13 Tips for Road Test/Pre-Trip Inspection Day

This is the part that people get the most nervous about and I hope I can help alleviate some anxiety this by giving you some ideas for your Class 4 Unrestricted Commercial Driver's License test day. Consider some of these tips; hope they help you to feel more prepared!

Tip #1 What vehicle to use

Make a phone call and confirm what kind of vehicle is acceptable for the test. ICBC says: "*If you pass your test using a vehicle with a seating capacity of up to 10 (including the driver), you will receive a restricted Class 4 licence (the minimum required for ride-hailing). If you pass your test using a vehicle with seating for 11-25, an unrestricted Class 4 licence will be granted." I used a 15 passenger vehicle. I was able to drive the vehicle by myself because I was not carrying passengers. If you are in doubt about the vehicle you are planning to drive, call ICBC and confirm your vehicle is suitable.

Tip #2 When to arrive

ICBC wants you there 15 minutes before the test, but get there earlier so you can just relax and breathe and think. You do not want to be in a rush.

Tip #3 Where and how to park

When you make your appointment for your road test, ask where you should park. The last thing you want to do is make a mistake right at the beginning and have to sort that out on the day of your test. When I did my test I was asked to park my 15 passenger vehicle in the “truck inspection” area. Your location may require something different, so ask!

• When you park you want to be about a foot away from the curb to give room for the pre-trip inspection.

• I made sure my PARKING BRAKE was on.

• I UNLOCKED all the van doors. I kept the keys in my pocket and not in the van. Why unlock the doors? I just didn’t want to add any more steps to the pre-trip inspection and I thought this would help me be more efficient.

• I also unlatched my hood (I didn't fully open it, I only unlatched it). This gave me one less thing to do also. Try this ahead of time and make sure your hood light doesn't come on...you don't want to drain the battery!

• I placed some items on the driver's seat: my exercise mat (an optional thing I used so my clothes didn't get dirty/wet when I looked under the vehicle), hammer, tire gauge, piece of paper towel for testing fluids. I also made sure my brush/scraper was handy to grab (see pre-trip inspection instructions for testing lights).

Tip #4 What to wear

This might seem like a minor detail, but I wore clothing that was practical. You don’t want to be dressy – you want to wear clothes that you can easily move in and don’t get in the way. So a simple zip up jacket with a pocket for your keys, jeans and runners are perfect. If you have hair that is likely to get in your eyes, make sure you wear it back. Don’t wear a hat that is going to fall off while you are trying to get under your vehicle. Basically, eliminate any clothing and hair distractions!

Tip #5 What to bring

• Bring your two pieces of ID, the fee, and your insurance papers. You will bring your insurance papers with you into ICBC

• As I mentioned in Tip #3 a few things I made sure I had in my vehicle were -- PAPER TOWEL ready to use (for checking the fluids) and I also brought a thin EXERCISE MAT (so I didn’t have to lie on the dirty/wet pavement when I checked the undercarriage of the van), a hammer and tire gauge, and a brush/scraper for checking parking brakes (see the pre-trip inspection guide)

• Bring a pen so you don't have to borrow on

• When you go into the ICBC office, take your ID with you, take your keys and your purse or wallet with you, and bring your insurance papers as well as they will need that information before you do your test

Tip #6 How to be less forgetful

If you are the kind of person who forgets things when you are a bit nervous, then write down your license plate number, driver's license number, and make/model of your vehicle and have it in the cup holder. That way when you have to fill out a form for the examiner, you will have that handy. They may also ask you how many Kilometers are on the van, so be familiar with where those numbers are on your dashboard on the Odometer so you aren’t going “uh…um….is it those numbers or those numbers?” Try to be confident with your answers. BE sure you are not reading from the trip meter, but from the actual vehicle odometer.

Tip #7 Be friendly

When I was assigned an examiner, I definitely tried to be friendly and conversational. They are just doing their job and they aren’t the enemy, so make sure you are friendly – that doesn’t mean you should be talking the whole way – but just do your best to start off on a good foot. And remember, their job isn’t to fail you, their job is to make sure you and your passengers will be safe. So if you do fail, it is for the good of everyone on the road. So have a good attitude about the person testing you and don’t be hard on yourself either. If you have to do it more then once, it isn’t the end of the world and you will be a better driver when you really understand what you need to do!

Tip #8 You timed yourself right?

It is really important to time yourself when you practice your pre-trip inspection. For my test the examiner arrived and told me that I had approximately 20 minutes to complete my pre-trip and that following the pre-trip I would have a form to fill out and then continue with my road test. Now, ICBC states you must do it under 15 minutes. So when you practice, do your best to do it in 15 minutes just in case. My next tip is going to help you shave off some time on your pre-trip inspection.

Tip #9 Ask your questions before you start the test

As you are walking to your vehicle, ask the examiner any clarifying questions you need to before you begin. Two questions I would ask before you start the pre-trip are

1. "Is it ok if I check one seatbelt but for the sake of time do not check all of them. And same for the tires – if I check one tire can I say 'Normally I would check all 4 but for the sake of time, I will do one today.'"
   

2. "Can I describe how I would check the fluids under the hood, or would you like me to actually check each one?"

The examiner might not tell you what to do – then you just have to decide for yourself. Or they might be willing to answer these two questions – it is worth a try.

Here is the reason you want to ask those questions. The pre-trip part of the test is timed and you will get 15 or less to do it. So anywhere you can shave off a little time is helpful. Obviously fastening and unfastening a bunch of seatbelts takes a lot of time. Checking all the fluids takes time. Checking the tire pressure takes time.

On my pre-trip I did not fasten and unfasten every seat-belt. No one I have helped to get their class 4 has said this is a problem, but again – I can only tell you what I have experienced. I don’t know if this has been a problem for anyone in the entire province. So what I did was check 1 seatbelt, fasten, unfasten and then I said, “For the sake of time and since this is a test, I won’t check every seatbelt. But in my day-to-day pre-trip inspection I would make sure all seatbelts were functioning properly.”

I did this also for the tires. I thoroughly inspected one tire and then I said, “This is how I would inspect each tire on my normal day-to-day pre-trip. I did this before the test, so for the sake of time I will move on”

My examiner told me I didn’t have to physically check all the fluids, so I just described each one.

That is why I am suggesting that BEFORE the test begins you ask the examiner if this would be a satisfactory approach in order to meet the time-test. They may say yes, they may say “that is up to you.” And then you can decide what to do.

Tip #10 When you are doing the pre-trip, talk the entire time

For the pre-trip, you want to explain everything you are doing, so don’t just do it, tell the examiner what you are doing so they know that you know what you are looking for. You will see how I do this in the timed pre-trip.

Tip #11 Touch things as you go

Touch as many things as you can as you do the pre-trip because you aren’t just talking about it, you are actually checking things to make sure they are clean, safely fastened, not broken etc. You will also turn things on and off and you will open and close things. So touching things and pointing at things is essential.

#12 Be calm and think

Most of this test is pretty logical – make sure when you are practicing, things make sense to you. Don’t just memorize or you won’t actually be doing a safety check. The point of this is to keep you and others safe. So think about what you are doing.

And Don’t make careless mistakes like – in BC you can’t keep your cell phone in the cup holder. So don’t get in and drop your cell phone in the cup holder – keep it in your zipped pocket with the volume OFF or in your purse.

Don’t start the vehicle without your seat-belt on. Don’t over check your mirrors, if you are doing this – you are just going to look ridiculous.

Make sure you have enough fuel! You don’t want to run out of gas!

If you are borrowing a vehicle, make sure you do a pre check a few days before the test so if there are obvious problems – like brake lights that don’t work – you can get it fixed quickly.

#13 Other things to note

• In the back you should have extra fluids – you can even have a list of them on the door

• You should have an emergency kit if your vehicle breaks down. I also had some basic tools and a first aid kit.

• You should have a fire extinguisher with a current inspection date

• And of course you should have your insurance papers (your examiner will have these during your test, but you can ask them to make sure)

• Make sure you also have a pen – so you don’t have to borrow the examiners pen

• Also make sure your vehicle is clean. The last thing you want is to be working around garbage and hazards.

• Make sure you have a vehicle log book up front as well – if you don’t know what that is, make sure you google this and do some reading about it and how it will apply to your situation. This is important and the examiner will check if you have one. In fact, you should have done a pre-trip inspection before you came for your test, so there should be an entry.

Those are my main tips!

If you want more help, I have a few more sessions available for you to purchase-to-view and you can find an order form on the home page. For the low cost of $7 I am offering two additional videos – the first one looks at terminology – what are things called, where are they located and what they look like.

I also have video'd a timed pre-trip inspection so that you can watch a pre-trip inspection and see how it is done. These are offered together for$7 for the two videos.

All the best to you!

Next Steps

1. Go to the Introduction Blog in this series

2. Go to next step Blog: The Pre-Trip Inspection Guide

3. If you would rather watch the video than read this post, the Video you want to view is Video 4. 13 Tips. Go to home page video course