A.R.S.E.

Hey all,

Been thinking about getting my truck licence for a while now.Going for my first truck driving lesson tomorrow afternoon just to get a feel for it and see if its my thing.
Looking at going for the HR unrestricted (highest heavy vehicle licence you can get from a car licence). It is not a cheap exercise getting lessons and paying for testing etc.
Basically wanting to know what the chances are of getting a job driving trucks without any experience?. I would imagine its not easy (most job ads always state you need 2 years experience). Basically just dont want to spend all this money if its going to be a shitfight to land a job from it.

Any ideas/advice?

Cheers, Tim

Ezy might be able to help...

I'll be watching this thread out of interest as I've always wondered about this as well.
What about a Bus driver, not much different but maybe a lead in to driving bigger rigs?

Yep. An HR licence will enable me to drive anything with 3 axles. Including busses/garbage trucks. I would be open to driving garbage trucks and probably coaches. But i really want to avoid driving public transport busses as here on the Gold Coast some poor bus driver gets the absolute shit kicked out of him every 2nd day

I had the VIC heavy / Artic' when in the Fire Brigade, mandatory for entrance.
OK for driving the station Acco' trucks, but the Articulated Ladder / Nozzle drivers had to do a special course.
After I left the brigade it lapsed, but it was a hard slog to get it up front. Took about 5 months from memory.

This licence isnt quite as hard to get as that one it seems Cutter. If after tomorrow i feel confident in myself i have an option to do whats called a condensed course which would be around 3-4 days of 4 hours in the truck each day. By the end of that i'll be ready (or just about) ready to take the test. Comes with a price tag of about $1800 though!

My old man got his licence here and walked into a job within a week driving for target.

He is with a transport company now and picks up and delivers around Sydney (pallets not parcels), gets OT almost everyday. Long hours but he loves it

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TIMMY30 wrote:This licence isnt quite as hard to get as that one it seems Cutter. If after tomorrow i feel confident in myself i have an option to do whats called a condensed course which would be around 3-4 days of 4 hours in the truck each day. By the end of that i'll be ready (or just about) ready to take the test. Comes with a price tag of about $1800 though!

Yup, talking to a mate later on, its been changed a lot.
Once apon a time (when dinosaurs ruled the earth) it was one heavy / articulated license, and that was it.
Also I was doing it after work and weekends.

dvestate wrote:My old man got his licence here and walked into a job within a week driving for target.

He is with a transport company now and picks up and delivers around Sydney (pallets not parcels), gets OT almost everyday. Long hours but he loves it

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Cool man. Thanks. Did he have much experience in anything like it beforehand?. Should add im 25 so hopefully prospective employers will think 25 is a mature enough age (doesnt help that there are plenty of people older than myself that are still immature idiots).

My younger brother (23) has his HR licence. He managed to get a good gig driving pretty much the entire east coast. Owner/Operators will always want experience, but if you are persistent enough someone will give you a shot. Just be willing to drive anything, anywhere.

Be aware, that long haul driving (if that is what you are interested in) is a lonely job and you'll spend pretty much your entire life on the road with little to no social life.


I went for a trip from Gympie to Sydney and back not that long ago with him. I'm surprised more truckers haven't had a heart attack. The amount of deadset fucking idiots who don't give a shit about trucks is astounding. At times I was scared shitless.

Truck driving is good and bad. there is not much career progression in it, and it can get very tedious going to the same places day in day out. Plus traffic. god. but you can cruise around, go to all the lunch bars you want and you don't have to put up with others if you aren't very social.

I got into bridgestone with no experience (and 25) and i got into there by going onto Seek, which directed me to a Recruitment agency which acted on behalf of bridgestone. most jobs i have gotten have been this way actually.

its like anything show up to the interview and show eagerness blah blah blah they will give you a chance. Also you have to pass a piss test for a lot of places..

Been working in customer service for the last 11 years now and as a manager for 7 years. Im actually sick to death of customers and also sick to death of working with teenagers (im in the food service game).

Really just in need of a change and have been applying for various positions for the last 6-12 months without even so much as an interview. However i noticed quite alot of jobs on SEEK lately are truck driving positions/require you to atleast be able to drive one if needed. Ideally id love to be able to go to the mines but thats me and a million other people with better quals than me so thats nothing more than a dream really.

I reckon i might pass a piss test with flying colours these days lol. Rewind 4 years... not a chance

A few guys I know have gone straight into work after getting their HR licenses here in Victoria. Places like Star Trek express, TNT etc are always looking for drivers. My old man also does it, owner/driver but he still loved doing it when he worked for Star Trek express. Before that he was doing an office job for a big company which I won't name, doing a shitload of overtime to the point it was to much and he blacked out at work, left in an ambulance and never went back.

You still do a lot of hours driving trucks for transport company's but you also get the freedom of not having someone on your arse all the time too

Garbage truck driving would be a horrible position in my opinion. It's taking a big truck around suburbs with lots of cars and narrow roads, constantly stop start at very early hours of the day.

Yeah. Garbage trucks would have to be at the bottom of my wishlist. However experience is experience and ill take what i can get.

Had my first lesson today. Took a good 40 minutes to get used to the gear changes. Instructor was a decent guy (has 30 years experience) and he said id probably be good to go after 10-12 hours of practice. Got a whole heap of lessons booked next week.

If anyone else has advice/experience on the subject id be really grateful to hear what youve got

if you are getting your road ranger gearbox, forget about it after!

most new big rigs are automatic now days, and all others are synchro. finding a truck with a road ranger is rare.

Yep. Getting the licence with a RR box. Just makes me look better on paper i spose. Apparantly theyre all either Auto or Synchro boxes these days lol.

best way to go. its what I did

TIMMY30 wrote:

dvestate wrote:My old man got his licence here and walked into a job within a week driving for target.

He is with a transport company now and picks up and delivers around Sydney (pallets not parcels), gets OT almost everyday. Long hours but he loves it

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Cool man. Thanks. Did he have much experience in anything like it beforehand?. Should add im 25 so hopefully prospective employers will think 25 is a mature enough age (doesnt help that there are plenty of people older than myself that are still immature idiots).

Was in the building industry & security prior so no experience at all

As a result of working in the film industry many years ago, I have a heavy articulated licence so I can drive anything, up to and including a semi.

Hope I never have to use it again.

Just curious how this is going Timmy.... I'm getting a bit sick of where I am (after 13 years) and just looking for the next step.... Although with a young family, truck driving probably isn't what I'm after. But still, just seeing what others are doing and where they're going.