CDL guides
Everything around the test itself — costs, inspections, and the licensing steps — written the way a trainer would explain it, not the way a regulation reads.
CDL classes: A vs B vs C
The two weight numbers that decide your class, what each one lets you drive, and where the non-CDL line falls.
Class A vs Class B CDL
The trailer is the whole difference. Training length, skills test, schedule and 2025 median pay, side by side.
Class A CDL
Combination vehicles — what it covers, why it opens every door below it, and where candidates fail the skills test.
Class B CDL
Dump trucks, box trucks and buses. What you can drive, which endorsements it needs, and how it compares to Class A.
Class C CDL
The class that has nothing to do with weight: 16+ passengers or placarded hazmat on a light vehicle.
Non-CDL Class C
The ordinary driver license, and the towing and motorhome cases where it stops being enough.
CDL study guide
A three-week schedule instead of a wall of text — what to read, what to drill, and the numbers to know cold.
How much does a CDL cost?
Permit, physical, school, skills test, endorsements — the full price breakdown and the two paths through it.
The pre-trip inspection
The complete zone-by-zone checklist, plus how the test version is scored and where candidates fail.
Endorsements
The cheapest pay rise available once you already hold a CDL. Four of the six are a single written test.
CDL endorsements: all six codes
H, N, X, T, P and S — what each covers, which need a skills test, and why air brakes is a restriction rather than an endorsement.
Tools
The three calculations that come up after the licence — what the truck is, what the day allows, and what the mile costs.
VIN decoder
Decode any truck VIN against NHTSA, verify the check digit, and see which CDL class the weight rating triggers.
Hours of service calculator
Which of the three clocks bites first — driving time, the 14-hour window, or your cycle — and at what time.
Cost per mile calculator
Owner-operator break-even: true cost per mile, cost per loaded mile after deadhead, and the rate you have to beat.
IFTA fuel tax calculator
Miles and gallons by state in, net tax due or credit out — current-quarter diesel rates for all 58 jurisdictions, surcharges included.
DOT inspection checklist
Every defect a Level I roadside or annual inspection fails a truck for, with the Appendix A measurements, as a checklist you can tick off and print.