Here are some economic opportunities for truckers in the great state of Maryland. Maryland benefits from federal government services and defense contracting because of its proximity to Washington, DC. The state is also a player in logistics. The Port of Baltimore is one of the largest ports in the country, creating a demand for truck drivers skilled in intermodal transport. Companies like Amazon have established major logistics hubs in the state, which is also near other major Eastern cities like Philadelphia and New York City. All this creates a demand for truckers to transport goods along the Eastern Seaboard. Other sectors with opportunities for truckers include commercial fishing, agriculture (mainly dairy farming), and biotechnology.
Major trucking routes in Maryland include Interstates 68, 70, 83, 95, and 495 (the Capital Beltway) and U.S. Routes 40 and 50.
To become a commercial driver, you must obtain a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL).
There are three classes of CDLs, each designed for different types of commercial vehicles: Class A, Class B, and Class C. If you want to drive heavy combination vehicles like semi-trucks or tractor-trailers, you should go for a Class A CDL.
To obtain a CDL of any class, you must pass a medical examination, an official General Knowledge test on commercial driving theory, and a skills test on operating a commercial vehicle. But to drive combination vehicles, you must also pass an official Combination Vehicles knowledge test on the theory of operating combination vehicles.
The official Maryland Commercial Driver License Manual (Maryland CDL Handbook 2024) contains all the information that is covered by the Combination Vehicles knowledge test. However, it’s designed as a reference work, not as a tutorial or textbook. You should read it, but you should also supplement your reading with better study tools.
This free Maryland CDL Combination practice test is up to date as of November, 2024. It is designed to resemble the official written knowledge test in both content and structure. The 25 practice questions and answers on this test address such topics as combination braking systems, combination driving techniques, coupling and uncoupling, and vehicle inspections. Unlike the official test, however, the practice test isn’t timed, and each question has both an available hint to gently lead you to the correct answer and an explanation of the correct answer. Once you’ve scored well enough on these practice tests, you can consider yourself ready to take the official knowledge test.
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