NSW Truck Licence

123 Training Solutions offers heavy vehicle driver training in NSW for LR, MR, HR, HC, and MC licences. A licence class for every truck driver job. We are a leading truck driving school operating in Newcastle, Sydney, and the Northern NSW Coast.

Which truck licence is best for you?

Are you looking to enter the transport industry? Do you need a truck licence but you're not sure which one suits the types of jobs you want to do? Don't worry, we've got a quick guide to figuring out which class of licence is best for you!

We often get asked; what truck can I drive on a normal car licence? So, let us quickly answer that question. On a car licence, you can drive any vehicle with a gross vehicle mass (GVM) less than 4.5 tonnes, and which is designed to seat no more than 12 people. This covers motorhomes and commercial vans as well as boat trailers and caravans. Do you still need a heavy vehicle licence? Read on!

First things first, it's important to know what types of vehicles you can drive on different heavy vehicle licences. Here at 123 Training, we offer 5 heavy vehicle driver licences along with several nationally recognised Statement of Attainment courses which demonstrate your proficiency in certain industry specific skills.

We also offer Dangerous Good Licence training and Safe Load Program for people who wish to drive fuel tankers or other vehicles carrying dangerous goods. Our courses are conducted in Newcastle at our Mayfield site (MAP) but we can also help with a truck licence in northern NSW | Ballina, Casino, or Lismore.

Now, let us take a closer look at the 5 heavy vehicle truck licence courses! This article is pretty long so, if you want to skip the the section that interests you just click below and this page will auto scroll to that section.

Jump to your section of interest!

• Light Rigid
• Medium Rigid
• Heavy Rigid Rigid
• Heavy Combination
• Multi Combination
• Statement of Attainment

LR- Light Rigid

The Light Rigid (LR) licence course generally takes 1 day and costs $1250 per student. To apply for an LR Licence, you must have held a class C licence for at least 1 year. Time spent on your P1 (Red P's) licence counts but not time on your Learners.

What is an LR licence?

An LR licence lets you to drive light rigid vehicles as well as all licence classes below it except for motorcycles.

What can I drive with an LR licence?

A light rigid vehicle is a 2-axled truck or bus with a GVM between 4.5 tonnes and 8 tonnes. This includes a truck or a bus that seats more than 12 adults including the driver. An LR licence also allows the holder to tow a trailer of no more than 9 tonnes GVM. It might be easier to understand what that means by referring to the pictures below.

What jobs require an LR licence?

An LR licence is a legal requirement for anyone driving a minibus or small truck. An LR licence lets you work as a delivery driver, a removalist, or a small courtesy buses driver. If you plan to drive a minibus with other people on board, you will also need to complete the Bus Driver Authority course. The course will teach you how to drive safely with passengers on board and how to respond appropriately in emergencies.

If your job requires you to unload, offload, and secure goods to your vehicle, you should also consider completing our Load Restraint course. The training introduces basic safety principles to ensure safe carriage of loads and results in two Statement of Attainments.

How do I get an LR Licence?

The first step to getting your LR licence is to pass the LR knowledge test and the eyesight test at the RMS. You can book your knowledge test online through the RMS website. We can also send you an email with some helpful links for the knowledge test if you want to familiarise yourself with the knowledge test questions.

We recommend you look through it until you feel comfortable with the content. Once you've passed the tests at the RMS, give us a call and we can book you in for your practical training. Once the training is complete, you will be required to sit the HVCBA Final Competency assessments (FCA), which is a final drive that will be video recorded as an RMS requirement. Once you've successfully passed the FCA, you can apply to upgrade your licence from C to LR at Service NSW.

MR- Medium Rigid

The Medium Rigid (MR) licence course generally also takes 1 day and costs $1250 per student. To apply for an MR Licence, students have held a class C licence for at least 1 year, not including time spent on your Learner Licence.

What is an MR licence?

An MR licence allows you to drive MR vehicles as well as all classes of vehicles below it (LR and C).

What can I drive with an MR licence?

An MR vehicle is a 2-axled truck or bus with a GVM greater than 8 tonnes. It also allows the holder to tow a trailer of no more than 9 tonnes GVM, and any vehicle covered by a Class LR Licence. Refer to the images below to get a better sense of what an MR vehicle is. The trucks are slightly heavier, and the buses are those generally used for public transport.

What jobs require an MR licence?

An MR licence allows you to drive slightly heavier trucks than you would on an LR licence. Most buses operated by Transport NSW are MR busses so if you're looking to become a bus driver, an MR licence is for you. Having said that, the 'slinky' buses have an extra axel and therefore classified as a HR vehicle. You will need to complete the Bus Driver Authority training if you wish to drive public passenger vehicles. Outside busses, MR trucks are often used as power-line maintenance trucks with an EWP on the back or as larger delivery trucks.

How do I get an MR Licence?

The initial steps to getting your MR Licence is the same as an LR Licence. First, you need to pass the MR knowledge test and the eyesight test at the RMS. Once again, we can send you some helpful links, so you know what to expect on the knowledge test. After you've passed those steps at the RMS, give us a call and we can book you in to the next training course that suits you. Once you've successfully completed those steps and passed the final competency assessments, you can apply to upgrade to a Medium rigid truck licence.

HR- Heavy Rigid

We offer two types of Heavy Rigid (HR) licence courses; unrestricted (manual/ road ranger) and automatic/ synchromesh gearbox. The unrestricted course generally takes 2 days and costs $2525 per student. The automatic course takes 1 day and costs $1550. To apply for either, students must have held a class C licence for at least 1 year, not including time spent on your Learners.

What is a HR licence?

A HR licence allows you to drive HR vehicles and every class of vehicle below it which includes C, LR, and MR. A HR licence is also the highest class of licence you can upgrade to if you currently hold a car licence.

What can I drive with a HR licence?

A Heavy Rigid truck or bus is a vehicle with 3 or more axles with a GVM greater than 8 tonnes. Holders of a HR licence may also tow a trailer with a weight not exceeding nine (9) tonnes. When you compared the classifications of heavy vehicles, an MR is slightly heavier than an LR and a HR has more wheels than an MR. Please refer to the pictures below to see that clearly.

Do I need a road ranger HR licence?

The most important thing to know is that a road ranger is very hard to learn to drive correctly. It's not like driving a manual car and if you don't maintain the skills to drive one, you will lose the ability surprisingly quickly. We recommend you only get an unrestricted licence if you have a job already lined up that requires you to have one. If you decide you need an unrestricted licence, be ready to commit a lot of time and energy to learning. If you decide not to but need the unrestricted licence later, you can do the B Condition Removal course which takes away the automatic restriction on your licence.

What jobs require a HR licence?

There are so many jobs out there that only require an automatic licence. Automatic HR trucks are used as rubbish and skip bin trucks, larger deliver trucks, airport fuel trucks, and in all sorts of other jobs. There are no buses with a road ranger gearbox (at least not these days), so if you want to drive a bus, there is no need to get an unrestricted licence. For more examples on jobs where you'll need a Heavy Rigid licence, have look at this list of jobs that require a HR licence.

How do I get a HR licence?

Once again, the first step is to pass the HR knowledge test and eyesight test at the RMS. We can send you material so you can familiarise yourself with the exam content- just send us an email or give us a call! Once you've passed those two, you can contact us to book in for your practical training. Once the assessments have been successfully completed and the required standard of competency has been acheived, you can apply to upgrade a Heavy Rigid vehicle licence.

HC- Heavy Combination

Like with HR, we also offer both unrestricted (road ranger) and automatic HC courses. The unrestricted HC takes 2 days and costs $2950 per student compared to the automatic course which takes 1 day and costs $1950. To apply for a HC of any kind, you will need to have held either an MR licence, or a HR licence for at least 1 year.

What is a HC licence?

A HC licence allows you to drive HC trucks along with all classes of vehicles below it which includes C, LR, MR, and HR. Having said that, you may only drive a road ranger HR if you hold an unrestricted HR or HC licence.

Want to know more? we've got an entire page dedicated to discussing everything you need to know about a HC licence.

What can I drive with a HC licence?

A HC truck is an articulated vehicle with three (3) or more axels. This includes a prime mover with a single semi-trailer, or a heavy rigid vehicle towing a trailer with a GVM greater than nine (9) tonnes. In other words, the truck has a pivot joint which allows the vehicle to turn more sharply. Please refer to the images below for a better understanding.

Do I need a road ranger HC licence?

A road ranger is very difficult to learn to drive correctly and we recommend you only get an unrestricted licence if you need one. We would hate for you waste time and money on something you don't need only to forget how to do it very quickly. If you still have doubts, please free to contact us to discuss the options with our team. Also keep in mind the truck we use for HC automatic training is a proper semi-trailer whereas our road ranger is a prime mover with a pig trailer. It makes sense to do your training in the same type of truck that you would drive on your HC licence. Therefore, we often recommend you do an automatic HC licence and then do the Condition B Removal course in our HR road ranger. The B Condition Removal course lifts the automatic/synchromesh restriction on all your licences including HR, HC, and MC. Please feel free to give us a call if you have any question.

What jobs require a HC licence?

HC trucks transport goods across the country, often for large companies like Woolworths, Coles, and Toll. If you hold both a HC licence and a Dangerous Goods (DG) licence, you can also drive fuel tankers with one trailer - note there is an additional requirement to also have SLP to get into an out of the fuel terminals to refuel the tanker. Prime movers have a sleeping cabin, so they're perfect for long-haul and interstate trips where the driver is required to stop and rest. If you wish to become a long-haul driver, you may also be interested in completing the Driver Fatigue Management and Work Diary courses.

How to get a HC Licence?

You must have held an MR or HR licence for at least 1 year before you can begin to apply for the HC upgrade. If you do not hold an MR or HR licence, please give us a call and we can organise to have you on track for that licence so that in a year's time, you can upgrade again. If you have had one for a year, you must pass the HC knowledge test and eyesight test at the RMS. If you get in contact with us, we can send you material to prepare you for the exam. Once you've passed the steps at the RMS, you can book in with us to complete your practical training. After you've completed those steps and successfully passed the assessments, you may apply to upgrade your licence to MC.after which you can upgrade to a HC licence.

MC- Multi Combination

The highest heavy vehicle licence class is Multi-combination (MC). Here at 123 Training, offer two paths to upgrade to an MC licence depending on which class of licence you currently hold. If you have a HR licence, the MC training course takes 2 days and costs $4100 per student. The course to upgrade from a HC licence to an MC licence is 1 day long and costs $2225.

What is an MC licence?

An MC licence allows you to drive MC trucks along with all classes of vehicles below it which includes C, LR, MR, HR, and HC. If you have an unrestricted HC or HR licence, your MC licence will also be unrestricted which allows you to drive a typical 18-speed road ranger. If you have a condition B on your licence, you may only drive automatic or synchromesh HR, HC, and MC trucks.

What can I drive with an MC licence?

An MC truck is a B-double- Prime mover, low loader dolly, and low loader trailer combination- or road train with an automatic or synchromesh transmission. In other words, an MC is a HC truck with more than one trailer. Refer to the image below for a better understanding.

What jobs require an MC licence?

MC vehicles, like HC trucks, transport goods very long distances. Any job that would require you to drive road trains, like cattle trucks, will need an MC licence. If you wish to become a long-haul driver, you may be interested in or be required to complete the Fatigue Management and Work Diary Course. Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any question or wish to book in for either of these courses.

How to get an MC licence?

To apply to upgrade your licence to MC, you must have held either a HR Licence or a HC licence for at least 1 year. Any time spend on a P2 (Green P's) HR licence counts but you cannot practise driving an MC vehicle, or upgrade to an MC licence until you hold a full class HR or HC licence. If you do not currently hold a HR or HC licence, please give us a call and we can discuss which path is best for you. If you have held either one of those, the first step to upgrading is to complete the MC knowledge test and eyesight test at the RMS. Once you've passed both those steps, give us a call to book into the next practical training course that suits you. After you've completed those steps and successfully passed the assessments, you may apply to upgrade your licence to MC.

Statement of Attainment

Are you looking for an edge when applying for jobs in the transport industry? Having Statement of Attainments will make you stand out among other qualified candidates. A Statement of Attainment is a document issued to a student for the completion of a unit within an accredited course. Here at 123 Training, we offer 4 Statement of Attainment courses related to truck and bus operation. Find a quick explanation of each below and don't hesitate to give us a call if have any questions! For more information, read our Statement of Attainment FAQ page here.

Load Security

The Load Security course is aimed at driver in the transport industry who load, unload, and secure goods for transport. The course introduces the basic procedures that need to be followed to ensure the safe carriage of loads. Upon successful completion of the course, you will be awarded TLIA1001 Secure Cargo & TLID2004 Load and unload goods/ cargo.

Driver Fatigue Management

The Driver Fatigue Management course is aimed at drivers who operate truck and trailer combinations over 12 GVM and 12+ seater buses. It also allows heavy vehicle drivers to extend their driving hours from 12 to 14 hours within a 24-hour period. The course teaches you to apply effective fatigue management strategies to minimise the risks of fatigue on the job. After completing the course, you will be awarded TLIF0005 Apply a Fatigue Management System.

Schedulers Fatigue Management

The Schedular Fatigue Management course is tailored to those who manage and supervise the scheduling of staff and drivers. After successfully completing the course, you will be awarded TLIF0006 Administer a Fatigue Risk Management System.

Chain of Responsibility

In 2018, the chain of responsibility legislation was amended to give every actor in the heavy vehicle transport supply chain a duty to ensure compliance with the HVNL. The Chain of Responsibility training outlines the new legislation, explains the CoR features in the HVNL, the CoR requirements as well as how to identify and report chain of responsibility breaches. CoR 1 is aimed at general staff and results in TLIF0009 - Ensure the safety of transport activities (Chain of Responsibility). CoR 2 is an extension of CoR 1 which is aimed at supervisors and middle-managers which results in both TLIF0009 and TLIF0014 - Monitor the safety of transport activities (Chain of Responsibility).