A terminal technician is reviewing the wheel and tire specifications on a newly assigned t… — Commercial Driver's License (CDL) General Knowledge Exam

A terminal technician is reviewing the wheel and tire specifications on a newly assigned three-axle straight truck prior to releasing it for daily route operations. When inspecting the tire tread depth across all positions, which of the following tire configurations meets the minimum federal commercial motor vehicle safety requirements?

A
Steer axle tires with $\frac{3}{32}\text{ inch}$ of tread depth and drive axle tires with $\frac{4}{32}\text{ inch}$ of tread depth
B
Steer axle tires with $\frac{2}{32}\text{ inch}$ of tread depth and drive axle tires with $\frac{2}{32}\text{ inch}$ of tread depth
Steer axle tires with $\frac{4}{32}\text{ inch}$ of tread depth and drive axle tires with $\frac{2}{32}\text{ inch}$ of tread depthAnswer
D
Steer axle tires with $\frac{2}{32}\text{ inch}$ of tread depth and drive axle tires with $\frac{4}{32}\text{ inch}$ of tread depth

Answer

Steer axle tires with

\frac{4}{32}\text{ inch}

of tread depth and drive axle tires with

\frac{2}{32}\text{ inch}

of tread depth

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations dictate that commercial motor vehicles must have a minimum tread depth of

\frac{4}{32}\text{ inch}

on front steer tires and

\frac{2}{32}\text{ inch}

on all other tire positions (including drive and trailer axles). Therefore, a vehicle configured with

\frac{4}{32}\text{ inch}

on the steer tires and

\frac{2}{32}\text{ inch}

on the drive tires fully meets the minimum safety criteria.

Step-by-Step Solution

Identify the minimum required tread depth for front steer axle tires.

Front steer tires require a minimum depth of

\frac{4}{32}\text{ inch}

in every major groove.

Steer tires bear critical directional control and hydroplaning resistance responsibilities.

Identify the minimum required tread depth for non-steer (drive and trailer) tires.

Non-steer tires require a minimum depth of

\frac{2}{32}\text{ inch}

in every major groove.

Commercial vehicle regulations permit

\frac{2}{32}\text{ inch}

on drive and trailer positions.

Compare each option against these two regulatory thresholds.

The configuration with

\frac{4}{32}\text{ inch}

on the steer axle and

\frac{2}{32}\text{ inch}

on the drive axle is fully compliant.

Both positions meet or exceed their respective statutory minimum limits.

Key Concept

Commercial Motor Vehicle Minimum Tread Depth Regulations

Estimated Time:1m 0s

Question

Answer

Step-by-Step Solution

Key Concept

Common Mistakes

Topics

More questions from this topic