The 310T Red Seal exam has 135 multiple-choice questions, a four-hour writing time and a 70 per cent pass mark. The questions are spread across 11 blocks, which the occupational standard calls major work activities. Electrical and electronic systems is the largest with 22 questions, followed by engines and supporting systems (21), steering, chassis, suspension, tires and wheels (18), air systems and brake systems (17) and drive trains (17). Those five blocks hold 95 of the 135 questions. The rest are common occupational skills (8), trailers (8), hydraulic systems (8), climate control systems (7), cabs (5) and hybrid and electric vehicles (4). The Red Seal Program describes the mix as under 10 per cent recall, 50 to 60 per cent procedural and 35 to 45 per cent critical thinking, so most questions ask you to follow a procedure or diagnose a fault rather than name a part.
01What is the 310T Truck and Coach Technician Red Seal exam?
It is the national certification exam for the trade that the Red Seal Program calls Truck and Transport Mechanic. Ontario certifies the same trade as Truck and Coach Technician, and 310T is Ontario's trade code for it. If you see either name on a form or a study resource, it is the same exam and the same occupational standard.
The content is set nationally. According to the Red Seal Exam Preparation Guide, tradespeople from across Canada decide what goes into the trade's Red Seal Occupational Standard (RSOS), write and review every exam question, and decide how many questions each section of the standard gets. The exam is then administered by the provincial and territorial apprenticeship and certification authorities. In Ontario that is Skilled Trades Ontario.
The format is the same as every Red Seal exam: multiple choice, four options (A to D), one correct answer, one mark per question and no penalty for a wrong answer. The 310T exam has 135 questions and the writing time is four hours, which works out to about 1.8 minutes per question. The pass mark is 70 per cent. Seventy per cent of 135 is 94.5, so you need 95 correct answers to reach it.
The preparation guide makes one point worth repeating: this is not a test of what your shop does or what your province does. It covers the scope of the trade across Canada at the journeyperson level, so expect questions on systems you may rarely touch at work.
02What is on the 310T exam?
The Red Seal Program publishes how many questions come from each major work activity. For Truck and Transport Mechanic the 135 questions break down like this.
| Block | Major work activity | Questions | Share of exam |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Common occupational skills | 8 | 5.9% |
| B | Engines and supporting systems | 21 | 15.6% |
| C | Air systems and brake systems | 17 | 12.6% |
| D | Electrical and electronic systems | 22 | 16.3% |
| E | Drive trains | 17 | 12.6% |
| F | Steering, chassis, suspension, tires and wheels | 18 | 13.3% |
| G | Cabs | 5 | 3.7% |
| H | Trailers | 8 | 5.9% |
| I | Climate control systems | 7 | 5.2% |
| J | Hydraulic systems | 8 | 5.9% |
| K | Hybrid and electric vehicles | 4 | 3.0% |
| Total | 135 | 100.0% | |
No single block dominates. The heaviest is Block D, electrical and electronic systems, at 22 questions (16.3 per cent), with Block B, engines and supporting systems, one question behind at 21. Blocks F, C and E sit close together at 18, 17 and 17. The lightest is Block K, hybrid and electric vehicles, at 4 questions (3.0 per cent), followed by cabs at 5. Six of the eleven blocks have 8 questions or fewer, and together they still add up to 40 questions, so none of them is safe to skip.
03What does each block cover?
The task names below are the ones the 2022 Red Seal Occupational Standard lists under each major work activity. From Block B onward, every task is split into the same three sub-tasks: services, diagnoses and repairs. Questions are written to the sub-tasks.
The short block names in the table are ours. Under each heading below is the title the Red Seal Program prints on its exam information page, so you can match the two.
Block A: Common occupational skills (8 questions)
Official title: Common Occupational Skills
Four tasks: safety-related functions, using and maintaining tools and equipment, routine work practices, and communication and mentoring. Safety includes personal protective equipment and the specific safety protocols for hybrid and electric vehicles. Tools covers hand, power, measuring, testing and diagnostic tools, shop equipment, hoisting and lifting equipment, welding and cutting equipment, and electronic devices used for diagnostics and programming. Routine work practices covers documentation and reference materials, fluids and lubricants, hoses, tubing and fittings, filters, bearings and seals, and fasteners and sealing devices.
Block B: Engines and supporting systems (21 questions)
Official title: Services, diagnoses and repairs engines and supporting systems
Eight tasks, the most of any block: base engines, lubrication systems, intake systems, exhaust systems, engine management systems, fuel delivery systems, engine retarder systems and cooling systems. The standard notes that emissions controls are often part of the intake system, that exhaust systems exist partly to meet emissions requirements, and that fuel delivery includes diesel, propane, bio-diesel and natural gas. Engine management is described largely as software work: updating programming and finding the root cause of faults.
Block C: Air systems and brake systems (17 questions)
Official title: Services, diagnoses and repairs air systems and brake systems
Two tasks: air systems and brake systems. The standard describes the air system as the compressed air supply that runs braking, fan hubs and ride height, plus accessories such as seats, wipers and fifth wheel slide cylinders. Brake systems slow, stop or park the vehicle using air, hydraulics or cable together with electronic controls. With only two tasks sharing 17 questions, both are dense: the published breakdown puts 9 questions on air systems and 8 on brake systems.
Block D: Electrical and electronic systems (22 questions)
Official title: Services, diagnoses and repairs electrical and electronic systems
Six tasks: battery systems, charging systems, spark ignition systems, starting systems, electrical components and accessories, and vehicle management systems and electronic components. Battery work here means low-voltage systems. The standard says spark ignition is returning to the industry through alternate fuels. The last task is about how vehicle management systems and other electronic components work together in a multiplex wiring system. Under electrical components and accessories the standard says plainly that you must have a good understanding of the basic principles of electricity and circuitry.
Block E: Drive trains (17 questions)
Official title: Services, diagnoses and repairs drive trains
Seven tasks: clutches, manual transmissions and transfer cases, automatic transmissions, automated transmissions, driveline systems, drive axle assemblies and drive train retarders. The standard describes an automated transmission as a standard transmission shifted by computer-controlled actuators, and it singles out driveline length, angles and phasing as things you must understand.
Block F: Steering, chassis, suspension, tires and wheels (18 questions)
Official title: Services, diagnoses and repairs steering, chassis/frames, suspensions, tires, wheels and hubs
Five tasks: steering systems, chassis and frames, suspensions, hitches and couplers, and tires, wheels and hubs. Hitches and couplers are here rather than under trailers, because the task is about keeping the trailer safely coupled to the lead vehicle.
Block G: Cabs (5 questions)
Official title: Services, diagnoses and repairs cabs
Two tasks: interior cab components and exterior cab components, each with service, diagnosis and repair sub-tasks.
Block H: Trailers (8 questions)
Official title: Services, diagnoses and repairs trailers
Two tasks: trailer components and accessories, and heating and refrigeration systems. The standard says the heating and refrigeration task covers the fuel, charging and starting systems of trailer heating and refrigeration units, and notes that special training or licences are required to work on refrigeration, propane heating and high-voltage systems.
Block I: Climate control systems (7 questions)
Official title: Services, diagnoses and repairs climate control systems
Two tasks: heating and ventilation systems, and air conditioning systems, both for the comfort of the vehicle's occupants.
Block J: Hydraulic systems (8 questions)
Official title: Services, diagnoses and repairs hydraulic systems
One task: services, diagnoses and repairs hydraulic systems. All 8 questions come from its three sub-tasks.
Block K: Hybrid and electric vehicles (4 questions)
Official title: Services, diagnoses and repairs hybrid and electric vehicles (EV)
Two tasks: hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles. Both cover electric motors, inverters, converters, high-voltage batteries and their support systems. The high-voltage safety protocols themselves sit in Block A.
04What kind of questions are they?
The Red Seal Program describes the 310T question mix as recall under 10 per cent, procedural 50 to 60 per cent and critical thinking 35 to 45 per cent. On a 135-question exam that is fewer than 14 recall questions, roughly 68 to 81 procedural questions and roughly 47 to 61 critical thinking questions.
The Red Seal Exam Preparation Guide explains the three types. Knowledge and recall questions check facts related to doing a sub-task, and you can often answer them before you look at the options. Procedural and application questions test whether you know a procedure, and may include calculations or interpreting diagrams. Critical thinking questions check problem-solving and analytical skills: you are given a situation and asked for the cause or the result, and some need you to analyse several pieces of information at once.
For study, this means memorizing part names and definitions will carry you through less than one question in ten. The guide's advice for procedural questions is to know all the procedures described in the standard, not just the ones you have carried out yourself. For critical thinking it points to the diagrams and formulas tied to the sub-tasks. In a trade where 37 of the 41 tasks have a "diagnoses" sub-task, practise working from a symptom to a cause, system by system.
The guide also says there are no trick questions, but the incorrect options are not always obvious. When you review practice questions, work out why each wrong option is wrong as well as why the right one is right.
05What do you get in the exam room?
The Red Seal Exam Preparation Guide lists what you are provided with: an exam booklet, a diagram booklet if one is required, a pencil and eraser, a calculator if needed, and a bubble sheet to record your answers. It also lists other reference material "if required": an acronym list, math formulas and code book information. Scrap paper is provided too.
For this trade the exam information page is specific about two of them. It publishes the math formulas and the acronym list for Truck and Transport Mechanic and says both will be provided with the exam sitting. The formula sheet is short: area of a circle, force as area times pressure, volts as current times resistance, watts as voltage times current, with pi given as 3.14. The page does not list code book information for this trade. Anything else you are wondering about, ask your provincial or territorial office what comes with the 310T exam where you write.
You may not bring your own materials or electronics. The guide's rules say no materials, bags, phones, watches or personal calculators in the room, and you use only the pencils, erasers, calculators and scrap paper provided. It adds that your province or territory may have specific rules of its own. More on the day itself is in what to expect on exam day.
06Where should your study time go?
Follow the weights. In order: D (22), B (21), F (18), C (17), E (17), then A, H and J (8 each), I (7), G (5) and K (4). Blocks D and B together are 43 of 135 questions, just under a third of the exam. Add F, C and E and you have 95 of 135, which is 70.4 per cent. The other six blocks are 40 questions, or 29.6 per cent.
A sensible split is to give about 70 per cent of your time to the five large blocks, in weight order, and the remaining 30 per cent to the six small ones. Do not drop the small blocks. You need 95 correct answers, and nobody gets every question right in the big five, so the 40 questions in the small blocks are where the margin comes from. If trailers, hydraulics or refrigeration work rarely comes through your shop, those blocks are exactly what the preparation guide warns about, because the exam covers the trade across Canada rather than the work in front of you.
Within a block, remember how the questions are shared out. Block C puts 17 questions on just two tasks, and Block J puts 8 on one, so those tasks are dense. Block B spreads 21 questions over eight tasks, so you need breadth there rather than depth in one system.
Every question is worth one mark and there is no penalty for a wrong answer, so answer everything. For a full method, see how to study for the Red Seal exam.
07How do you use the standard as a checklist?
The Red Seal Occupational Standard for Truck and Transport Mechanic is public and free. The 2022 edition lists 11 major work activities, 41 tasks and 127 sub-tasks, and the preparation guide states plainly that exam questions are based on the sub-tasks and that the standard, not any textbook, is the basis of the exam.
To use it as a checklist, go through the 41 tasks and rate yourself on each one using the three levels from the Red Seal self-assessment tool: little or no understanding or experience, some experience in limited situations, or fully competent in many situations. Then set your ratings beside the question counts above. A low rating in Block D or Block B, worth 22 and 21 questions, is your first priority. A low rating in Block G, worth 5, comes later, but it still goes on the list.
For each weak task, read its sub-tasks in the full standard. Each one lists the skills and knowledge expected and a range of variables, which is the list of components, tools and conditions the wording refers to. The guide recommends making sure you understand every term used there, because the same terms appear on the exam. Brand names and slang do not. The appendices hold the acronyms, a tools and equipment list and a glossary.
One thing to watch: the weightings page inside the 2022 standard says the exam has 150 questions and gives each block a rounded percentage, while the Red Seal Program's exam information page for the trade lists 135 questions block by block. Rely on the exam information page, which is the figure this guide uses; the heavy blocks are the same either way.
Official links: the Truck and Transport Mechanic trade page (the standard), the exam information page (the breakdown) and the self-assessment list.
08Where and how do you write it?
Each province and territory administers the exam itself and decides who is eligible to write it, so booking, fees and rewrite rules depend on where you write. Find your jurisdiction in the guides by province, compare costs in Red Seal exam fees by province, and read what happens if you fail the Red Seal exam before you book. If you are coming to the exam through work experience rather than an apprenticeship, see how to challenge the Red Seal exam.
09Sources
- Red Seal Program: Truck and Transport Mechanic exam information: question count, questions per major work activity and per task, the question mix, and the math formulas and acronyms provided with the exam.
- Red Seal Program: Truck and Transport Mechanic trade page and 2022 Red Seal Occupational Standard: major work activities, the 41 tasks and 127 sub-tasks, task descriptions and appendices.
- Red Seal Exam Preparation Guide: exam format, pass mark, writing time, question types, exam supplies and exam room rules.
- Red Seal exam self-assessment list: the three-level self-rating used in the checklist section.
The question counts were checked against the Red Seal Program's exam information page for this trade on September 19, 2026, and the task lists come from the published Red Seal Occupational Standard. If the Red Seal Program changes the breakdown, its page is the final word. If you find one of ours out of date, tell us.
Related: All guides · How many questions are on the Red Seal exam · Red Seal exam pass mark · Red Seal exam day · Free 310T practice questions
10Practice for this exam
TicketPrep 310T practice tests are weighted to the breakdown above, block by block, and every answer is explained, all four options. You can try five sample questions with no account.
Ten free questions per trade, no account: free practice questions. How our questions are written and checked: how our questions are made.