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Printable Checklist

CDL Pre-Trip Inspection Checklist — Printable

The full guide's 4 sections and 31 inspection lines, re-laid out as tick boxes for printing.

This page re-lays out the Pre-Trip Inspection guide as a printed tick list. The 4 sections below, and every line in them, are that guide's own wording split at the semicolons it already uses into 31 boxes, with no inspection item added, cut or reworded.

Engine compartment

  • Belts and hoses (no cracks, frays, or leaks)
  • leaks under the engine
  • coolant level (sight glass, no removal of pressurized cap when hot)
  • engine oil level (dipstick)
  • power-steering fluid
  • windshield washer fluid
  • air compressor (mounted securely, belts tight if belt-driven)
  • alternator (mounted securely, belts tight, wiring intact)
  • water pump (no leaks)
  • steering box and hoses (no leaks, mounted securely)
  • steering linkage (no missing parts, no broken welds, no excessive play)

In-cab

  • Seat belt
  • mirrors (clean, properly adjusted)
  • windshield (no cracks in driver's view)
  • horn (city and air horns both)
  • wipers and washers
  • heater/defroster
  • gauges all functional (oil pressure, water temp, ammeter/voltmeter, air pressure)
  • emergency equipment (3 reflective triangles, fire extinguisher with current inspection, spare fuses unless equipped with circuit breakers)
  • steering wheel play (no more than 10 degrees / 2 inches at the rim)

Air brake check

  • This sub-component is critical: with engine off and key on, build pressure to governor cut-out (typically 120–140 psi)
  • test compressor governor cut-in (drops to 100–125 psi)
  • test air loss rate (less than 3 psi per minute single, 4 psi per minute combination, brakes off)
  • test low-air warning (must come on at 60 psi or above)
  • test spring brake activation (must engage between 20 and 45 psi)
  • test service brakes (apply firmly, check for further air loss, listen for leaks)

Lights, walk-around, coupling, trailer

  • All exterior lights working (headlights high/low, turn signals front and back, brake lights, four-way flashers, tag light, marker lights, identification lights). Walk-around the vehicle checking tires (4/32 tread on steer axle, 2/32 elsewhere
  • no cuts, bulges, or sidewall damage
  • valve stems intact
  • lug nuts tight, no rust trails, no missing nuts). For combination vehicles: fifth wheel (mounting bolts, no cracks, properly greased, jaws closed around kingpin, locking lever locked, safety latch engaged)
  • air and electrical lines (no cracks, no leaks, supported off catwalk)

The guide draws its items from the FMCSA CDL testing standards; your state's CDL handbook lists them in the order that state's examiner expects. For the material behind the items see General Knowledge and the Air Brake Test walkthrough.