CDL training programs in Sacramento — Class A, Class B, and more, taught 1 on 1
1 on 1 Truck Academy trains Class A and Class B commercial drivers 1 on 1 in West Sacramento, minutes from the DMV. Every program below is proficiency-based and taught one instructor to one student, on both manual and automatic trucks. Here is exactly what you're taught, stage by stage. We serve students from Sacramento, Elk Grove, Davis, Woodland, Roseville and across the Central Valley.
Learn more About Us, or see our Training & Compliance page for every regulation behind these programs.
Class A and Class B CDL programs
Both programs cover classroom theory, inspection and skills on the range, and public road driving — all 1 on 1. Here is what each covers and what it lets you drive.
Class A CDL Program
120 hours
What you can drive: combination vehicles — a towing unit over 26,000 lbs pulling a trailer or trailers over 10,000 lbs. Tractor-trailers, big rigs, multi-trailer freight. A Class A also lets you drive anything a Class B or C driver can.
Class B CDL Program
90 hours
What you can drive: heavy single vehicles over 26,000 lbs, towing nothing heavier than 10,000 lbs. Straight trucks, box trucks, buses, dump trucks, delivery rigs.
Inspection and Skills are one combined behind-the-wheel phase — the sooner you're proficient on the inspection, the more skills time you have.
Commercial Learner's Permit (CLP) course
You don't need a permit to enroll — we teach the permit course here, one instructor to one student. It's not an app and it's not homework. We prepare you for the DMV written tests you need to earn your Commercial Learner's Permit:
General knowledge
The core written test every CDL applicant must pass.
Air brakes
Required to operate air-brake-equipped commercial vehicles.
Combination vehicles
Required for Class A combination vehicles and their endorsements.
Once you pass the written tests and hold your CLP, you move into behind-the-wheel training. We teach the tests that apply to your license class, 1 on 1.
ELDT theory instruction
The entire theory curriculum — not a summary. Delivered as a combination of online and in-person instruction, so you work at your own pace instead of waiting for a classroom to fill. Behind-the-wheel is never online or simulated.
Basic Operation
- Orientation — safety fundamentals, cargo securement, disqualification and fines, weigh stations, size and weight limits, low-clearance, bridge formulas
- Control systems / dashboard — gauges, mirrors, controls, steering, shifting, braking (ABS, hydraulic, air), parking
- Pre-trip and post-trip inspections
- Basic control — turns, centering, restricted-area maneuvering, interstate entry and exit
- Shifting / operating transmissions
- Backing and docking — Get Out and Look (GOAL), facility evaluation, backing setups, spotters
- Coupling and uncoupling
Safe Operating Procedures
- Visual search
- Communication
- Distracted driving
- Speed management · space management
- Night operation
- Extreme driving conditions — including proper tire chaining
Advanced Operating Practices
- Hazard perception — including construction and work zones
- Skid control and recovery, jackknifing, emergencies — evasive steering, emergency braking, off-road recovery, brake failure, tire blowouts, hydroplaning, rollovers
- Railroad-highway grade crossings — including Emergency Notification Systems
Vehicle Systems & Reporting Malfunctions
- Identification and diagnosis of malfunctions
- Roadside inspections — out-of-service violations and penalties
- Maintenance
Non-Driving Activities
- Handling and documenting cargo · environmental compliance
- Hours of service — Driver's Daily Log, timesheets, logbook recap
- Fatigue and wellness · post-crash procedures · trip planning
- Whistleblower and coercion protections · drugs and alcohol · medical requirements
Class A applicants who already hold a valid Class B CDL may complete the Theory Instruction Upgrade Curriculum instead of the standard curriculum.
Endorsements — optional, taught in-house
Endorsements are part of your classroom work, so the decision is made before Skills begin. They're optional and not required for your CDL. We offer HazMat (H), Tanker (N), and Doubles and Triples (T).
- Taught and certified in-house under our own registration — you're never sent to an outside vendor
- HazMat has two extra steps — a TSA security threat assessment (fingerprinting and background check), separate from the school, with several weeks of lead time. Start it early
- We do not accept outside ELDT certificates — if you trained elsewhere, you complete your theory here
Pre-trip inspection
The pre-trip inspection is its own course with its own evaluation, and it's the part of the DMV exam that fails the most students. You don't begin Skills until you're proficient on it. It breaks into three parts:
Air brakes
The applied air leakage test, governor cut-out, low air warning, spring brake pop-out, and the tug tests. You explain, demonstrate and perform the full air brake check, calling out every pressure reading as you go.
In-cab
Gauges and instruments, warning lights and buzzers, safety belt, mirrors, steering play, horn, wipers and washers, heater and defroster, lighting indicators, emergency equipment.
Exterior
Engine compartment, steering and suspension, brakes, wheels and tires, lights and reflectors, coupling system, frame and body, cargo securement.
Skills — the California basic control skills test
We train to California's modernized Basic Control Skills test, four exercises in a smaller footprint, and each one is its own proficiency gate:
Forward stop
A precise stop inside a three-foot box. No getting out to look.
Straight-line backing
Back between boundaries without touching or crossing them.
Forward offset tracking
Maneuver the vehicle forward around objects, scored on clearance.
Reverse offset backing
Offset back and park at the end of the alley, rear bumper inside the box.
What 1 on 1 means on the range
During Inspection and Skills, sessions run two hours and there may be a second student on the range with you. That is by design, and it is still 1 on 1 instruction. When you are not in the seat, you are standing next to your instructor being taught — watching a maneuver from outside the truck and doing it from the seat are two different lessons, and you need both. That is Get Out And Look (GOAL). Both students are training the entire time.
Public road driving is different — that is you and your instructor, alone in the truck, no exceptions.
Public road driving
Ten hours, 1 on 1. You and your instructor in the truck, with active two-way communication throughout. You demonstrate documented proficiency in:
- Vehicle controls — left and right turns, lane changes, curves at highway speeds, interstate entry and exit, controlled stopping
- Shifting / transmission
- Communications and signaling
- Visual search
- Speed and space management
- Safe driver behavior
- Hours of service
- Hazard perception, railroad crossings, night operation and extreme conditions are covered during road training
Minutes from the West Sacramento DMV — your road hours are driven on the routes the examiner uses. We do not use simulators for behind-the-wheel training.
How the program is run
Proficiency-based the whole way. You move forward when you're ready, and you're only recommended for the DMV when you're truly prepared.
- Proficiency at every stage — theory, inspection, each range maneuver, and road driving are evaluated and documented before the next stage opens. 90% required to pass theory
- Final Practical Evaluation — the last gate, same format as the DMV skills test, run by the Chief Academic Officer, not the instructor who trained you
- Clearance is a decision, not a date — we recommend you for the DMV only when your evaluations and hours show you're ready
- You leave with a Certificate of Graduation and an official transcript — your hours, evaluations, and endorsements
- Job placement — hiring carriers, interview prep, honest references, and free prep in the truck for any graduate whose interview includes a carrier road test
Additional programs and services
Beyond Class A and Class B, we offer the extras that remove the limits on your license and get you road-ready.
Manual transmission training
Test in an automatic and your CDL carries an automatic-only restriction. Train and test in a manual with us for an unrestricted CDL — so you can drive any truck, manual or automatic.
Refresher courses
For drivers who need more time after the DMV exam, or who already hold a CDL and want to regain confidence and sharpen their skills. Range and behind-the-wheel refreshers, taught 1 on 1.
Truck rental
A school truck for your DMV skills test — so you take the exam in the same vehicle you trained in, not a truck you've never sat in.