How to Fill Out DA Form 6125: PMCS, Vehicle Control, and Road Driving

DA Form 6125 is the Army’s road test score sheet, and filling it out means completing a short administrative header, then marking a stroke through the printed “O” beside each driver behavior the examinee performs unsatisfactorily across three scored phases: preventive maintenance checks, a vehicle control course, and on-road driving. The examiner totals the errors from the on-road phase in the Score field; 25 or fewer passes, 26 or more fails, and failure of Phase 1 or Phase 2 ends the test on the spot.¹

The form is governed by AR 600-55, and the proponent agency is the Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army.² A passing sheet is the document the qualifying official relies on when issuing an OF 346.

The Administrative Header

Six fields sit at the top of the sheet. The examiner completes them before the test begins, except for Score, which stays blank until the drive is over.

Date — the calendar date of the road test.
Name of Driver — full name of the examinee.
Name of Examiner — full name of the person administering the test.
SSAN — the driver’s Social Security Account Number.
Score — left blank until the test is complete; the examiner enters the final on-road error count here.
Route — identifies the specific road test route being used.

An incomplete header can create problems when the sheet reaches the licensing official, so verify every field before moving to the vehicle.

How the Marks Work

The body of the form is a printed list of driver behaviors grouped into labeled boxes. Beside each behavior is an “O.” The examiner draws a stroke through the “O” whenever performance on that item is unsatisfactory. No mark means the behavior was performed correctly. Each stroke equals one error.¹

At the bottom of each maneuver box there is a “No Errors” checkbox. Check it only when every behavior inside that box was satisfactory. When a maneuver repeats along the route, the box provides a column of “O” markers for each repetition, so isolated slips can be told apart from consistent ones.²

Phase 1: Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services

The driver first walks through PMCS on the vehicle, demonstrating working knowledge of components and safety checks. This phase is judged as satisfactory or unsatisfactory. If performance is unsatisfactory, the examiner stops the test at this point, annotates the form, and the driver does not proceed to the control course.¹

Phase 2: Vehicle Control Test

The next section covers a closed-course evaluation: backing into tight spaces, negotiating obstacles, and other maneuvers that show the driver can physically handle the vehicle. If the driver cannot complete the course satisfactorily, the examiner halts the test and marks the failure on the form. Errors accumulated in this phase are scored separately and do not roll into the 25-error limit on the driving portion.¹

Phase 3: On-the-Road Driving

This is the longest scored section and where most marks are made. The examiner watches for the specific behaviors printed inside each maneuver box and strokes the “O” for any that fall short. The maneuver categories on the form are:

Stop/Start on Grade — approach, traffic check, signaling, moving to the proper lane, smooth deceleration, and not coasting to a stop.
Expressway — merging on (traffic check, signaling, maintaining spacing, avoiding a full stop, smooth merge, canceling the signal), lane changes, and exits (decelerating in the exit lane, correct ramp speed).
Driving Up Grade — proper gear selection, staying in the right lane, using four-way flashers if slow.
Driving Down Grade — clearing brakes, proper gear, steady braking, not riding the clutch, maintaining steady speed.

Each behavior inside these boxes is one potential error. A driver who repeats the same small mistake, such as failing to cancel a turn signal after every lane change, will see those individual strokes add up quickly across a route.

General Driving Behavior

A separate block on the form covers conduct that applies across the whole drive rather than to a single maneuver. Several of these items function as automatic disqualifiers because the situations they describe end the evaluation. The checklist includes:

Used the clutch properly (shifted correctly, double-clutched when needed, did not ride the clutch).
Used gears properly (did not over-rev or lug the engine, clash gears, or coast).
Used brakes properly (no hard braking, no riding or pumping the brake).
Proper steering (both hands on the wheel, no over- or under-steering).
Obeyed all traffic signs and signals.
Drove without an accident.
Never put the vehicle over sidewalks, lane markings, or stop lines.
Examiner was never thrown to the left, right, or forward.
Driver was never forced to take evasive action.
Wore a seat belt.
Yielded right of way to pedestrians.
Yielded right of way to other vehicles as appropriate.

An accident during the drive, a situation where the examiner is physically thrown, or any moment the examiner has to take evasive action effectively ends the evaluation. The form treats these as binary markers rather than graded behaviors.²

Totaling the Score

When the drive ends, the examiner counts every stroke made through an “O” during Phase 3. That total goes into the Score field at the top of the form. Twenty-five errors or fewer passes. Twenty-six or more fails.¹ Marks made during the vehicle control test are not added to this total.

Closing Out the Form

Regardless of the result, the examiner conducts an after-action review with the driver, walking through each marked deficiency. Both the examiner and the driver should sign the completed sheet. A passing form is forwarded to the unit’s qualifying official, who verifies it against the driver’s DA Form 348 before authorizing the OF 346.³ A failing form is annotated with the specific deficiencies and used to guide retraining before a retest.

One Note on Scope

DA Form 6125 records the road test itself. It does not stand in for the prerequisites, which include a valid state driver’s license, a physical evaluation under AR 600-55 covering vision, field of view, and foot reaction time, and, for manual transmission licensing, a clutch-coordination check. Those items are verified before the examiner hands over the keys, and they live on other records.³

Where to Get a Blank Copy

DA Form 6125-R is a two-sided single sheet located in the appendix of AR 600-55.¹ The current version is available through the Army Publishing Directorate at armypubs.army.mil, and unit motor pools or master drivers typically keep blank copies on hand. Reading through a blank sheet before a road test is the simplest way to know exactly what the examiner will be watching, because every scored behavior is printed right on the form.

1
U.S. Army IMCOM Europe. The Army Driver and Operator Standardization Program
2
Army.com. Road Test Score Sheet DA Form 6125-R
3
United States Army Reserve. USARC Regulation 600-55 – The Army Driver and Operator Standardization Program