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    Swotting up for the truck driving licence – How to tackle the theory test

    If you want to pass the theory test for your truck driver’s license, you need to know a few things more than you would if you wanted to take your car driving test. After all, trucks are used differently, bring a disproportionate amount more weight with them and place completely different demands on the driver. We will explain to you how to properly prepare for the exam.

    Lessons alone are not enough

    First of all, you will receive driving instruction at the driver training centre. Basic rules and additional information are explained here, but that alone is not enough to pass the test. For category C1 and CE driving licences, the driving instructor will cover six double lessons, each lasting 90 minutes, basic material and six hours of additional material. For a category C driving licence you need 10 double lessons of basic material and six double lessons of additional material.

    In these lessons you will not only learn the rules you have to follow as a truck driver in road traffic, but also acquire special knowledge – such as how to calculate load securing requirements or how to explain emergency braking using formulae.

    Practice makes perfect

    Before you register for the theory test after your lessons, you should study on your own. The test is a multiple-choice test on the computer, and this is exactly how you can learn whenever you like. There are various websites online, such as this one, where you can access any number of newly generated questions with current test questions. You are immediately shown whether you have answered the questions correctly and can memorise the correct answers.

    If you want to learn on the go, you can also download a corresponding app: The ADAC, but also other providers offer apps, containing the official test questions from TÜV or DEKRA. They include videos and explanations and ensure that you make rapid progress.

    If you prefer to learn the conventional way, your driving school will provide you with the textbook and question sheets to try your hand at. Here it is most effective if you first work through the textbook and then tackle the question sheets. Otherwise you are guessing too much and spoil the sheets with which you could later seriously test your knowledge.

    A good tip is also to mark the questions, after you have checked them, with different coloured pens depending on how hard you found them. So when you go through them again, you can see directly which questions you need to focus on and which you do not need to look at again.

    Special questions in the theory test for the truck driving licence

    Some questions car drivers do not have to answer, but truck drivers do. These include:

    •     Are you allowed to carry people on the back of your truck? (Yes, if they have to carry out necessary work there – otherwise no)
    •     How many trailers can be pulled behind a class B truck? (One)
    •     What is the meaning of white plates with a black “A” on a truck? (The truck is carrying waste).

    When learning, focus your attention on such questions – you have already learned the traffic rules when you took your car driving licence. These special questions on the other hand are new to you.

    What you can expect in the test

    Depending on which truck class you want to take the theory test for, you will have to answer different numbers of questions: For category C you will be asked 37 questions, for categories C1 and CE there are 30 each. You will pass the test if you do not drop more than ten points. If you drop more than this, you have failed – and since each resit costs €22.49, swotting up is worth your while in several ways.

    Summary: Swotting up makes passing the test easier

    There are now so many traffic situations and road users that you must prepare for many different possible scenarios. This applies all the more to a heavy, large truck that responds much more slowly than a nippy little car. Accordingly, you should take sufficient time to prepare for the test. Constant revision helps you to keep the important information not only in your short-term memory, where it helps you through the test, but also commits it to your long-term memory. And that can save your life and the lives of others later on the road.

     

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