Rhode Island CDL practice tests

Rhode Island runs commercial driver licensing through its own Division of Motor Vehicles. The state is small enough that this is worth saying plainly: Rhode Island is the smallest state in the country by area, so unlike states where a testing office can be hours away, here it rarely is. Plan for a short trip rather than a long one.

What Rhode Island requires

Every figure below names the document it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.

Passing score
80% 49 CFR Part 383, Commercial Driver's License Standards, 383.135
Minimum age (in-state driving)
18 years old 49 CFR Part 383, Commercial Driver's License Standards, 383.71
Minimum age (across state lines)
21 years old 49 CFR Part 391, Qualifications of Drivers, 391.11
Permit holding period
14 days 49 CFR Part 383, Commercial Driver's License Standards, 383.25

Fees change without notice, so we do not repeat them here. Check Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles for the current cost.

Rhode Island practice tests

The knowledge tests are set by federal rule, so the questions are the same wherever you sit them. What changes is the paperwork above.

Small does not mean simple

Being compact changes some practical things about sitting the test here but not what is on it. Rhode Island's population is concentrated around Providence and the surrounding coast, so demand for testing appointments tends to bunch up in that corridor rather than spreading evenly the way it would in a larger, more rural state. If you can test slightly outside the Providence area, appointments may be easier to come by. None of that changes what the exam asks — only how easy it is to get a seat.

Same rules, much shorter drive

The material itself is set nationally, not by Rhode Island. The knowledge exams, the pass mark and the age limits all come from 49 CFR Part 383 and apply the same way in every state. Each section needs 80 percent correct to pass, which is the federal floor rather than a Rhode Island rule. You can drive commercially within Rhode Island from 18; work that crosses into Massachusetts or Connecticut needs you to be 21.

Which tests you actually need

General knowledge is compulsory for everyone, whatever comes next. The rest depends on the vehicle: fail the air brakes exam and you can still be licensed, just with a restriction that keeps air-braked vehicles off the table. A trailer heavier than ten thousand pounds means sitting the combination vehicles exam as well. Endorsements sit at the end of the list, added only as needed: tank, doubles and triples, hazardous materials, passenger, school bus.

Hazardous materials adds a Transportation Security Administration background check on top of the written test, and that runs on its own federal schedule regardless of how quickly you finish studying.

Before you book

A commercial learner permit has to be issued first, and under federal rule it must be held for at least 14 days before a skills test is allowed. Book your knowledge exams for that early stretch rather than the end of it, so a failed section leaves enough runway to retake before the skills test.

You will not find fee amounts here. Rhode Island reviews them periodically, and there is little point printing a number that could be wrong by the time you read it — go to the DMV directly for the current figure. What this site does instead is tell you which questions the exams draw from, and cite the exact source behind each one.

Jump to a test

Every question on every one of these is free, and each answer names the handbook page it came from.

Other states

Cited to the page, every time.

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