a DMV — Georgia split driver licensing out of its old Department of Revenue and gave it its own agency, the DDS, so the office you deal with for a CDL is a dedicated licensing body rather than a branch of a larger motor vehicle department. Georgia is also one of the largest states east of the Mississippi, which matters more here than in most: if you live outside metro Atlanta, the nearest DDS center that runs CDL knowledge tests can be a genuine drive, so it's worth checking hours before you go rather than turning up.
Every figure below names the document it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Fees change without notice, so we do not repeat them here. Check Georgia Department of Driver Services for the current cost.
The knowledge tests are set by federal rule, so the questions are the same wherever you sit them. What changes is the paperwork above.
The combination license.
The heavy straight vehicle license. Group B covers a single vehicle rating 26,001 pounds or more, or one towing a unit of 10,000 pounds or less.
The small vehicle license.
The knowledge test every commercial driver takes, whatever class or endorsement they are after.
Required before you may drive any commercial vehicle with air brakes.
Required for a Class A license. Coupling and uncoupling, off-tracking, trailer brakes and the handling of a vehicle that is jointed in the middle.
The H endorsement. Placarding, shipping papers, loading and segregation rules, and what to do when something leaks.
The N endorsement. Surge, baffles, bulkheads, high center of gravity and the way a part-full tank changes how a vehicle stops and turns.
The T endorsement. Coupling and uncoupling multiple trailers, converter dollies, crack-the-whip and the inspection points a second trailer adds.
The P endorsement. Pre-trip and post-trip checks on a bus, loading and unloading, standee lines, and handling passengers on the road.
The S endorsement, taken alongside the passenger endorsement. Danger zones, mirror adjustment, loading and unloading students, and railroad crossings.
A study drill for the pre-trip inspection.
The exam content itself is federal. 49 CFR Part 383 sets the syllabus, the endorsements and the 80 percent pass mark, and Georgia's DDS administers the same computer-based multiple-choice test that every other state runs. What changes state to state is the machinery around it — who runs the office, how many offices there are, and how far apart they sit. In Georgia, that machinery is DDS-specific: the agency handles CDL knowledge and skills testing separately from ordinary car licenses at some locations, so it's worth confirming a center actually offers commercial testing before you drive out to it.
General knowledge is the exam every applicant sits first. After that it comes down to the vehicle. Air brakes require a separate exam, and failing it doesn't stop you getting a license — it puts a restriction on it that bars air-braked vehicles. Towing more than 10,000 pounds means the combination vehicles test as well. Beyond that sit the endorsements: tank, doubles and triples, passenger, school bus, hazardous materials.
Hazmat is the one to plan for early. It requires a Transportation Security Administration background check in addition to the written exam, and that process runs on its own timetable — starting it late is a common reason a hazmat endorsement gets delayed.
A commercial learner permit has to be issued before you can sit the skills test, and federal rule fixes a minimum holding period before that test can happen. Sit the knowledge exams as early in that window as you can, so a failed attempt still leaves time to retake it before the permit runs out.
We leave fees off this page deliberately. Georgia sets its own and changes them without much notice, so a number printed here could send you to a DDS counter with the wrong amount. What we do give you is exactly what the exams ask and where each answer is sourced from. Given how spread out DDS centers can be outside Atlanta, it's worth phoning ahead to confirm a slot before driving any real distance.
Every question on every one of these is free, and each answer names the handbook page it came from.
Every question names the handbook, section and page it was read from, so you can check the answer instead of taking our word for it.
How we write these