On this page I describe my experience of getting the DZ license in Ontario as a firefighter student. I was pointed to Pine Valley Driving Academy who informed me of how to get started.
Knowledge Test
Both the D license and the Z airbrake endorsement require you to pass a multiple choice knowledge test first before you can begin practical lessons. You just show up to any DriveTest centre to take the knowledge test without booking anything! The wait times might be long so plan accordingly. Make sure to have a doctor fill out this medical form for you as you need to bring this to DriveTest in order to take the knowledge tests.
The combined price of the knowledge tests and the road test is around 130 dollars; 100 for road test, and 23-ish for the knowledge test, but they will charge you for the road test as well when you just show up for the knowledge test.
D: The Truck Part
- Truck handbook: https://www.ontario.ca/document/official-ministry-transportation-mto-truck-handbook
- Extremely dry and boring to read. But you should read it.
- When you read it, make sure to write down any numbers you see. The tests love those things. For example:
- How many hours can you drive after x hours of driving and y hours off-duty? Memorize the hours of service requirements.
- What are the acceptable thresholds for air pressures in the brakes?
- What are the acceptable measurements for various inspection items?
- How many demerit points is given for certain behaviours? How long is the impoundment period for certain violations?
- There's also a few truck-specific signs, they're not hard but just make sure to read them at least once! They made up of 3 of the 30 questions for me. Free marks.
- Free practice tests I found online (some of them have class A stuff mixed in so you can just wing those since they're irrelevant):
Z: The Airbrake Part
- Honestly if you don't know anything about brakes or air brakes I'd strongly recommend watching a few short youtube videos on this "Smart Drive Test" channel (e.g. this one and this one) just to gain some intuition before reading the handbook.
- Airbrake handbook: https://www.ontario.ca/document/official-air-brake-handbook
- Also extremely dry and boring to read. But you should read it.
- Same thing, memorize the **** out of any numbers you see in here.
- I hated the tractor-trailer section because it felt so irrelevant to me, but actually quite a lot of questions are on those.
- The inspections and tests are stupid long but if you know/understand what each component does then it's more digestible.
- Free practice tests: https://www.drivingtest.ca/ontario-air-brake-z-endorsement-knowledge-test-practice/.
Road Test
The DZ road test again consists of two main parts: the "D" part, and the "Z" part. I’ll describe what the tests are, and my recommendations for how to prepare.
D: The Truck Part
- Inspection: You are allowed to carry and refer to “Schedule 1” for the inspection test. You will not be required to do every single item on the sheet, but will be randomly tested on some of them (4 exterior, 2 interior, and a complete in-cab check).
- On-the-road driving: Basically a G test, without the parking parts.
- Parking: One 90-degree back-in. You are given 10 minutes and are allowed to leave the vehicle to check the position of the truck as many times as you want!
Z: The Airbrake Part
- The airbrake part is just an inspection test, and it is quite long. Unlike the truck inspection, for the airbrake you will be required to perform all the tests.
Preparations
- The 7-hour package at Pine Valley is split into three days, each day having a 2- or 2.5-hour session. How these 7 hours are spent varies based on the individual, but for me I spent around 3 hours learning and reviewing the inspections, 1.5 hour parking, and 2.5 hours driving on the road. (Note: the 7-hour package is the 1000-dollar package. The pricing is 250 for rental of the truck for the road test, and 100 per hour of lesson. There is a 50-dollar discount for Seneca students, and sometimes another small discount for paying cash.)
- For the inspection parts, take videos of anything that you are unsure about so you can review later, especially if you are unfamiliar with the structure of motor vehicles like myself.
- Also for inspection parts, study at home! Memorize the threshold numbers for each test, and make sure you feel confident that you won’t miss anything in the in-cab check and the airbrake inspection. If you study at home then you’ll get more time actually *driving* the truck which I found to be way more valuable.
- I would highly highly recommend taking your car for a ride on the known exam routes before the road test. The driving school will give you the common routes. Pay attention to special things like school zones, train crossings, etc.