Today I went to take my written test for my Class A exempt license. I had studied the commercial drivers handbook provided by the State of Texas and brought it with me.
Here is San Antonio, we have one of the state's mega centers for issuing drivers licenses. This allows you to "get in line" before you leave for the office. I did that this morning and got a time of 7:35. Now they tell you this is not an appointment, but just a spot in the line.
I arrived in time an got checked in. Then I waited. It was after 8 am when they started calling for folks with my transaction code. Depending on the service you need you are assigned a letter group and then a number. I had the first number of the day for my group, C70001. I got to the assigned desk and tell the guy i need a Class A exempt license for an RV. He is completely puzzled. After asking for some assistance, got the paperwork done and sent me over to take my test. By this point, I was in a bit of a hurry so I put my book down and tried to get started. The computer didn't work so when and got help, and the lady was able to assign me to another computer. I again put my book down and started the test. I was to the fourth question when a lady walked by and said having the book on the desk was an automatic disqualification. I told i didn't even think about it being there and it was not open and looked over at it, and because of the fold, it had opened to reveal half a page on each side. Now I was completely embarrassed. She looked and the computer, to my paperwork and said she would be back. A few mins went by, seemed like forever, when she came back. In that time another proctor had walked by and asked if i was having and issue. I explained, what happened, and she told me they had probably gone to review the tape to see if I had looked at it. When the first lady returned, she told me I could continue, but the book needed to remain out of sight.
By this point I knew my time was short to get back to work for a meeting. The other thing I noticed was that i didn't remember many of the questions it was asking. In the end I I only got 12 of the 16 questions right I needed to. I reviewed the correct answers, and was surprised that some of the ones I did get wrong were thing i thought I knew, but didn't read either the complete question or all of the answers. I think mostly because I was a little thrown off and then knowing I was rushed. The other thing I noticed was that questions about trailers and air brakes etc were not on there.
I went to get my paperwork completed and the lady who had first noticed the book was the one that helped. I talked to her while she entered all the information. I found out that most of what I concentrated on in the book was not included in the Class A exempt test for RVs. She told me the only section that i needed to focus on was the special requirements for commercial vehicles which was chapter 14.
After I left, I looked and even thought I had read through that chapter once, i found almost every question spelled out. I now have the right stuff to study so should pass this next time. I know the questions will be different, but understanding what the test will be over helps a lot.
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