Alberta Class 1 Knowledge Study Guide 2026

Commercial licence classes in Alberta

You cannot get a Class 1 licence while you are a probationary (graduated licensing) driver. You need a full Class 5 licence. You also need the air brake (Q) endorsement before a Class 1 licence can be issued.

Medical reports

Commercial drivers must meet higher medical standards. A medical report is needed when you first apply for Class 1, 2 or 4, then:

• Every 5 years until age 45.
• Every 2 years from 45 to 65.
• Every year after 65.

You also need a vision assessment before you upgrade.

The Class 1 Learning Pathway

Since April 1, 2025, new Class 1 drivers follow the Class 1 Learning Pathway, which replaced the earlier mandatory entry-level training. You must hold a full Class 5 licence, be at least 18 and have medical approval.

1. Entry Program: 40 hours, online or at a driver training school. After this, you can take the Class 1 knowledge test at a registry agent.
2. Core Learning Program: 67 hours of in-yard and in-cab training at a licensed Class 1 school. If you do not have a Q endorsement, you also take an 8-hour air brake course.
3. Knowledge and road tests: book the road test online through the Alberta Road Test Scheduler or at a registry agent.
4. Provincially restricted Class 1 licence: you get this when you pass the road test. It is valid in Alberta only.
5. Competence Building Program: 10 to 18 hours of one-on-one instruction. Finishing it removes the restriction. Alberta recommends finishing within one year of Core Learning.

Class 2 or 3 drivers with at least 2 years of experience in vehicles with three or more axles can apply to the Experience and Equivalency Program instead.

The knowledge test

According to the Commercial Driver's Guide, the commercial knowledge test has 30 multiple-choice questions. You need 25 correct to pass. The test stops after six wrong answers, which is recorded as a fail.

The road test

A Class 1 learner must be supervised by someone at least 18 who holds a Class 1 licence. The road test includes a pre-trip inspection, coupling and uncoupling and an air brake check, and you may not use notes. The test vehicle must be a tractor-trailer with:

• A gross vehicle weight of at least 11,794 kg.
• Full air brakes on the tractor and trailer.
• Tandem axles on both units and a fifth wheel.
• A single trailer at least 45 feet long, with at least 35 feet from the kingpin to the centre of each rear axle.

Since February 1, 2023, you may test in an automatic, but a restriction code is added to your licence.

Hours of service

Alberta has its own rules for drivers who stay inside the province. Drivers who travel outside Alberta follow the federal rules.

• Cycle 1: 70 hours on duty in 7 days. Reset with 36 consecutive hours off.
• Cycle 2: 120 hours on duty in 14 days, with 24 consecutive hours off before the 70th hour. Reset with 72 consecutive hours off.
• You cannot switch cycles without taking a reset.
• You may not drive unless you took at least 24 consecutive hours off in the past 14 days.

Under Alberta's provincial rules, you give your logs to your employer within 20 days, and they are kept for at least 6 months. A log is not needed if you start and end at the same place, stay within 160 km of the home terminal, work no more than 15 hours, and the employer keeps records of your start and end times.

Trip inspections

Provincially, trip inspections apply to trucks registered at 11,794 kg or more and to buses for 11 or more people. Federally, they apply to trucks registered at 4,500 kg or more. A trip inspection report is valid for up to 24 hours. Use Schedule 1 of National Safety Code Standard 13 for a truck, tractor and trailer. A converter dolly is inspected as part of the trailer it carries.

• With a minor defect, you may keep driving if you write it on the report right away and tell the carrier.
• With a major defect, no one may drive the vehicle on a highway until it is fixed.
• Steering axle tires need at least 3.2 mm of tread. Drive and trailer tires need at least 1.6 mm.
• Wheel chocks must be at least 15 cm by 15 cm.
• Do not stop for en-route checks at the bottom of a hill or on an uphill slope.

When the lights at a highway scale are flashing, vehicles over 4,500 kg must report. Follow the scale's STOP, BACK UP and PARK signals.

Coupling and uncoupling

To uncouple, park in a straight line, set the parking brake, chock the trailer, lower the landing gear, disconnect the air and electrical lines, unlock the fifth wheel and pull forward slowly. When making up a combination with more than one trailer, always put the heaviest trailer directly behind the tractor.

Size, weight and cargo

Weight limits for tires, axles, axle groups and gross weight are set by the Commercial Vehicle Dimension and Weight Regulation. Cargo securement for trucks over 4,500 kg follows NSC Standard 10: cargo must not leak, spill, blow off, fall or shift in a way that affects stability.

Driving skills

• Keep at least a four-second following distance, and double it in poor conditions.
• Perception and reaction each take about 0.75 seconds, and air brakes add about 0.4 seconds of lag.
• Brake with even pressure and do not pump air brakes.
• Downshift before the crest of a hill and test your brakes before going down.
• Do not rely on the trailer hand valve alone. It can cause brake imbalance and a jackknife.
• A trailer over 2,300 kg must have brakes the driver controls.
• Enter curves slowly enough that you do not need to brake in the curve.
• When parking on a hill with a curb, keep your wheels within 50 cm of the curb.

If you break down outside an urban area in daylight, turn on your hazard lights and place warning devices about 30 m in front of and behind the vehicle. Long combination vehicles may not go faster than 100 km/h, or the posted limit if lower.

Sharing the road

Other drivers often cut in close to large trucks or wait in their blind spots. Keep checking your mirrors, leave space ahead so you can stop smoothly, and signal early. At low speed your trailer cuts inside the tractor's path on turns, so watch the inside corner. If you are unsure what is behind you when reversing, get out and look.

A simple study plan

1. Read this guide once from start to finish, without trying to memorise everything.
2. Read the matching chapters of the Alberta Commercial Driver's Guide. Mark every number, limit and time you find.
3. Take the first practice test. Write down each question you get wrong and look up the rule.
4. Make a one-page list of key numbers, and test yourself on it every day.
5. Take the other practice tests until you score at least 80% every time.
6. Finish with the mock exam, timed if the real test is timed.

Short, regular study works better than one long session. Twenty or thirty minutes a day for two weeks will help you remember more than one long night before the test. Read each question to the end before you look at the answers, and watch for words like minimum, maximum, before and after.