Brock,
In Arcadia, CA there is a company called DOOTSON TRUCK DRIVING SCHOOLS.
Get signed up there for at minimum a Class B license.
I might even ask for KARL as your teacher.
You will learn in a school bus w/ full blown air brakes just like your MV.
You can get an add on classification of PASSENGER too if you use the bus.
I got TANK also and I already had MC.
In California you have to have a class B license to drive that truck.
If you wreck and people are hurt be prepared to loose everything
you own in a court of law.
I am not being a dick here brock but I am telling you that
you should NOT drive that truck till you get some basic training.
Trying to learn it from guys online is a bad deal. Some of
the Utube videos are ok but there is NOTHING like a seasoned
professional who will teach you right from jump street.
I knew NOTHING about airbrakes and trucks and I did it
in 9 days...piece of cake!
My teacher KARL says I actually
did it in hours. I did all the reading and learning of the Calif Commercial
Drivers Handbook ON MY OWN, and DOOTSON gave me practice tests and I went
from knowing nothing about airbrakes and trucks like these, same boat
you are in, to a Class B in my pocket in 9 days.
Once you learn everything the law demands you know to drive these
types of vehicles on the public roads you will wish you had learned this stuff years ago.
It makes you safe and moreso others around you saf"er". It also
teaches you how to fix things because know you will know how
things work!
You know those Black and White CHP PickUp trucks you see on
the freeways? Well those guys know this stuff BY HEART and it is there JOB
to find the unlicensed and ill equipted drivers and trucks and get
them off the roads or fine them into oblivion.
If you get pulled over and you do not so much as have a Class B
you get to park the truck IMEDIATLY and a tow truck is called.
HUGE MONEY out the door.
If the truck has issues you get fined for all that too and there is
a LOT of it.
the COLA test is the one part of the DMV examination you do in person
in a truck w/ a DMV examiner sitting right next to you and JUST you two.
It is the one part you HAVE to ace or you will FAIL. I mean no exceptions,
you HAVE to know how to test the brake system EXACTLY or you fail.
All other parts of the tests there is a little leeway.
There are some online truck driving schools but you have to have a truck
to take the test in and to the best of my knowledge you can not use
a Mil vehicle to do it in Calif. (Verify that) . If you do use your own
vehicle it has to be PERFECT, no issues or it is an automatic fail.
If you go to a school you learn in one truck and you use that truck to
take your examine in so you are comfortable. You will thank me if you do it I am sure.