Checked 26 October 2026. This page and its worked examples rest on the Spring 2025 Commercial Driver’s Guide, read on 26 October 2026. Check the current guide on open.alberta.ca before you rely on a figure.
None of the Alberta pages read for this guide publishes the questions on the Alberta Class 1 knowledge test, so the best guide to what you will be asked is the material Alberta says the test draws on: the Commercial Driver’s Guide, the Driver’s Guide: Cars and Light Trucks and the Class 1 Learning Pathway curriculum. This page shows what that means in practice, chapter by chapter, and works through two practice questions in full. They are ProSyllabus’s own questions, written from the guide, and two of the three free questions in our practice test.
ProSyllabus is an independent study site. It is not part of the Government of Alberta, Transportation and Economic Corridors or any registry agent, and nothing here is the official test. Every rule on this page is quoted or summarised from the official pages listed at the foot of the page.
Test facts: Commercial Driver’s Guide, Spring 2025, chapter 1 (read 26 Oct 2026).
FreeTests: Ch. 2: National Safety Code and hours of service · Ch. 4: Having a safe trip · Ch. 5: Basic commercial vehicle operations
Alberta Class 1 Knowledge Test Practice: free sample
Answer 3 questions against the clock, like the real exam. You then see the right answer, the reason and your time on each. About 4 minutes · free · no sign-in.
3 questions to answer
Start nowabout 5 minThis one is free · no sign-in needed
Your result shows how long each question took you.
What the questions are about
The guide says the test asks about safe driving practices, driving laws and road signs, and that Class 1 applicants may be asked questions from the other chapters of the guide too. Our own practice questions, written from the guide, fall into a few kinds:
| Kind | Example | Where |
|---|---|---|
| A rule with a number | How long a trip inspection is valid; the maximum height of a commercial vehicle; how far back to stop from a railway crossing | Chapters 2 to 5 |
| Which rule applies | Alberta or federal hours of service, depending on where the carrier operates | Chapter 2 |
| What to do next | You find a major defect; the low air warning comes on; a vehicle drifts into your lane | Chapters 3, 4 and 9 |
| How a tractor-trailer behaves | Off-tracking in a turn; which way to turn the wheels when parking uphill | Chapter 5 |
| Air brakes | Pressures in the air brake inspection; what pumping the brakes does to air pressure | Chapters 3 and 4; the air brake test itself is separate |
Worked example 1: Alberta hours of service
Worked example 1 · Ch. 2: National Safety Code and hours of service
Under Alberta's provincial hours of service rules, a driver may not drive after how many hours ON DUTY in a work shift?
- (A) 14 hours
- (B) 15 hours
- (C) 13 hours
- (D) 16 hours
Show the answer
Answer: (B) 15 hours. Commercial Driver's Guide, Chapter 2 (p21-22): the Alberta Drivers' Hours of Service Regulation stops driving after 15 hours on duty in a work shift. This is where Alberta differs from the federal rule, which stops driving after 14 hours on duty.
An original ProSyllabus question written from Alberta’s Commercial Driver’s Guide. Not a question from a registry knowledge test.
Why it matters: the guide teaches two hours-of-service rules side by side, and our practice questions tell you which applies with a phrase such as "operates only within Alberta". The driving limit (13 hours) is the same under both; the 15-hour provincial versus 14-hour federal on-duty limit is one difference, and the federal rule adds other limits.
FreeTests: Ch. 2: National Safety Code and hours of service · Ch. 4: Having a safe trip · Ch. 5: Basic commercial vehicle operations
Alberta Class 1 Knowledge Test Practice: free sample
Answer 3 questions against the clock, like the real exam. You then see the right answer, the reason and your time on each. About 4 minutes · free · no sign-in.
3 questions to answer
Start nowabout 5 minThis one is free · no sign-in needed
Your result shows how long each question took you.
Worked example 2: air brakes on the road
Worked example 2 · Ch. 4: Having a safe trip
Why does the guide warn against pumping air brakes?
- (A) It makes the ABS light switch off
- (B) It is the correct way to stop on ice and packed snow
- (C) It uses up air pressure the brakes need
- (D) It overheats the slack adjusters
Show the answer
Answer: (C) It uses up air pressure the brakes need. Commercial Driver's Guide, Chapter 4 (Class 1 braking, p60): do not pump air brakes, because alternately applying and releasing them loses air pressure; on a long downgrade you may not have enough pressure left for the brakes to work properly.
An original ProSyllabus question written from Alberta’s Commercial Driver’s Guide. Not a question from a registry knowledge test.
Why it matters: air pressure is what applies air brakes, and every brake application and release uses some. Several of our practice questions turn on what spends air and what saves it, which is why the guide makes lower gears the main way to control speed on a downgrade, with moderate or intermittent braking and no pumping of the air brakes.
Five rules the guide sets out with exact figures
When you study a rule with a number, learn both the figure and its conditions. These five appear in the Commercial Driver’s Guide with exact figures; learn the figure and the condition attached to it.
| Rule | What the guide says | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Trip inspection | A driver may not drive a truck, drive a bus or tow a trailer unless it was inspected within the previous 24 hours; a commercial vehicle must not be driven on a highway with a major defect listed on an inspection schedule | p26 to p27 |
| Tire tread | Steering axle tires at least 3.2 mm; drive axle and trailer tires at least 1.6 mm | p31, p32 and p34 |
| Air brake inspection | Build-up from 50 to 90 PSI within three minutes at about 1200 rpm; governor cut-out 120 to 135 PSI; after the system stabilizes, a loss of no more than 4 PSI for the power unit plus 2 PSI per trailer during a full service application held for two minutes | p36 |
| Size limits | Width 2.6 m, height 4.15 m, a tractor semi-trailer 23 m overall | p56 |
| Railway crossing | With a train approaching, stop no closer than 5 m from the nearest rail; never shift gears while crossing | p93 |
Each of these comes with a condition that a question can turn on: the inspection figure is a time window, not a calendar day; the tread figure depends on the axle; the leakage allowance grows with each trailer. Read the whole stem before you choose.
How the Commercial Driver’s Guide is laid out
The guide’s contents run to ten chapters. Use the chapter map to organise revision: the guide says chapters 1 to 5, 9 and 10 apply to every licence class, chapter 6 holds class-specific operations, chapter 7 is mainly for Class 2 and 4 drivers and chapter 8 mainly for Class 1 and 3.
| Chapter | Starts on | Topics |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Commercial Driver’s Licence Requirements | p8 | Definitions, licence classes, upgrading, the knowledge and road tests, vision and medical fitness |
| 2. National Safety Code | p18 | Safety Fitness Certificates, hours of service, the vehicle inspection program, cargo securement |
| 3. Trip Inspections | p25 | Daily inspections, defects, the circle check, the trip air brake inspection, en route stops |
| 4. Having a Safe Trip | p53 | The law, distracted driving, vehicle size, stopping distance, mirrors, good habits, fatigue |
| 5. Basic Commercial Vehicle Operations | p73 | Grades, intersections, turns and off-tracking, curves, parking, reversing, shifting, railway crossings |
| 6. Additional Operations for Specific Vehicle Classes | p98 | Coupling and uncoupling, long combination vehicles, dump vehicles, passenger loading |
| 7. Transporting People | p110 | Passenger management and safety (mainly Class 2 and 4) |
| 8. Transporting Dangerous Goods | p118 | Training, the nine classes, dangerous occurrences, documents, safety marks (mainly Class 1 and 3) |
| 9. Emergency Situations | p123 | Fire and extinguishers, breakdowns, avoiding collisions, after a collision |
| 10. Fuelling and Fuel Efficiency | p135 | Fuelling safely, fuel-efficient driving |
ProSyllabus practice: 242 questions, weighted by our own judgement of each chapter’s length and weight for a Class 1 driver. Our counts; no chapter weighting for the registry test is given in the Alberta pages read.
Air brake questions: a separate test
The air brake (Q) knowledge test is not part of the Class 1 test. On the standard route it is taken at a registry agent after an approved air brake course and practical assessment (some eligible technicians and mechanics may skip the training), with the Notice of Air Brake Program Completion. It is also 30 multiple-choice questions, 25 correct to pass, ending automatically at 6 wrong, with no time limit and no limit on attempts; retests are on a different day. The guide’s own trip air brake inspection (p36) gives the pressures a driver checks: the trailer air supply valve popping out at 40 to 60 PSI or higher, the low air warning by 60 PSI, the park control valve popping out at 20 to 45 PSI, and the build-up, cut-out and leakage figures above.
For practice on the Q test itself, see our air brake practice test: three 30-question tests in the Alberta Q format and eight topic sets.
FreeTests: Ch. 2: National Safety Code and hours of service · Ch. 4: Having a safe trip · Ch. 5: Basic commercial vehicle operations
Alberta Class 1 Knowledge Test Practice: free sample
Answer 3 questions against the clock, like the real exam. You then see the right answer, the reason and your time on each. About 4 minutes · free · no sign-in.
3 questions to answer
Start nowabout 5 minThis one is free · no sign-in needed
Your result shows how long each question took you.
A way to practise that finds your weak chapters
Practise in three passes. First, read one chapter of the guide and answer questions on that chapter only, so you learn the rules while they are fresh. Second, mix the chapters in sets of 30, the length of Alberta’s test, and note every question you missed by chapter. Third, reread the chapters where you lost the most marks before you mix again. Aim to be clear of 25 out of 30 on fresh questions, not on ones you have seen.
When you miss a question, read the explanation back to the page it cites. Review each missed question against its cited source.
How the official test and our practice compare
| Fact | Class 1 knowledge test (Alberta) | ProSyllabus practice |
|---|---|---|
| Questions | 30 multiple-choice | 30 per mock, three Class 1 mocks, plus two air brake mocks of 30 and seven chapter sets |
| Pass line | 25 correct; the test stops at 6 wrong | Your score out of 30 against the 25 line; you finish all 30 to see every answer |
| Time | Not stated on the Alberta pages read | 30 minutes, our own practice pace |
| The questions | Not published in the Alberta pages read | Written by ProSyllabus from the Commercial Driver’s Guide and Alberta’s air brake manual |
| Feedback | Pass at 25 correct; feedback details not stated in the pages read | Score by guide chapter, time per question, and the source behind every answer |
Want the full practice test?
Read the guide first. For practice at the test’s 30-question length, with our own 30-minute clock, the ProSyllabus Alberta Class 1 knowledge test practice has three Class 1 mocks and two air brake mocks of 30 questions, seven chapter sets, and a result that names the chapters to reread. Three questions are free there, including the two above; the rest is paid. Our own questions, not a registry test’s, and not made or endorsed by the Government of Alberta. For the fees, the Class 1 Learning Pathway and the air brake steps, see the Class 1 knowledge test guide.
FreeTests: Ch. 2: National Safety Code and hours of service · Ch. 4: Having a safe trip · Ch. 5: Basic commercial vehicle operations
Alberta Class 1 Knowledge Test Practice: free sample
Answer 3 questions against the clock, like the real exam. You then see the right answer, the reason and your time on each. About 4 minutes · free · no sign-in.
3 questions to answer
Start nowabout 5 minThis one is free · no sign-in needed
Your result shows how long each question took you.
Frequently asked questions
Are these real Alberta Class 1 knowledge test questions?
No. They are ProSyllabus’s own questions, written from the Commercial Driver’s Guide. None comes from a registry knowledge test.
What are the most common topics?
The Alberta pages read for this guide do not give a chapter-by-chapter breakdown. The guide says the test covers safe driving practices, driving laws and road signs, and that Class 1 applicants may be asked questions from the other chapters of the guide too.
Are road signs on the Class 1 test?
Yes, the guide lists road signs among the test’s subjects, and the test also draws on the Driver’s Guide: Cars and Light Trucks.
Is the air brake test part of the Class 1 test?
No. The air brake (Q) knowledge test is a separate 30-question test taken after the approved air brake course on the standard route, and you need the endorsement before the Class 1 licence.
Will a good practice score mean I pass?
No. A practice score is not a test result and does not guarantee a pass.
Sources
- official — Government of Alberta: Commercial Driver’s Guide, trucks, buses, emergency responders and taxis (Spring 2025)
- official — Government of Alberta: Driver guides, overview and PDF versions (includes the Driver’s Guide for cars and light trucks)
- official — Government of Alberta: Driver’s knowledge test
- official — Government of Alberta: Air Brake Program
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
