Hawaii CDL — General Knowledge: Road Signs Practice Test

Question 1

A portable tank with a capacity of more than 1,000 gallons must show the shipping name of its contents. How tall must the letters be?

Accepted Answer

At least two inches — A portable tank shows the contents' shipping name on two opposite sides. Letter height is two inches or more on tanks above 1,000 gallons and one inch on smaller ones.

Answer

At least one inch

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At least four inches

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At least six inches

Question 2

Hazard labels and placards both communicate risk. According to the manual's basic hazardous materials rules, how do the two differ?

Accepted Answer

Labels are the shipper's warning to dockworkers and drivers; placards go on the outside of the vehicle to warn others — Shippers rely on the shipping paper and on diamond-shaped hazard labels to warn the people who handle and haul the freight. Placards are the signs placed on the outside of the vehicle that identify the cargo's hazard class for everyone else.

Answer

Labels go on the four sides of the vehicle; placards go on each package

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Labels are for liquids only; placards are for solids only

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Labels are optional; placards are required on every load of freight

Question 3

You pick up a placard-level shipment of arsenic. On the manual's hazard class table, which class does it fall under?

Accepted Answer

Class 6, Poisons — The table gives pesticides and arsenic as its examples for Class 6, Poisons. Class 8 covers corrosives such as hydrochloric acid, and Class 5 covers oxidizers such as ammonium nitrate.

Answer

Class 3, Flammable

Answer

Class 5, Oxidizers

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Class 8, Corrosives

Question 4

A placard on the side of your trailer is partly hidden behind a ladder mounted to the body. Which placarding rule does that break?

Accepted Answer

A placard has to stay clear of things like ladders, doors and tarps that could cover it — Placards must stay clear of attachments such as ladders, doors, and tarpaulins so that nothing blocks them. They also have to be kept clean and undamaged so the color and message are easy to see.

Answer

Placards may be mounted only on the tractor, never on a trailer

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Placards must be taken down whenever the vehicle is parked

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A placard must be at least three feet from any ladder

Question 5

After a crash, a firefighter reads the diamond-shaped placard on the side of your trailer. What is that placard designed to tell them?

Accepted Answer

The hazard class of the cargo — Placards are mounted on a vehicle's exterior and name the hazard class of what is inside, so that others are warned. If the driver is hurt and cannot explain the load, the placards still tell responders what kind of hazard they are dealing with.

Answer

The name of the company that shipped the load

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The weight of the load in pounds

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The route the driver is required to follow

Question 6

On a hazardous materials placard, how must the words or numbers be positioned?

Accepted Answer

Level, so they read from left to right — Each placard has to be mounted so that its wording or numbers sit level and read left to right. It also has to be easy to see from the direction it faces.

Answer

Tilted at 45 degrees to match the edge of the diamond

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Upside down on the rear placard so following drivers can read it in their mirrors

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In any position, as long as the color is correct

Question 7

Your load includes a material whose secondary hazard is 'dangerous when wet.' What does that mean for placarding?

Accepted Answer

You must show the DANGEROUS WHEN WET placard along with any other placards the hazard class needs — A material with that secondary hazard needs the DANGEROUS WHEN WET placard on top of whatever placards its hazard class calls for, and it does not get the 1,000-pound placarding exception.

Answer

You may replace all other placards with a single DANGEROUS placard

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No placard is needed unless the load is over 1,001 pounds

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You must cover the other placards whenever it rains

Question 8

Your brakes have failed on a long downgrade, and a sign announces an escape ramp ahead. What does the manual say about using it?

Accepted Answer

Use it; skipping an available ramp may greatly raise your chance of a serious crash — A driver whose brakes are gone on a downgrade should take an escape ramp whenever there is one. Signs tell you where the ramps are, and the manual warns that passing one up can make a serious crash much more likely.

Answer

Use it only if the truck is empty, because loaded trucks damage the ramp

Answer

Pass it and keep looking for a level side road instead

Answer

Use it only after trying the parking brake for at least a mile

Question 9

You are hauling ordinary freight with no placards and you pass the round, black-on-yellow railroad advance warning sign. Which of these is NOT something that sign tells you to do?

Accepted Answer

Come to a full stop at the tracks even when no train is coming — The advance warning sign tells drivers to slow down, look and listen, and be prepared to stop if a train is coming. A mandatory stop at the crossing applies to passenger-carrying and hazmat-carrying vehicles, not to a truck with ordinary freight.

Answer

Slow down

Answer

Look and listen for a train

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Be ready to stop if a train is approaching

Question 10

On the orange panel of a cargo tank, how must the hazardous material's identification number appear?

Accepted Answer

In black numbers about 3.9 inches (100 mm) high — Portable tanks, cargo tanks and other bulk packaging have to display the identification number of what they hold. The rules call for black digits 100 mm (3.9 inches) high; they can go on an orange panel, on a placard, or, when no placard is needed, on a white diamond.

Answer

In red numbers at least one inch high

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In white numbers on a blue stripe

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In any color, as long as it has five digits

Question 11

A package of hazardous material needs two different hazard labels. Where must they be placed?

Accepted Answer

Close together, near the proper shipping name — When more than one label is required, the labels go next to each other, close to the shipping name marked on the package. A label always matches the product's hazard class.

Answer

On opposite ends of the package

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One on the package and one on the shipping paper

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One on the top and one on the bottom

Question 12

A box that holds containers of liquid hazardous material has arrows printed on it. What do those markings show?

Accepted Answer

Which way is up, so the package is kept upright — Packages with liquid containers inside are marked with arrows that point to the correct upright position. They tell handlers and drivers how the package has to sit.

Answer

The direction the package must face inside the trailer

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Where the hazard label should be attached

Answer

The direction to move away if the package leaks

Hawaii CDL — General Knowledge: Road Signs practice test

Study questions with answers

1. A portable tank with a capacity of more than 1,000 gallons must show the shipping name of its contents. How tall must the letters be?

2. Hazard labels and placards both communicate risk. According to the manual's basic hazardous materials rules, how do the two differ?

3. You pick up a placard-level shipment of arsenic. On the manual's hazard class table, which class does it fall under?

4. A placard on the side of your trailer is partly hidden behind a ladder mounted to the body. Which placarding rule does that break?

5. After a crash, a firefighter reads the diamond-shaped placard on the side of your trailer. What is that placard designed to tell them?

6. On a hazardous materials placard, how must the words or numbers be positioned?

7. Your load includes a material whose secondary hazard is 'dangerous when wet.' What does that mean for placarding?

8. Your brakes have failed on a long downgrade, and a sign announces an escape ramp ahead. What does the manual say about using it?

9. You are hauling ordinary freight with no placards and you pass the round, black-on-yellow railroad advance warning sign. Which of these is NOT something that sign tells you to do?

10. On the orange panel of a cargo tank, how must the hazardous material's identification number appear?

11. A package of hazardous material needs two different hazard labels. Where must they be placed?

12. A box that holds containers of liquid hazardous material has arrows printed on it. What do those markings show?

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