A 26-chapter Class A CDL ELDT theory course built to 49 CFR Part 380 Appendix A. Every required topic covered, no minimum hours, 100% topic completion. When you finish, we submit your completion to the FMCSA Training Provider Registry within two business days so you can sit for the state CDL knowledge test.
If you're working toward your Class A CDL — for any reason — this course satisfies the federal ELDT theory requirement and gives you a real understanding of the regulations, not just enough to pass a test.
You've decided trucking is the career. You need the federal ELDT theory done before your state will let you take the CDL knowledge test. You want it done right, done online, and done without a 4-week classroom commitment.
You're transitioning into trucking but you can't afford to quit your current job to attend a brick-and-mortar school. Self-paced theory means you knock it out on nights and weekends, then schedule BTW separately when you're ready.
A carrier has agreed to sponsor your CDL or reimburse you. You need a federally compliant theory provider you can finish quickly so you can move to the BTW phase and start earning. This course delivers exactly that.
This is the complete federal Class A CDL theory curriculum — structured exactly the way FMCSA wrote it in 49 CFR Part 380 Appendix A. Five units, 26 chapters, every required topic. Every chapter is built on primary sources: the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, not someone else's training summary.
Orientation, control systems, basic vehicle maneuvers, and the foundational skills that everything else builds on. Where the federal training framework starts.
Visual search, communication, speed and space management. The four pillars of staying alive behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound vehicle.
Hazard perception, skid avoidance and recovery, distracted driving, aggressive driving, and operating in adverse conditions including night, fog, and extreme weather.
How the truck actually works — engine, drivetrain, brakes, electrical, fuel, and what 49 CFR §§ 392.7 and 396.11 require you to report and document.
The work that happens when the truck isn't moving: handling cargo, customer interactions, post-trip duties. Often overlooked, frequently tested.
The federal inspection requirements under 49 CFR Part 396. What you check, in what order, and what each finding obligates you to do.
Starting, stopping, accelerating, backing, and turning a Class A combination vehicle. The maneuvers your CDL examiner will watch you perform.
Manual, automatic, and automated manual transmissions. RPM ranges, double-clutching where required, and the restriction codes that follow you for life if you test on an automatic.
Straight-line, alley dock, offset, and parallel parking. The mental model for steering inputs when the trailer goes the opposite direction your eyes expect.
The 7-step coupling procedure, the tug test, fifth-wheel inspection, and the trailer drops that end careers when done wrong.
Mirror scanning patterns, eye lead time, and the systematic search that turns reactive drivers into proactive ones.
Signaling, horn use, emergency flashers, and the unwritten rules of how truckers communicate with each other and with four-wheelers around them.
The federal cell phone and texting prohibitions under 49 CFR §§ 392.80 and 392.82. CSA points, license disqualification, and why "just a quick text" ends careers.
Stopping distance math, perception-reaction time, and why the speed limit is rarely the speed you should actually be going.
Following distance formulas, lane positioning, intersection clearance, and the buffer zones that give you time to react when something goes wrong.
Reduced visibility, headlight use, fatigue management, and the specific risks of operating commercial vehicles between sunset and sunrise.
Rain, snow, ice, fog, mountain driving, and the operational adjustments — chains, jake brake protocols, runaway ramps — that keep you in control.
Reading the road for trouble before it develops. Pedestrian, intersection, work zone, and rural road hazards — and what to do about each.
Tractor jackknife, trailer jackknife, drive-wheel skid, front-wheel skid. How each happens and the precise inputs that bring the truck back.
The vehicle classes required to stop, the look-listen-shift procedures, and the federal violations that disqualify your CDL on the spot.
Recognizing common engine, brake, electrical, and air system failures while you're rolling — and knowing when to keep going versus when to shut down.
The CVSA Level I through VI inspection structure, what officers check, your rights, and the documentation that makes inspections fast and uneventful.
Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports (DVIRs), out-of-service violations, and the federal recordkeeping requirements under 49 CFR Part 396.
Cargo securement under 49 CFR Part 393 Subpart I, weight distribution, axle limits, bill of lading, and the paperwork that proves you did it right.
EPA idling rules, spill containment, fuel handling procedures, and the state-by-state idle-reduction laws that affect long-haul operations.
The 11/14/70 rule, 30-minute break, sleeper berth split, and the ELD requirements under 49 CFR Part 395. Final compliance acknowledgment before TPR submission.
This is the same theory curriculum that brick-and-mortar schools charge $1,500 to $3,000 to deliver as part of their CDL programs. We deliver the federal theory portion online, self-paced, for $129 — because the regulation is the regulation, no matter who teaches it.
Every Appendix A topic covered across all five FMCSA theory units. Self-paced. Finish in three days, or take a month.
Within two business days of your completion, we submit your record to the FMCSA Training Provider Registry. Then you're cleared for the state CDL knowledge test.
Pocket reference cards, full-page checklists, and a critical-numbers master sheet — built for the cab, the glove box, and the wallet. Hours of service, stopping distances, inspection sequences, and more.
If you get stuck on a chapter — or want a sanity check on what your future employer is asking you to do — email me. You're not a ticket number here.
Your access doesn't expire. Refresh on hours-of-service rules a year from now, or pull up the coupling chapter the morning of your skills test.
Once your TPR record is in, you're cleared to test for your CLP and start behind-the-wheel training with any FMCSA-registered BTW provider in your state. The federal theory requirement is satisfied.
I spent 10 years as an OTR driver before founding ELDT.Courses. The federal theory framework isn't an abstract topic for me — pre-trip inspections, hours-of-service decisions, jackknife recovery, the difference between a Level I and a Level III roadside inspection. That's stuff I learned the way every working driver does, by living it.
This course is the curriculum I wish I'd had when I was first starting out. Every chapter is built on primary sources — 49 CFR Parts 380, 391, 392, 393, 395, and 396 — not on someone else's training summary. The companion Mastering Split Logging goes deeper on the hours-of-service material that trips up so many new drivers in their first year.
If you're going to spend money on Class A CDL theory training, it should at least be money spent with an instructor who's done the work. That's what you get here.
Most students finish in 12–18 hours of focused work, often spread over 4–7 sittings. There is no minimum hour requirement — FMCSA requires 100% topic completion, not a fixed number of seat hours. Take it as fast or as slow as you want.
No. This is the federal ELDT theory portion only — the classroom-equivalent half of the requirement. After completion, you'll need to schedule behind-the-wheel training separately with an FMCSA-registered BTW provider in your state. Many drivers complete theory online to free up budget and schedule for the BTW phase, which is the part you cannot do online.
As soon as your theory completion is submitted to the FMCSA Training Provider Registry. We submit completions within two business days. Once it's in the TPR, your state DMV can verify your ELDT theory compliance and let you sit for the Class A CDL knowledge test to earn your Commercial Learner's Permit (CLP).
Yes — for the theory portion. ELDT.Courses is a registered Training Provider in the FMCSA Training Provider Registry. The course is built to 49 CFR Part 380, Subpart F, Appendix A — the federal specification for Class A CDL theory training. Completing this course satisfies the federal theory training requirement for upgrading from a CDL to a Class A.
Course quizzes use the FMCSA standard 80% passing threshold. You can retake any quiz as many times as you need to pass. The state knowledge test is administered separately by your state's licensing agency and uses their own scoring rules — usually also 80%.
No. You can take this theory course before you have any commercial credential at all. In fact, that's the whole point — the federal ELDT theory requirement is a prerequisite for sitting for the state knowledge test that earns you your CLP. You take this course first, get the TPR record, then go to your state DMV for the written exam.
No. Once your completion is in the FMCSA Training Provider Registry, the federal theory record is permanent. If life intervenes and you don't get to the state test for six months or a year, your theory record is still there. You won't have to retake it.
Any U.S. state. FMCSA's ELDT requirement is federal — the theory training and TPR submission is the same regardless of which state will ultimately issue your CDL. You take the same theory course whether you're testing in Pennsylvania, Texas, California, or anywhere else.
You retake it. Your ELDT theory completion stays valid in the TPR — it doesn't expire just because you didn't pass on the first try. Use the course materials to review the topics you missed, then test again. Your state will have its own waiting-period and re-test-fee rules.
Yes — and you should. Both are separate ELDT courses with separate TPR submissions. Many students bundle Class A theory with the Hazmat (H) endorsement and the Tank (N) endorsement to maximize their hireability and the freight rates they qualify for.
A 7-day refund is available if you haven't started the course content. Once you begin working through the chapters, the course is yours for life — including all future updates. The exception: if your completion has already been submitted to the TPR, the federal record exists and the refund window closes. Full terms are in our Terms of Service.
Yes. terry@eldt.courses goes to me. Not a support team, not an offshore call center — me. If you have a question about a chapter, a clarification request on a regulation, or a sanity check on something your future trainer told you, I'll get back to you. Usually within 24 hours.
26 chapters. Built to FMCSA Appendix A. Submitted to the TPR within two business days. Lifetime access. Real instructor support.
It's all in there. The only thing missing is you.