HazMat CDL Practice Test 2026
Free HazMat CDL practice test for 2026: 20 questions with answers on placards, shipping papers and the 9 hazard classes, plus the TSA and ELDT steps for the H.
What's on the HazMat CDL test
Answering from memory beats re-reading — retrieval practice roughly doubles what you remember a week later. These free questions are modeled on the official HazMat CDL knowledge test.
- Official test
- 30
- Practice questions here
- 20
- To pass
- 24/30 correct (80%)
- Updated
- September 2026
- 100% free
Most-taken state HazMat tests
HazMat (H) endorsement at a glance
- Endorsement code
- H — hazardous materials (X when combined with the tank vehicle endorsement)
- Test type
- Knowledge test only — plus a TSA security threat assessment before the state can issue the H
- Allowed on a learner’s permit
- No — a CLP cannot carry the H, and a permit holder may not transport hazardous materials
- Entry-level driver training
- Required before a first H knowledge test — theory instruction only, no behind-the-wheel
- Renewal
- The H must be renewed at least every 5 years, with a new TSA screening each time
- Where to study
- The “Hazardous Materials” section of your state CDL manual (Section 9 in the model manual)
- Official test
- 30 questions under the AAMVA model most states use — your state may differ
- Pass mark
- 80% — 24 of 30 correct (federal, 49 CFR 383.135)
- This practice set
- 20 questions with explanations, free, no sign-up
Show all 20 practice questions with answers
The shippers package hazardous materials, they must certify that this was done according to the regulations. The only exception is when:
- The driver is given a sealed cargo compartment
- The shipper is a private carrier carrying his or her own product
- The shipment is a hazardous waste
Correct answer: The shipper is a private carrier carrying his or her own product
When companies send out dangerous goods, they must follow rules to pack them safely. The only time they don't have to is if the company is moving its own products and not selling the service.
How many hazard classes are there?
- 3
- 9
- 10
Correct answer: 9
There are 9 different types of dangers or hazard classes that truck drivers need to know about when they are carrying goods. These classes help them understand what kind of special care or rules they need to follow to keep the roads safe.
Apart from the shipping papers and the packages, what other two locations must display the hazardous material identification number?
- on the front bumper and on the inside of the cab door.
- on the exhaust system and on a decal on the dashboard.
- on the driver’s door and on the steering column.
- on all bulk packaging and on the cargo tanks.
Correct answer: on all bulk packaging and on the cargo tanks.
Beyond shipping papers and packages, the hazardous material identification number is also required to be shown on cargo tanks and on all bulk packaging.
A driver places placards on their vehicle in order to:
- to show the vehicle’s maximum legal weight.
- to advertise the company hauling the load.
- to communicate risk.
- to indicate the driver’s route and destination.
Correct answer: to communicate risk.
Placards are exterior signs on a vehicle that alert others to the presence of hazardous materials and indicate the hazard class of the load.
Why is the shipper required to sign the shipping paper?
- To confirm the carrier has inspected and approved the shipment for transport
- To certify that it has prepared the shipment in accordance with regulations
- To confirm the carrier has received payment for transporting the shipment
Correct answer: To certify that it has prepared the shipment in accordance with regulations
The shipping paper has to contain the shipper’s certification, signed by the shipper, confirming the shipment was prepared in compliance with the applicable regulations.
Carriers must provide each driver who hauls Division 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3 materials with:
- a written list of emergency response phone numbers for local fire departments.
- a copy of FMCSR Part 397.
- a copy of the shipper’s facility address and receiving hours.
Correct answer: a copy of FMCSR Part 397.
Carriers are required to give drivers transporting explosives a copy of 49 CFR 397, “Transportation of Hazardous Materials; Driving and Parking Rules.” This part includes rules on hazardous materials routing, including factors to consider when selecting an appropriate route.
Hazardous material identification numbers must be shown on portable tanks, cargo tanks, and other bulk packages. Regulations require black ______ numbers.
- 75 mm
- 125 mm
- 100 mm
Correct answer: 100 mm
Hazardous material identification numbers must appear on portable tanks, cargo tanks, and other bulk packaging. The rules specify black 100 mm (3.9 inch) numbers on orange panels, placards, or on a white diamond-shaped background when placards are not required.
Helium is classified as a Class ____ hazardous material.
- 2
- 9
- 1
Correct answer: 2
A hazardous material’s class indicates the type of risk it presents. There are nine hazard classes in total. Class 2 covers gases, including flammable gases (2.1) like propane, non-flammable gases (2.2) like helium, and toxic gases (2.3) such as compressed fluorine.
Who must select the safest route when transporting placarded radioactive materials?
- The state highway department
- The receiver/consignee
- The carrier
Correct answer: The carrier
If placarded radioactive materials have to be transported, the carrier is responsible for choosing the safest route. Once the route is selected, the carrier must inform the driver about the radioactive materials and provide the driver with the planned route.
With most hazardous materials, you may park within 5 feet of the road briefly. If your work requires it. The materials that are the exception and do not allow parking this close to the road are?
- Acids and poisons
- Corrosives and oxidizers
- Explosives 1.1 thru 1.3
Correct answer: Explosives 1.1 thru 1.3
When it comes to parking near the road with hazardous materials, you usually can if it's quick and needed for work. But, don't do this with very explosive materials (like fireworks or dynamite), flammable stuff (like gasoline or propane), because it's too dangerous.
A truck as hazardous material, when can it be moved without the placards on the truck?
- Never
- When the shipper says it's ok
- To protect life or property
Correct answer: To protect life or property
If a truck is carrying dangerous materials, it usually must have special signs (placards) on it to show that it is hazardous. However, there is one exception to this rule. The truck can be moved without these signs only if it is necessary to protect people's lives or to prevent property from being damaged. This means safety is the top priority, and in an emergency situation, the truck can be moved even without the placards.
Which option lists a required criterion for a package to qualify as non-bulk packaging?
- A water capacity of 454 kg (1,000 pounds) or less if it is used as a receptacle for a gas
- A maximum net mass of 400 kg (882 pounds) or less and a maximum capacity of 450 L (119 gallons) or less if it is used as a receptacle for a solid
- A maximum capacity of 450 L (119 gallons) or less if it is used as a receptacle for a liquid
- All of the above
Correct answer: All of the above
Non-bulk packaging must meet defined limits when used as a container for solids, liquids, or gases. It qualifies as non-bulk if it is: 450 L (119 gallons) or less for liquids; 400 kg (882 pounds) or less and 450 L (119 gallons) or less for solids; and 454 kg (1,000 pounds) or less for gases.
If you are transporting Division 1.2 or 1.3 materials, what is the minimum distance you must park from a bridge, tunnel, or building?
- 300 feet
- 150 feet
- 250 feet
- 50 feet
Correct answer: 300 feet
With a load of Division 1.2 or 1.3 explosives, you are required to park no closer than 300 feet from any bridge, tunnel, or other structure.
Under what circumstances may a shipper shorten (abbreviate) the proper shipping name or hazardous material identification number on a shipping paper?
- Only if regulations specifically authorize the shipper to do it
- Only when the shipment is moving by highway within the same state
- Only when the material is non-flammable and low hazard
Correct answer: Only if regulations specifically authorize the shipper to do it
A shipper is not allowed to abbreviate a hazardous material’s identification number, hazard class, or proper shipping name unless the regulations explicitly permit that abbreviation. Abbreviations can interfere with correct identification and create safety risks.
You must stop before a railroad crossing if your vehicle is transporting _______ of chlorine.
- at least 100 gallons
- any amount
- more than 110 gallons
Correct answer: any amount
If you are transporting any quantity of chlorine gas, you are required to stop at every railroad crossing and use extra caution before crossing. A train collision could cause a chlorine release, which is very dangerous because chlorine gas is poisonous. (If chlorine is being hauled in cargo tanks, a gas mask must be available in the cab.) Chlorine is also a strong oxidizer and can react with flammables to start fires, which may spread corrosive or toxic gases.
You may allow another person to watch your vehicle only when it is…
- parked at a public rest area while you take a break.
- being watched by any licensed driver.
- on the property of the shipper, carrier, or receiver.
Correct answer: on the property of the shipper, carrier, or receiver.
You may let someone else watch your vehicle only when you are on the property of the shipper, carrier, or consignee/receiver, since those parties understand the hazards and how to handle them.
Which hazard class covers both flammable gases and non-flammable gases?
- 2
- 4
- 9
Correct answer: 2
A material’s hazard class indicates the type of risk it presents. There are nine hazard classes. Hazard Class 2 is for gases, including flammable gases (2.1) like propane, non-flammable gases (2.2) like helium, and toxic gases (2.3) such as compressed fluorine.
If you think there may be a cargo fire in your trailer and the cargo doors feel hot, what should you do?
- crack the doors slightly to let heat and smoke escape.
- leave the doors closed.
- swing the doors fully open to ventilate the trailer.
Correct answer: leave the doors closed.
Hot cargo doors make it more likely a fire is burning inside. Opening the doors would add oxygen and can intensify the fire. Keeping the doors shut limits oxygen, so the fire may only smolder until firefighters arrive.
By law, how regularly must employees involved in transporting hazardous materials be tested?
- Within 90 days of hire and then every 3 years
- Within 90 days of hire and then every 6 months
- At least every 5 years
Correct answer: Within 90 days of hire and then every 3 years
People who transport dangerous stuff must be tested within 90 days of starting their job and then every 3 years to make sure they know how to handle these materials safely.
Symbol column, the letter "G" stands for?
- Identifies the proper shipping name for which one or more technical names of the hazardous material must be entered in parentheses, along with the basic description
- Identifies the proper shipping name
- Gases
Correct answer: Identifies the proper shipping name for which one or more technical names of the hazardous material must be entered in parentheses, along with the basic description
The letter "G" means you need to write the hazardous material's specific name next to its general name when shipping it.
What the hazmat endorsement is — and who needs it
The hazardous materials endorsement — code H — is required to drive a commercial motor vehicle carrying hazardous materials as federal rule defines them: any material designated hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103 that is required to be placarded under the hazardous materials regulations (49 CFR part 172, subpart F), or any quantity of a select agent or toxin listed in 42 CFR part 73. In practice: if the load requires placards, you need the H.
Placards are the trigger, not the cargo’s name. Under the placarding rules a transport vehicle carrying any quantity of a hazardous material must be placarded on each side and each end — with an exception for less than 1,001 pounds aggregate of the lower-hazard Table 2 materials (bulk packagings excepted). That is why a van with a few cases of a flammable product may need no placards while a bulk load of the same product does.
H is also the one endorsement with a federal security layer. A state may not issue, renew, upgrade or transfer an H unless the Transportation Security Administration has determined you do not pose a security risk — or you hold a valid TWIC. The assessment includes a fingerprint-based FBI criminal history records check and an intelligence-related background check, and it repeats at least every five years because the H must be renewed on that cycle.
A tank vehicle carrying placarded hazmat needs both the H and the N; the combined credential is printed as a single X code.
49 CFR 383.5 (hazardous materials), 383.93(b)(4), 172.504(a) and (c), 383.141(b) and (d), 1572.15(a), 383.153(a)(9)(v)
Drivers who need the H endorsement
Plan on the hazmat test — and the TSA screening — if you will haul any of these:
- Fuel: gasoline, diesel, propane and heating oil — tank loads, so the X (H plus N).
- Chemicals, industrial and compressed gases, and agricultural products such as anhydrous ammonia and liquid fertilizer.
- Explosives and blasting agents (Class 1), which carry additional special requirements on the test.
- Radioactive materials (Class 7), whose routing rules are part of the required knowledge.
- LTL and general-freight loads that get placarded because hazmat is part of the freight.
- Not yet: a commercial learner’s permit holder may never operate a CMV transporting hazardous materials, so the H comes after the CDL.
49 CFR 383.5, 383.121(b)(7) and (d)(4), 383.25(a)(6)
What is on the hazmat knowledge test
Federal rule fixes the subject matter every state’s hazmat test must cover, drawn from the hazardous materials regulations in 49 CFR parts 171–173, 177, 178 and 397. Expect questions on:
- The regulations: the hazardous materials table, shipping papers, marking, labeling, placarding, packaging, hazmat definitions and preparation, ORM-D, reporting hazmat accidents, and tunnels and railroad crossings.
- Handling: forbidden materials and packages, loading and unloading, cargo segregation, hazmat on passenger-carrying buses, attending the vehicle, parking, routes, cargo tanks and safe havens.
- Emergency equipment: protecting the public, precautions for fires, precautions when loading or unloading, and emergency equipment on tank vehicles.
- Emergency response: precautions for different types of accidents, driving near a fire and smoking while carrying hazmat, emergency procedures, and the special requirements for Class 1.1 and 1.2 explosives.
49 CFR 383.121
The nine hazard classes
Placards, labels and the hazardous materials table are organized by hazard class. Know all nine, and the divisions that come up most:
- Class 1 — Explosives (divisions 1.1 mass explosion hazard through 1.6 extremely insensitive).
- Class 2 — Gases: 2.1 flammable gas, 2.2 non-flammable compressed gas, 2.3 poisonous gas.
- Class 3 — Flammable and combustible liquids.
- Class 4 — Flammable solids (4.1), spontaneously combustible materials (4.2), dangerous-when-wet materials (4.3).
- Class 5 — Oxidizers (5.1) and organic peroxides (5.2).
- Class 6 — Poisonous (toxic) materials (6.1) and infectious substances (6.2).
- Class 7 — Radioactive materials.
- Class 8 — Corrosive materials.
- Class 9 — Miscellaneous hazardous materials.
49 CFR 173.2
How to add the hazmat endorsement to your CDL
Hold a CDL — not just a permit — in the class of vehicle you will drive
The H cannot be placed on a commercial learner’s permit, and a permit holder may not operate a CMV carrying hazardous materials at all. Earn the Class A or Class B first; the H is an upgrade to the full license.
CDL Class A practice test49 CFR 383.93(a)(2), 383.25(a)(6)
Complete hazmat entry-level driver training — theory only
If this is your first H, you must complete the hazardous materials curriculum from a provider listed on FMCSA’s Training Provider Registry before you can take the state knowledge test for the H. The hazmat curriculum is theory instruction only — there is no behind-the-wheel component — covering basic and operational hazmat requirements, reporting crashes and releases, tunnels and grade crossings, loading and unloading, bulk packages, emergency equipment and response, fueling, tire checks, routing and safety permits. Drivers who held an H before February 7, 2022 are exempt for that endorsement.
49 CFR 383.71(a)(10), 380.603(b), Appendix E to Part 380
Study the hazardous materials section of your state’s CDL manual
In the AAMVA model manual most states publish, hazardous materials is Section 9 — the longest endorsement section — covering the hazardous materials table, shipping papers, placarding, loading and unloading, bulk tanks, driving and parking rules and emergency procedures. The federal knowledge areas above and the nine classes are what the questions are built from; drill the practice set on this page until you are consistently above 80%.
Pass the hazmat knowledge test at your state licensing agency
Hazmat is a knowledge-only endorsement — no skills test. You need at least 80%, the federal pass mark for every CDL knowledge test; under the AAMVA model the hazmat test has 30 questions, so 24 correct, though your state can use a different count. Testing and endorsement fees vary by state — the state pages below name the agency that issues your license.
Find your state’s hazmat practice test and agency49 CFR 383.93(c)(4), 383.135(a)(1)
Apply for the TSA security threat assessment: application, fingerprints and fee
Applying for an H means complying with TSA’s rules in 49 CFR part 1572. You submit the application information and your fingerprints — at a TSA enrollment agent or, in some states, through the licensing agency — and pay TSA’s fee. A lawful permanent resident must also provide a USCIS alien registration number. TSA then runs a fingerprint-based FBI criminal history check and an intelligence-related background check against the standards in 49 CFR 1572.5. Current fees and enrollment locations are on TSA’s hazmat endorsement page (linked under official sources).
49 CFR 383.71(b)(8), 1572.11(c), 1572.15(a)
Get the H issued once TSA clears you
Your state may not issue or renew the H until it receives a Determination of No Security Threat from TSA (or you hold a valid TWIC). Once the determination arrives, the state has 15 days to update your record and issue the endorsement.
49 CFR 1572.13(a) and (d), 383.141(b)
Renew every five years — and start as soon as the notice arrives
Every state must make the H expire within five years so that TSA screens you at least that often. Your state must notify you at least 60 days before the endorsement expires; TSA’s rules tell you to start the new assessment no later than 60 days before expiration, and FMCSA’s say to file no later than 30 days before. Moving to another state does not restart the clock — the new state honors the remaining assessment period, up to five years.
49 CFR 383.141(c)–(d), 1572.13(b) and (e)
Hauling in a tank? Add the N for the X endorsement
A tanker carrying placarded hazmat needs the tank vehicle endorsement too. The tanker test is knowledge-only and needs no TSA screening, and the combined H plus N is printed as a single X.
Tanker endorsement practice test49 CFR 383.153(a)(9)(v), 383.93(c)(3)
HazMat endorsement — questions and answers
Is there a driving test for the hazmat endorsement?
No. Federal rule requires only a knowledge test for the hazardous materials endorsement. What makes hazmat different is the security layer: the state may not issue the H until TSA has completed a security threat assessment and found no risk, or unless you hold a valid TWIC.
49 CFR 383.93(c)(4), 383.141(b)
How many questions are on the hazmat test, and what score do I need?
Under the AAMVA model most states use, the hazmat test has 30 questions; the federal pass mark of 80% means 24 correct. Your state can use a different count — check its CDL manual. The practice set on this page plays 20 questions with explanations, so aim for at least 16 here before test day.
49 CFR 383.135(a)(1)
Do I need entry-level driver training (ELDT) for hazmat?
Yes, for a first H endorsement: the hazmat curriculum from a registered provider must be completed before you take the knowledge test for the H for the first time. It is theory-only — no behind-the-wheel training — and drivers who already held the H before February 7, 2022 are not required to complete it for that endorsement.
49 CFR 383.71(a)(10), 380.603(b)–(c), Appendix E to Part 380
What does the TSA check involve, and how long is it good for?
A fingerprint-based FBI criminal history records check plus an intelligence-related background check, judged against the standards in 49 CFR 1572.5. You submit fingerprints and the application information and pay TSA’s fee when you apply to obtain or renew the H. Because states must renew the H at least every five years, the screening repeats at least that often; transferring to a new state does not require a new assessment until the current period expires.
49 CFR 1572.15(a), 1572.11(c), 383.141(d), 1572.13(e)
Can I get the hazmat endorsement on my learner’s permit?
No. Passenger, school bus and tank vehicle are the only endorsements a commercial learner’s permit may carry, and a permit holder may not operate a CMV transporting hazardous materials at all — even with a supervising CDL holder on board.
49 CFR 383.93(a)(2), 383.25(a)(6)
What is the X endorsement?
X is the combined tank vehicle and hazardous materials endorsement, for drivers who haul placarded hazmat in a tank vehicle. You earn it by passing both knowledge tests; only the hazmat half requires the TSA screening. Practice the tanker test next.
Tanker endorsement practice test49 CFR 383.153(a)(9)(v), 383.93(c)(3)–(4)
Official sources
- 49 CFR 383.121 — Requirements for hazardous materials endorsement
- 49 CFR 383.141 — Hazardous materials endorsement: TSA screening and renewal
- 49 CFR part 1572 — TSA security threat assessment (HME and TWIC)
- 49 CFR 173.2 — Hazardous material classes
- TSA — Hazardous Materials Endorsement (enrollment, fees)
- FMCSA Training Provider Registry
Fees, the licensing agency and appointment rules vary by state — pick your state below for the agency that issues your license.
Federal rules on this page last reviewed against the eCFR on .
Practice the HazMat test by state
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