We’ll help you determine the total length and cone placement of a CDL Practice pad. Your pad should have room for all 4 backing maneuvers. You’ll start with 3 lines painted on a hard surface. Each line is 100′ long. The distance between each line is 12’. You’ll place cones on each line every 10’.
The first three maneuvers are neatly contained in a 100’ long x 24’ wide box. You need some extra space for the truck to pull through. See the table below for the total area needed.
| MANEUVER | WIDTH | LENGTH |
|---|---|---|
| Off Set | 48′ | 216′ |
| Parallel Park | 48′ | 216′ |
| Straight Line | 12′ | 240′ |
| Alley Dock | 180′ | 72′ |
The dimensions above are the TOTAL room needed for each maneuver. The boxes your driver backs into are smaller. You’ll see the dimensions for each box further down the page.
Straight line takes the least amount of space. Roughly 240’ long and 12’ Wide (to allow for the truck to pull, and back, all the way through.)
A short, step-by-step guide to the straight line backing maneuver of the CDL Skills Test.
Off Set backing can be performed in the 100’ by 24’ CDL Test Practice Pad. 2 lanes/12’ wide each The driver will need extra room to jack the trailer into the other lane while backing in order to switch lanes.
A barrier made of cones is placed:
A short, step-by-step guide to the offset backing maneuver of the CDL Skills Test.
A short, step-by-step guide to the parallel parking backing maneuver of the CDL Skills Test.
The alley dock is difficult to place in your CDL Test Practice Pad. This maneuver is much wider than the others. It always runs contrary to the neat little package of the straight line, alley dock, parallel park trio.
A short, step-by-step guide to the alley dock maneuver of the CDL Skills Test.