--- name: "cdl_permit_exam_prep" description: "Preparing for the commercial learner permit written tests: general knowledge, air brakes, and endorsement tests broken into one study system, diagram based drills for the pre-trip inspection vocabulary the written test uses, state manual differences flagged instead of averaged away, and a two week plan for someone studying after shifts. Triggers when someone asks about a CDL permit test, CLP study plan, air brakes test, CDL endorsements, or pre-trip inspection wording." --- # CDL Permit Exam Prep ## Purpose Coach a learner through the written tests that earn a Commercial Learner Permit, the CLP, and set up the tests that follow it. The system is section by section study from the state CDL manual, a diagnostic scored per test, diagram based inspection vocabulary drills, and a dated two week plan. Practice test apps with answer keys are a supplement here. They are not the method, because they skip endorsement planning and they hide state differences inside national averages. ## Workflow 1. **Pin the target.** Ask the state, the class sought (A, B, or C), the endorsements wanted, and whether the vehicle they will test and work in has air brakes. Ask the test date if one is booked, and how many hours a day they can study. If the state is unknown, stop and get it. State comes first in this subject, not last. 2. **Build the test list.** Run `bin/cdl_plan.py tests --class A --endorsements T,N --air-brakes yes`. Read the notes it prints with the learner. Three notes change plans often: only N, P, and S may appear on a CLP, hazmat needs a TSA security threat assessment, and skipping air brakes puts an L restriction on the license. Full mapping lives in `references/test-map.md`. 3. **Start the state sheet.** Fill the state sheet described in `references/state-differences.md` from the state licensing agency site and the state manual: manual edition, counts, time limits, fees, retest rules, and any state added topics. Where a national source and the state sheet disagree, the state sheet wins and the disagreement is logged as a state difference. 4. **Run a cold diagnostic.** One timed set per test, scored separately with `bin/cdl_plan.py score --test general --correct 41 --total 50`. Log every miss in `assets/error-log.md` by manual section and cause. Never report one combined score. The tests are passed separately at 80 percent under 49 CFR 383.135, so the studying is tracked separately too. 5. **Study section by section, in plan order.** General core first (manual sections 1, 2, 3), then air brakes (section 5), then class material (section 6 for Class A), then endorsements one at a time. Worked plan: `bin/cdl_plan.py plan --class A --endorsements T,N --air-brakes yes --hours 2`. Template and rules: `assets/two-week-plan.md`. 6. **Drill air brakes as numbers plus one idea.** Teach the sheet in `references/air-brakes-numbers.md`: springs apply the parking and emergency brakes, air holds them back, and the pressure ladder runs cut-out around 125 psi, cut-in around 100 psi, warning before 60 psi, spring brakes fully on at 20 to 45 psi. Drill the ladder rising and falling until it is said without pauses. 7. **Drill inspection vocabulary on a drawing.** Have the learner draw the truck as labeled boxes and attach each part to its phrase family using `references/pretrip-vocabulary.md`: rigid parts get properly mounted and secured, not cracked, bent, or broken; rubber gets no abrasions, bulges, or cuts; fluid and air parts get not leaking. Parts the learner cannot place on the drawing become the next day study list. 8. **Gate the test date.** Book or keep the date only when the day 12 full timed run clears 85 percent on every test in the list. Below that on any one test, move the date or narrow the sitting to the tests that are ready, if the state allows split sittings. A permit sitting failed on one weak test costs the retest wait the state sets. 9. **Close the loop after the sitting.** Record which tests passed, the CLP issue date, and the restrictions printed on it. The CLP must be held at least 14 days before the skills test under 49 CFR 383.25. Line up Entry-Level Driver Training with a provider on the FMCSA Training Provider Registry when the class or endorsement requires it, and carry the error log forward into skills test prep. ## Output Contract - A test list that names every required test for the class and endorsements, the manual sections behind each one, the model question count, and the number correct needed at 80 percent, with the state check warning attached. - A state sheet with counts, fees, retest rules, and state added topics, each line tied to the state manual or agency page it came from. No state fact is stated from a national app or from memory. - Diagnostic and practice results reported per test, never as one blended score, with misses grouped by manual section. - A dated plan with a diagnostic day, a midpoint re-test, a full timed run, a fix day, and a light final day. A plan without dates and per test gates is a draft. - Air brake numbers stated as the model manual values in `references/air-brakes-numbers.md`, with maker or state overrides flagged when they apply. ## Operating Rules 1. **The state manual is the textbook.** Every drill, answer, and number traces to the learner state manual or to the federal rules in `references/`. Third party apps and videos are extra reps only, and any conflict goes to the state sheet. 2. **Each test stands alone.** Passing is 80 percent per test under 49 CFR 383.135. Never average scores across tests, never call a learner ready on a combined score, and keep the practice bar at 85 percent for margin. 3. **Flag state differences, never smooth them over.** Counts, clocks, fees, retest waits, and state added topics differ by state. Present the federal floor and the state rule side by side, labeled, so the learner sees which one governs their sitting. 4. **Endorsement timing is part of the plan.** Only N, P, and S may appear on a CLP. H, T, and X belong to the CDL stage. Hazmat adds a TSA security threat assessment and, for a first time holder, ELDT hazmat theory before testing. P and S add a skills test and ELDT behind the wheel later. Say this on day one, not after the permit sitting. 5. **Restrictions are decisions, not surprises.** Skipping or failing air brakes, testing in an automatic, or testing in a non fifth wheel combination each prints a restriction under 49 CFR 383.95. Name the restriction and what work it closes off before the learner chooses that route. 6. **Vocabulary before trivia.** The written test and the inspection test share one phrase system. Teach the phrase families and the walk order in `references/pretrip-vocabulary.md` before drilling isolated facts about parts. 7. **No invented facts.** Do not invent question counts, fees, waiting periods, pressure values, or state rules. If a fact is not in the references, check the state manual or search a primary source, or cut it. 8. **This skill covers written permit tests.** It does not certify anyone to drive, replace ELDT, or stand in for the skills test. Say so when a learner treats a passed practice set as a license to practice on public roads outside the CLP rules.