High Road Training

Hello, everyone, my wife and I are going to make the plunge soon. I have passed my DOT Physical, but Failed the first round of exams only passed air brakes which I did study for and combination which I didn't study for because I did not know it was on the test, so I am here for help. Many of the questions on the test that I took were not what I studied. For instance Tar makes the road slippery...In my road it is sticky...and steer around a hazard which I selected but was wrong because I should have stopped??? Which was not in the book, stopping is not always best is what my book said...lol I get it, but many of my questions were so far out into left field I failed by 3 questions. I guess I should have skipped them but didn't, as I can be stubborn...Do you guys know how to select the High Road program for NC....The first test on the High Road matched up but the second didn't. Can I select the program for my state? If so I cannot find the proper link for the program. Any help would be greatly appreciated. We are serious about making this change. I am quitting my 5 year job starting school in about 3 weeks, once I am out, she is going to school. Many thanks again for any insight into how to study for the NC CDL A with H and Doubles endorsements. BTW the test was worse than my Plumbing license test which I passed first time, it was a 5 hour test, but this one seems to ask irrelevant questions designed to make you fail, I am much better with facts than slippery variables like Maybe or Could have Been which about 10 of my questions were.

Typed in North Carolina commercial drivers license in a google search and this popped up:

https://www.ncdot.gov/dmv/license-id/driver-licenses/new-drivers/Documents/commercial-driver-manual.pdf

I'm pretty sure studying this along with the High Road training program will prepare you for your tests.

The High Road CDL Training Program will cover all states. If you download CDL manuals from any two states, the major parts of them will be almost word for word.

The High Road program was built on the Illinois book, but in studying it you should be able to pass the exam in any state. No guarantees you will study every question on the HR program but you'll learn enough to pass.

Hint if your state uses computer testing and you see the option to skip a question: if you are sure of the answer to a question, answer it. If you have any doubt of the answer, hit the "skip". As soon as you get 40 correct answers (on the general knowledge) the computer will close out your test with a PASS. If you don't get 40 right, you'll see the ones your skipped again, but you'll be closer to the passing score than you were before.

Thank you very much it is greatly appreciated.

I live and passed all my tests the first time. I only studied the High Road CDL Training Program. I went through it once then reset my scores and did it a second time. Most people who only use the High Road pass their first time. The High Road teaches you the material. It's not about memorizing. Good luck.

Yes I am finding out it was only a couple differences in the beginning but most are matching up now...It is making a difference...I realized quickly after starting the program that I was not taking my time reading the questions. I was just selecting the right answers and missing words like except...lol did it on the test because, I was like there was no way that answer was incorrect...Thanks for letting me know

Speedreader Wrangler says:

I was not taking my time reading the questions. I was just selecting the right answers and missing words like "except"

This can be a killer on the test. You have to read every question - all of it and all the answers too. There are several "gotcha" questions you will see. Pay attention!

(For those who don't know, I taught a Permit class at Swift's Academy in Memphis a few years ago.)

Gotta watch those tricky worded questions.

I have gone through the High Road program a few times and read the PA paper manual countless times. The more you study, the better off you’ll be. I posted this quoted comment in another thread earlier

I have been taking lots of permit practice tests from different states to keep the info fresh and know it like the back of my hand. Some states word and ask the same questions differently, I find seeing it worded different ways really keeps my attention and helps me memorize the info.

(For those who don't know, I taught a Permit class at Swift's Academy in Memphis a few years ago.)

Errol, that's interesting! No, I didn't know. Have you any particular impressions you'd care to share regarding the switch-up from teaching kids to teaching adults? My immediate thought is that the adults in this case come with consistent high motivation.

I have gone through the High Road program a few times and read the PA paper manual countless times.... I posted this quoted comment in another thread earlier....I have been taking lots of permit practice tests from different states to keep the info fresh and know it like the back of my hand. Some states word and ask the same questions differently, I find seeing it worded different ways really keeps my attention and helps me memorize the info. .....

Speaking of which, you would seem like the ultimate, motivated "dream" student, Dave!

What you posted earlier in the other thread caught my attention. It called to mind study techniques that I taught with and have used myself.

Basically, you cited repetition as helpful - practice of anything makes perfect!

But I have a bias for what is known as "errorless learning", and that applies to exactly what is being "practiced" or repeatedly reviewed.

Consider that practice tests expose incorrect information and that feeds into the brain. The correct answer isn't as cleanly embedded in light of this broader inclusion with incorrect answers.

With question pools like DMV exams that are available ahead of time to study from, it is a good technique to black out the wrong answers and just re-read the question with the single correct answer. If one wants to try practice tests, best to wait until after a point where, when reading the question, the answer starts popping into one's head before reading it. That displays pretty good mastery and the retained info won't be much affected by all the other answers on the practice exams. Those could just be skipped, BTW - if one is confident enough to believe that in sitting for the real exam, when looking at the questions, the practiced, correct answer will stand out with comfortable familiarity.

People come each with individual strengths in learning modalities - most people are good visual learners - but almost everyone learns best when using multiple learning channels - including listening and using muscles. The same information is embedded more strongly into memory when delivered through different channels.

As that applies to CDL exam questions, a multi-sensory study step-up could mean writing the question and answer (kinesthetic input or muscular learning). Even better, read the question (and correct answer only) out loud - which is visual and auditory input - then rewrite the question and answer by flipping it into a statement - which is kinesthetic. That harks as well to what Dave wrote about finding "different wording" to be helpful, and that aids comprehension, as well, beyond just memory. An example of such is:

read out loud: What is Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW)? The total weight of a single vehicle plus its load.

write: The total weight of a single vehicle plus its load is Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW).

If writing statements, do so on index cards and flip through those for practice, alternating with the exam guide.

OK, nobody asked and maybe that's way more than anybody cares to know. But..... these methods work really well!!!

(For those who don't know, I taught a Permit class at Swift's Academy in Memphis a few years ago.)

Errol, that's interesting! No, I didn't know. Have you any particular impressions you'd care to share regarding the switch-up from teaching kids to teaching adults? My immediate thought is that the adults in this case come with consistent high motivation.

You are thinking correctly, Doyenne. It's easier to teach a practical skill to motivated grownups then it is to teach math to bored students who are in class because they have to be there.

As for this:

Basically, you cited repetition as helpful - practice of anything makes perfect!

But I have a bias for what is known as "errorless learning", and that applies to exactly what is being "practiced" or repeatedly reviewed.

Consider that practice tests expose incorrect information and that feeds into the brain. The correct answer isn't as cleanly embedded in light of this broader inclusion with incorrect answers.

"Errorless learning" is learning by rote. (Remember having to memorize Lincoln's Gettysburg Address?). In studying for tests, multiple choice especially, you will learn more by finding your wrong answers. If you know that gravity makes trucks go faster and faster down a hill*, you haven't learned anything. But when you learn what an orange triangle on the back of a vehicle means because at first you had no idea, you learn something.

The only "practice" that makes "perfect" is perfect practice, not just any old practice. How do you get from zero to perfect? By starting out making errors, and fixing those errors. This is how most people learn how to back a trailer in between two cones.

*The answer to an actual CDL test question.