As an update, I passed the pre-trip inspection, skills, and drive test today! Old Elevator Man was very kind in sharing what he learned when he took the tests in West Sac. Due to timing, I wound up hiring an instructor on his day off from a local truck school (for reference , $25/hour though they never even checked his license as he knew about 1/2 of the DMV people in there). Of course, I got the one DMV person he said I shouldn't get for my skills/driving test
As to the testing itself, I was exhaustive on the pre-trip, so that went well (make sure to bring 3 triangles and a fire extinguisher in the cab of your truck; doesn't have to be mounted, also be sure to describe how you check the oil and other fluids, etc.). After that, on the skills, I had to do a straight back up test (easy) and then an alley dock and put the rear of the trailer into a 3 ft deep box (did use my two looks and one pull-up). Then the road test with lots of stops, turns, railroad crossings, cross walks (make sure to come to a complete stop before the cross walk on a red light or if there is a person in the cross walk) and overpasses. I was asked to change lanes a number of times, typically right before an intersection, but I always waited till I cleared the intersection. Also, backup cameras are not allowed, so you will need to cover your screen or disable it. I don't have one on my trailer yet.
While the DMV person was all business, I did ask her if many RV's come through (as everyone else there was for a true Class A truck license), and she did say that more & more RV's are coming through as they are ticketing now for it...
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