Missouri CDL Manual Total Stoping Distance As Compared To The High Road CDL Training Manual

From page 2-14 of the Missouri CDL License Manual revision June of 2015:

Perception Distance-The average perception time for an alert driver is 1 3/4 seconds. At 55 mph this accounts for 142 feet traveled.

Reaction Distance-The average driver has a reaction time of 3/4 to 1 second. At 55 mph this accounts for 61 feet traveled.

Braking Distance-At 55 mph on dry pavement with good brakes, it can take about 216 feet

Perception Distance + Reaction Distance + Braking Distance = Total Braking Distance

In MO at 55 MPH Total braking Distance = 419 Feet or 142ft Perception + 61ft Reaction + 216ft Braking = 419ft Total

High Road CDL Training page 19

Perception distance is the distance your vehicle travels from the time your eyes see a hazard until your brain recognizes it. The perception time for an alert driver is about 3/4 second. At 55 mph, you travel 60 feet in 3/4 second.

Reaction distance is the distance traveled from the time your brain tells your foot to move from the accelerator until your foot is actually pushing the brake pedal. The average driver has a reaction time of 3/4 second. This accounts for an additional 60 feet traveled at 55 mph.

Braking distance is the distance it takes to stop once the brakes are applied. At 55 mph on dry pavement with good brakes, it can take a heavy vehicle about 170 feet and about 4 1/2 seconds to stop.

Total stopping distance - At 55 mph it will take about 6 seconds to stop and your vehicle will travel the distance of a football field (60 + 60 + 170 = 290 feet).

I'm not trying to nit pick the High Road Training manual in any way since I know it has to represent all of the states CDL manuals. It is an awesome learning tool for preparation and has been a great benefit to me. The price can't be beat either, lol. I guess my point is to make sure you are also studying along with your states most current CDL manual as well in case there are any subtle differences in the material.

Is there a fact checked area on the site or a thread that shows variances in the different states CDL Manuals as compared to the High Road Manual? Please! correct my total braking distance example noted above if I'm in error. As far as I know the June 2015 revision of the Missouri CDL License Manual is the most current. I have not consulted any of the other states CDL manuals to see what they have to say about stopping distances. The example above is only! from a hard copy I got at a Missouri drivers license testing station.

Best of luck to anybody else studying for the exams!

MO does have at least one question on the permit test about stopping distance. I skipped that one lol!

The High Road Training Program is based off of the Illinois CDL manual.

Guess what... it won't matter. I used high road for a Week before going to MO. I studied it the entire bus ride.

I was the first one in my class to pass all of the written tests and on the first try. The multiple choice answers are not going to be 255 ft 300 ft or 310 ft..... they will be more like 50 ft... 1000 ft.. 2500 ft... so guessing is much easoer.

Key tips: on the paper test do the easy ones first. Read ALL the questions.. the answers to a hard question may be in a later question. And use process of elimination. On the written there are 3 answers to each question if u can eliminate any your chances for a correct answer goes up.

On the computer yest you can skip questions and it won't count against you.

There won't be enough of those specific distance questions to make you fail. And as posted above you can choose to skip those questions when they come up. I tested a couple weeks ago in Florida, which is also different from the High Road, in that same area. Passed all tests with no errors. Thank You Brett for the High Road training program. It works

I believe the answer on my AZ TEST was "more than a football field". Like Rainy said, multiple choice test. Usually 2 or 3 really bad options. In AZ you get to skip questions if you dont know the answer. Once you hit 80% correct it shuts off. You'll be fine. You do not need to answer every question correctly!

I'm just a bit gun shy because when I went for my Class E license the lady gave me the MO Drivers Manual and said "don't worry about these sections of the book you won't be tested on that material" It was a 20 question computerized test. 5 wrong answers and you were out. 10 questions into the test I had 3 wrong answers already. Guess what? the wrong answers came from material in the sections she said I didn't need to know. 15 questions into the test I had 4 wrong answers with 5 questions yet to go and sweating bullets for fear of failing. I had to guess on one of the last 5 questions and to my relief it was correct, talk about being nervous. There was no option to skip any questions but then again it was not considered a CDL type test.

I was hired by the company before I got the class E and needed to pass in order to start driving and was in desperate need of making some cash since I had just moved to MO from Wisconsin. I also needed to get CPR training as well and ended up driving down to Arkansas through all the flooding we had here in SW Mo in January. Just missed a tornado by about 1 hour that went thru Cassville, MO on my way home from class and made it back home before the roads started to flood. Lots of people got killed. We don't have many roads here in the Ozark Mountains so It makes for a long way around to your destination if you turn around so people take the chance of driving over flooded roads and end up getting swept away in the torrent.

It seems like everything is a bit of a struggle to accomplish down here. Truck Driving is one of the very few opportunities around this part of the country where a person can make a decent living.

Thanks for all the encouragement. I'm going for my CDL Learners permit on Wednesday. Med Card is in hand so step by step things seem to be falling into place.

The High Road CDL is a great learning tool. Highly recommended!