VOA 555 - CDL-A Road and Advanced Safety Skills

9.1 Continuing Education Units (CEU). This course is not for Credit(s).

This course is designed to enable the student to learn about and to develop the skills required to operate a CDL Class A vehicle and to pass the Maryland Vehicle Administration’s (MVA) Class A Commercial Driver’s License examination to become eligible to work as a Class A commercial driver. Instruction is focused on operating Class-A vehicles on streets, roads and highways. Students will review regulations concerning alcohol awareness, hours of service for over the road vehicle operation, as well as breakdowns and accident prevention. Topics to be covered include: Review of shifting techniques, Review of backing and parking maneuvers, Use of flat, convex, and fender mirrors, Changing lanes and merging, Road and weather hazards, Emergency stops, Review of defensive driving techniques.

Course Objectives:

Demonstrate the ability to properly up-shift and down-shift a heavy-duty manual transmission on off-site street, road or highway
Demonstrate the ability to properly back-up and parallel park a Class A vehicle
Explain the proper use of flat, convex and fender mirrors
Demonstrate the ability to safely merge into traffic and change lanes in a Class A vehicle
Enter and exit a limited access highway safely
Describe typical road and weather hazards for truckers
Execute a safe emergency stop in a Class-A vehicle
Describe defensive driving techniques for Class-A vehicles
Demonstrate readiness to test successfully in the pre-trip, skills, and road portions of the MVA licensing exam to obtain a Maryland CDL-A license