A new resident of North Carolina holds a regular license from another state. How long does the person have to get a North Carolina license?Answer: 60 days after becoming a resident. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-7(a)
A North Carolina Class B combination has a towing unit of at least 26,001 pounds GVWR. What is the limit on the towed unit?Answer: A GVWR of less than 10,001 pounds. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-4.01(2b)
A North Carolina license lets the holder drive vehicles in its own class and which others?Answer: Any vehicle in a lesser class, unless an endorsement is required. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-7(a)
A volunteer member of a North Carolina fire department drives a Class B fire truck in the performance of duty. Which regular license is enough?Answer: Class C. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-7(a)(3)
Does North Carolina require a commercial drivers license for a recreational vehicle kept for personal use?Answer: No, vehicles used for personal use are outside the requirement. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-37.16(e)
For firefighting or emergency equipment, when does North Carolina waive the commercial drivers license?Answer: When used to preserve life or property or to execute governmental functions. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-37.16(e)(2)
Show all 66 questions (60 more)
License classes and who needs which, continued
How does a regular North Carolina license rank against its commercial counterpart?Answer: It is a lesser class of license. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-7(a)
How is the GVWR of a combination vehicle worked out in North Carolina?Answer: The GVWR of the power unit plus that of the towed unit or units. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-4.01(12f)
In North Carolina law, a single motor vehicle is a Class B motor vehicle when its GVWR is at least how much?Answer: 26,001 pounds. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-4.01(2b)
What does a regular North Carolina Class B license authorize the holder to drive?Answer: Any Class B motor vehicle exempt from the commercial license requirements. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-7(a)(2)
What examination does North Carolina law set for a drivers license applicant?Answer: One that may include road, vision, oral and written tests, as the Division may require. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-7(c)
Where must a farm vehicle be used to keep the North Carolina commercial license waiver?Answer: Intrastate, within the State border of North Carolina. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-37.16(e)(3)
Which figure is a vehicle's GVWR under the North Carolina definitions section?Answer: The maker's stated maximum loaded weight the vehicle can safely haul. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-4.01(12f)
Which of these is one of the conditions for the farm vehicle waiver from the North Carolina commercial license?Answer: It is not used in the operations of a for-hire motor carrier. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-37.16(e)(3)
Which regular North Carolina license covers a combination under 26,001 pounds combined GVWR with a towed unit of at least 10,001 pounds?Answer: Class A. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-7(a)(1)
Size, height, length and loads 17
A truck licensed for more than 7,500 pounds hauls gravel in North Carolina. How high may the load sit against the walls of the bed?Answer: No higher than six inches below their tops. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-116(g)(2)
A wrecker in North Carolina tows a disabled truck to a place for repair. Within what distance does the length exception apply?Answer: 50 miles of where the vehicle was disabled. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-116(e)
Above what height is a North Carolina vehicle's operator or owner liable for damage it causes to a structure?Answer: 12 feet, six inches. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-116(c)
Apart from forestry products and utility poles, what is the most a load may extend beyond the rear of the bed in North Carolina?Answer: 14 feet. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-117(a)
As a general rule, what is the longest combination of vehicles allowed in North Carolina?Answer: Two units, 60 feet in total. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-116(e)
Besides the height limit, what does North Carolina require of a gravel load on a truck licensed for more than 7,500 pounds?Answer: It is securely covered by a tarpaulin or other suitable covering. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-116(g)(2)
From sunset to sunrise, what marks the end of a load that overhangs the rear in North Carolina?Answer: A red or amber light visible at least 200 feet. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-117(a)
How far may a load extend beyond the foremost part of a vehicle in North Carolina?Answer: Three feet. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-116(f)
How long may a recreational vehicle be in North Carolina?Answer: 45 feet, excluding bumpers and mirrors. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-116(d)(3)
North Carolina bars a load from escaping a vehicle, with one stated allowance. What is it?Answer: Sand, to secure traction. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-116(g)(1)
On a recreational vehicle in North Carolina, how far may a load extend beyond the line of the fenders on the right side?Answer: Six inches. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-116(b)
What does North Carolina require of an open, flat truck loaded with logs, cotton bales or boxes?Answer: The load is securely fastened on the truck. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-120
What flag does North Carolina require at the end of a long load by day?Answer: A red or orange flag at least 18 inches in length and width. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-117(a)
What height may no vehicle exceed in North Carolina, unladen or with load?Answer: 14 feet. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-116(c)
What is the general length limit for a single vehicle with two or more axles in North Carolina?Answer: 40 feet, including bumpers. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-116(d)(1)
What is the maximum total outside width of a vehicle or its load in North Carolina, unless the section provides otherwise?Answer: 102 inches. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-116(a)
When must a flag be shown at the end of a load in North Carolina?Answer: When the load extends more than four feet beyond the rear of the bed or body. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-117(a)
Towing, trailers and brakes 10
A trailer coupled by a drawbar in North Carolina needs brakes worked from the towing vehicle once it weighs how much?Answer: Two tons. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-124(f)
How many farm trailers may be towed together in North Carolina under the daytime exception?Answer: Not more than three, up to 50 feet in total. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-123(a)
How must a trailer be attached to the towing unit in North Carolina?Answer: Firmly, and equipped so that it will not snake. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-123(b)
In the same North Carolina test of a motor truck, what is the limit when only one of the two brakes is applied?Answer: 50 feet. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-124(e)
The North Carolina brake statute tests a motor truck on a dry, hard, level highway. What is the limit with both brakes used at once?Answer: Thirty feet. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-124(e)
North Carolina requires a motor truck, or a truck-tractor with semitrailer attached, to have brakes acting where?Answer: All wheels. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-124(e1)
North Carolina sets a lower brake threshold for house trailers. What is it?Answer: 1,000 pounds or more. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-124(f)
When the primary towing attachment is a ball hitch, what else does North Carolina require?Answer: Safety chains or cables able to hold the gross weight of the towed vehicle. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-123(c)
Where does the North Carolina farm trailer towing exception not apply?Answer: On interstate or federal numbered highways. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-123(a)
Which North Carolina semitrailers need no safety chains or cables?Answer: Those in combinations with fifth wheel assemblies that include locking devices. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-123(c)
Lamps, reflectors, mirrors and tires 12
A North Carolina driver is charged with having unsafe tires. How long does the driver have to bring the tires into conformance?Answer: 15 calendar days. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-122.1(b)
A vehicle is parked on a North Carolina highway at night. From what distance must its front and rear lights be visible?Answer: 500 feet. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-134(a)
A wide North Carolina truck carries clearance lamps at both ends. Which color belongs at the forward end?Answer: Amber. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-129.1(7)
How many rear-vision mirrors does North Carolina require on a truck with a GVWR of 10,001 pounds or more, as a general rule?Answer: Two, one at each side on the outside. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-117.1(a)
How wide is a North Carolina truck when G.S. 20-129.1 begins to require lamps beyond the basic rear set?Answer: 80 inches or more. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-129.1(2)
On a North Carolina vehicle with a GVWR of 10,001 pounds or more, a steering axle tire is unsafe below what tread depth?Answer: Four thirty-seconds of an inch. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-122.1(a1)
On the same heavy North Carolina vehicle, a nonsteering axle tire is unsafe below what tread depth?Answer: Two thirty-seconds of an inch. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-122.1(a1)
Under G.S. 20-129.1, what must the back of any North Carolina bus or truck show, however narrow it is?Answer: Two reflectors and two stop lamps, one at each side. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-129.1(1)
What color must rear clearance lamps and rear side markers show in North Carolina?Answer: Red. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-129.1(8)
What color must the light on a license plate be in North Carolina?Answer: White. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-129.1(9)
What does North Carolina say about a fuel tank or intake pipe on a motor vehicle?Answer: No part may project beyond the sides of the vehicle. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-117.1(b)
Which North Carolina trailers need a combination marker lamp showing amber at the center of each side?Answer: Those 30 feet or more long with a gross weight of 4,000 pounds or more. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-129.1(10)
Railroad crossings, lanes and stopping 12
A contractor plans to take a crawler crane over a North Carolina rail line. Whom does G.S. 20-142.4 say to notify?Answer: A superintendent of the railroad. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-142.4(b)
A vehicle is left on the shoulder of a North Carolina highway. From how far must approaching drivers be able to see it clearly?Answer: 200 feet in both directions. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-161(b)
After a required railroad stop in North Carolina, what does the law say about gears?Answer: The driver shall not change gears while crossing the track. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-142.3(a)
For how long must a disabled truck in North Carolina show its warning devices?Answer: As long as the vehicle is disabled. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-161(c)
In which lane may a vehicle of 26,001 pounds GVWR or more not operate on a North Carolina controlled-access highway with six or more lanes?Answer: The left most lane. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-146(f)
North Carolina has a railroad crossing rule for equipment with a normal operating speed of what?Answer: Five or less miles per hour. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-142.4(a)
What does North Carolina's platoon exception to the following distance rule cover?Answer: Non-leading commercial vehicles with electronically interconnected braking. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-152(c)
What kind of offense is a violation of the North Carolina railroad stop rule for certain vehicles?Answer: An infraction. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-142.3(c)
What must the operator of a truck disabled on a North Carolina highway display?Answer: Warning devices of the type federal transportation rules require. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-161(c)
Where must a vehicle covered by the North Carolina railroad stop rule stop?Answer: Within 50 feet but not less than 15 feet from the nearest rail. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-142.3(a)
Which crossing excuses the North Carolina railroad stop for vehicles other than school and activity buses?Answer: An industrial or spur line crossing marked "Exempt". Source: N.C. G.S. 20-142.3(b)
Which of these must stop at a railroad grade crossing in North Carolina?Answer: A motor vehicle with a capacity of 16 or more persons. Source: N.C. G.S. 20-142.3(a)
How this list was compiled: North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 20, sections 20-4.01, 20-7, 20-37.16, 20-116, 20-117, 20-117.1, 20-120, 20-122.1, 20-123, 20-124, 20-129.1, 20-134, 20-142.3, 20-142.4, 20-146, 20-152 and 20-161, each read on 2026-10-04 at ncleg.gov Licence: Questions written for this site from North Carolina statutes, which are public law. No question is copied from the Division of Motor Vehicles, its handbooks, its sample questions or its tests.
How it works
This unofficial NC Class B license study guide asks what North Carolina statutes say about license classes, size limits, loads, towing and lamps. Answer one question at a time, or press Exam mode for a scored set of 30.
Read the full guide
What the questions cover
The Start from menu has five parts: license classes and who needs which, size and loads, towing and brakes, lamps, mirrors and tires, and railroad crossings, lanes and stopping. Each answer names a section of General Statutes Chapter 20, read at ncleg.gov on October 4, 2026.
What is left out
The Division's knowledge test rests on the North Carolina Driver Handbook, and this bank does not follow that handbook or repeat its questions. It is statute only, for a regular license. The commercial Class B license is on the CDL pages.
Most size questions turn on one number: 102 inches, 14 feet, 40 feet, 60 feet.
After a miss, open the link and read the whole section.
Wrong answers go to Missed until you answer them right.
Questions and answers
Is this the NC Class B study guide from the DMV?
No. It is unofficial practice written from North Carolina statutes. The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles did not write or review this page. The Division's own study text is the North Carolina Driver Handbook, revised May 2025.
What is a regular Class B license in North Carolina?
G.S. 20-7 says it authorizes driving any Class B motor vehicle that is exempt from the commercial license requirements. G.S. 20-4.01 defines that vehicle: a single vehicle with a GVWR of at least 26,001 pounds, alone or towing a unit under 10,001 pounds.
Is there a written test for a regular Class B license?
G.S. 20-7(c) lets the Division require road, vision, oral and written tests. Its Driver Handbook says the knowledge test is about traffic laws and safe driving practices. The handbook and the Division's tests page name no separate Class B question set.
Does this page cover the commercial Class B license?
No. A commercial license follows federal rules and its own knowledge tests, which the CDL pages on this site practice. The questions here are for vehicles that G.S. 20-37.16 leaves outside the commercial requirement, such as a recreational vehicle kept for personal use.
Why does Exam mode ask 30 questions?
Thirty is this site's own choice for a scored set. It is not the Division's question count, and the page prints no passing score, test length or fee because the statutes read for it give none.