the guy that rode with me was a little car, 16 year old just getting their license tester...when he rode with me it was his first time ever giving the CDL test...and first time ever in a big truck!....i knew the pre-trip inside and out, but think i did 1/8 of it...stuck my head in the front passenger wheel well to tell him what i was checking, when i get out he said "ok looks like you know what you are doing, lets move on to the next thing"....he didn't want me to take the time to do a full brake check where i ran the air down then back up...and when i did my light check he walked around the truck while i turned my lights on...he checked my lights for me while i sat in the nice warm cab (it was 15 degrees out when i did the test, maybe thats why he was so rushed to climb inside)...HAHA
Well that sounds like my pre-trip and road test.
It wasn't my instructors first CDL test, she was a regular license tester. It was funny she told me she very much preferred the CDL tests over the 16 year old's driving test - the kids scared the crap out of her sometimes.
On my pre-trip she was tough, although when I got to the right hand rear of the trailer she said "OK that's enough, you identified enough to pass, if you miss everything else you still pass". 10-4 Next go to the air-brake test. Explain test, point at guage - that was enough for my instructor- on to the skills test.
Straight line backing, left hand alley dock, serpentine - slow and steady, pass on to the road test.
My instructor hopped into the passenger seat with her big insulated 44 oz Big Gulp, put on her seatbelt, lit up a Marlboro and said "head out of the parking area and take a right".
Long story short I had a good instructor and got my Class A that day.