BALTIMORE — It's a career that is necessary for products to get transported on the ground.
"We know supply chain is a huge issue we've all heard about it. We know that getting goods where they need to be on time is critical. It could be medical supplies groceries what ever you need we want to make sure we got enough drivers out there to support it," said Chrissy Nizer.
It's commercial drivers and now those seeking to get their CDL's will see a more modern change to taking the skills test.
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Nizer is the MDOT MVA administrator who says testing for a CDL will now take into affect technological advances.
"You know technology continues to move forward, we know that with our passenger vehicles, certainly the same holds true for our commercial vehicles. It's really important that we think about how we get people into the commercial driving field, goods being delivered we know its just a different way of people getting to their home today to their business today," said Nizer.
She says Maryland was one of three states to participate in a pilot program through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
"So, essentially what they did is they looked at the CDL test that we were providing across the country and that's authorized by the federal government to see what should it look like today. We know that features on vehicles have changed, we know that safety is a huge issue. How do we make sure that we are testing drivers on what they actually need when they are first out on the roadway driving those commercial vehicles," said Nizer.
"Applicants will need to pass the full CDL skills test which includes pre-inspection, basic control and road test," explained Nizer.
Some changes to the test include pre-trip inspection and maneuvers. Applicants will be tested on forward stop-straight line backing, forward offset tracking and reverse offset backing.
D'andre Green has been a commercial driver for 10 years and while receiving an income is a priority, making sure packages are delivered on time and in a safe manner is also a primary concern.
That's why he is testing to move to an advance CDL level A.
He says the difficulty level is the same, but the content is less.
"I actually feel a lot better because I had my b's at first and when I took my b test it was a lot more like for skills that we had to do. This one is a little shortened, I don't have to go through the whole trailor and I don't have to do as many maneuvers so it makes me a little more comfortable," said Green.
Some advice he gives to those seeking to take their CDL test:
"You gotta study, just study the pre-trip front to back because its like you gotta name the trailor and the tractor inside out from front to back. It's a lot to remember," said Green.
The new skills test will be implemented August 22 throughout the state.
