Utah CDL — Air Brakes practice
Utah CDL — Air Brakes: Parking & Stopping practice test
Legal and illegal parking, colored curbs, distances from hydrants and crossings, and how to park safely on hills.
Content reviewed against official driver handbooks · August 12, 2026
13 questions · pass with 10 correct. You get instant feedback and an explanation after every answer.
Choose your level
Up to 20 questions on this topic, with feedback after every answer.
Study questions with answers
12 sample Parking & Stopping questions with the correct answer, a short explanation, and the official handbook reference. Read through them, then take the quiz above.
Show all 12 questions with answers
1. Your truck has a modulating control valve for the spring brakes. How should you use it when you park?
Correct answer: Move the lever through its full travel and lock it in that position
A modulating valve applies the spring brakes by degrees, so for parking you move the handle through its full travel and secure it there with the locking device.
Source: 5.1.15 Parking Brake Controls
2. Before walking away from a parked commercial vehicle, what must you do?
Correct answer: Set the parking brakes or chock the wheels
An unattended vehicle can roll away, so you must set the parking brakes or chock the wheels.
Source: 5.4.8 Parking Brakes
3. During the last part of the air-brake check, how do you prove the spring brakes will set by themselves?
Correct answer: Keep working the pedal to bleed pressure until the parking brake valve pops out
Stepping on and off the pedal keeps bleeding the tanks down. As the gauge falls into the manufacturer's range of roughly 20 to 45 psi, the parking brake valve should close on its own and the springs should apply.
Source: 5.3.3 Check Spring Brakes
4. On a newer air-brake vehicle, how do you set the parking brakes?
Correct answer: Pull the yellow, diamond-shaped knob out
Newer vehicles use a diamond-shaped yellow push-pull knob; pulling it out applies the spring/parking brakes and pushing it in releases them.
Source: 5.1.15 / 5.4.8 Parking Brakes
5. If your brakes are too hot to set the parking brakes safely, how should you secure the vehicle?
Correct answer: Chock the wheels on level ground and let the brakes cool
When hot brakes rule out the parking brake, use wheel chocks on level ground and wait for the brakes to cool.
Source: 5.4.8 Parking Brakes
6. Why should you avoid pressing the brake pedal while the spring brakes are already applied?
Correct answer: The combined forces could damage the brakes
Adding air pressure on top of the spring force can damage the braking components, so drivers are cautioned against it.
Source: 5.1.15 Parking Brake Controls
7. How do you carry out the service brake test at the end of the air-brake inspection?
Correct answer: Creep ahead at about five mph, brake firmly, and note any pull or delay
With pressure back to normal and the parking brake released, you creep the vehicle forward at roughly five mph and press the pedal hard enough to feel the stop, watching for a pull to one side, an odd feel, or a slow response.
Source: 5.3.3 Test Service Brakes
8. Setting the parking brakes on soaking-wet brakes in freezing weather can cause what?
Correct answer: The brakes can freeze so the vehicle can't move
Wet brakes used in freezing temperatures can freeze in place, leaving the vehicle unable to move.
Source: 5.4.8 Parking Brakes
9. When is it a bad idea to set the parking brakes right after coming down a steep grade?
Correct answer: When the brakes are still very hot
Setting the parking brakes while they are still very hot can damage them, so hot brakes should be allowed to cool first.
Source: 5.4.8 Parking Brakes
10. How do you check that the parking brake will actually hold?
Correct answer: Set it and gently tug against it in a low gear
You confirm it holds by setting the parking brake and easing the vehicle forward against it in a low gear.
Source: 5.3.3 Test Parking Brake
11. Some buses carry a second, separate air tank tied to dual parking control valves. What is that reserve tank for?
Correct answer: Freeing the spring brakes briefly so a stranded vehicle can be moved
Once the main supply is gone the springs set the brakes; pushing the spring-loaded valve borrows air from that reserve to free them so the vehicle can be moved. The reserve holds only a few applications, so plan the move before you make it.
Source: 5.1.15 Parking Brake Controls
12. On an older air-brake truck, what might the parking brake control look like?
Correct answer: A round blue knob, or a lever that swings
Newer equipment standardized on the yellow diamond-shaped knob, but older vehicles may instead use a round blue knob or a lever that swings from one side to the other or up and down.
Source: 5.4.8 Parking Brakes
More CDL — Air Brakes topics
Practice Parking & Stopping in another state
Every Utah question is written from the official Utah driver handbook and checked against its current edition. DMV Test Free is a free, independent study resource — not affiliated with any DMV or government agency. About DMV Test Free