What truck licence do I need in Australia?

It depends on the vehicle. Above a car (C) licence, the heavy vehicle classes are LR (Light Rigid), MR (Medium Rigid), HR (Heavy Rigid), HC (Heavy Combination) and MC (Multi Combination), rising with the weight and setup of the truck. Match the class to the ads you want — most transport jobs name the class they require. Confirm the exact requirement with your state road authority before you apply.

Where do I put my truck licence on my resume?

In a plain-text Licences line near the top — for example, 'Licences: HR (Heavy Rigid) — current · Forklift (LF)' — and again in your one-line summary. Transport employers screen for the class before they read anything else, so a licence mentioned only in your work history is effectively invisible on a phone screen.

Does my overseas truck licence count in Australia?

Your overseas driving is real experience and belongs on your resume, but an overseas licence generally does not let you drive a heavy vehicle here — you need the Australian class. If you are converting your licence, say so plainly with a date. List the experience, lead with the Australian class you hold, and never list a class before it is on your local licence.

Can I get a driving job with no Australian experience?

Often, yes. For entry driving roles, employers screen for the right licence class, a clean record, reliability and availability more than a long local history. Lead with your class and a safe record, turn overseas driving into results-style bullets, and show you have your own transport to the depot and can do early starts.

How do I move up from a car licence to an HR licence?

You generally hold a lower class for a set minimum period before the next — commonly a car licence before LR or MR, then MR or LR before HR. The exact holding times and any training vary by state, so check your state road authority. Many drivers start on car or LR van runs and add MR or HR once transport work suits them.

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Driving & transport

Truck Licence on Your Resume: Driving Jobs in Australia

6 min read · Updated 23 August 2026

A truck licence in Australia is a heavy vehicle driver licence, graded by class — LR, MR, HR, HC and MC — running from a small rigid truck up to a road train. The class you hold is the first thing a transport employer checks, because they legally cannot roster you on a vehicle above your class.

When that licence is buried in your work history, a depot manager screening on a phone misses it and moves on to the next applicant. You hold the ticket that makes you hirable, and a resume that hides it wastes it. This guide covers what each class lets you drive, where to put a truck licence on your resume, and how to make overseas driving count. For the layout it builds on, start with the Australian resume guide. If rideshare or delivery is more your lane, the Uber and rideshare driver guide uses the same logic for a different kind of driving job.

What each truck licence class lets you drive

An Australian truck licence is a class of heavy vehicle driver licence, ranked by the weight and axle setup of the vehicle it covers. Above an ordinary car (C) licence, which covers vehicles up to 4.5 tonnes, the heavy vehicle classes run in five steps:

LR — Light Rigid: a rigid truck or small bus over 4.5 tonnes and up to 8 tonnes GVM
MR — Medium Rigid: a rigid truck over 8 tonnes with two axles
HR — Heavy Rigid: a rigid truck over 8 tonnes with three or more axles, plus a light trailer
HC — Heavy Combination: an articulated truck, such as a prime mover towing a single semi-trailer
MC — Multi Combination: the heaviest setups, including B-doubles and road trains

You generally must hold a lower class for a set period before the next, and the exact holding times vary by state. Confirm your path with your state road authority — Transport for NSW, VicRoads or Queensland's TMR — rather than a mate at the depot, because a wrong assumption costs weeks.

Where to put your truck licence on your resume

The right place for a truck licence is a Licences line near the top of the page, in plain text, above your work history. Transport employers screen for the class before they read anything else, so a licence mentioned only in your job history is effectively invisible on a phone screen.

Put the licence in two places:

A Licences line, high up: Licences: HR (Heavy Rigid) — current · Forklift (LF) · White Card
Your one-line summary: Truck driver with a current HR licence, a clean record and rigid experience, available for early starts

Three details decide whether the licence lands:

Write both the code and the words — "HR" and "Heavy Rigid" — because ads and scanning software search for each
Say the class is current, and name your state when the role is local
List your car licence class too if you drive light vehicles, and keep every line as plain text a machine can read. To see what an employer's system pulls from your file, run the resume checker — A$4.99

What a truck licence unlocks, framed honestly

A truck licence is the ticket that opens the ads and shifts requiring your class — it is access, not a job guarantee. No ticket makes an employer call, but the right class decides which jobs a driver is even allowed to be rostered on.

Three concrete effects:

You clear the filter. Most transport ads name a class as a must-have, such as "HR licence essential", so a driver without it is screened out before experience is read
You reach steadier work. Delivery, removals, waste, concrete and courier depots all run on rostered classes, and a higher class widens the roster open to you
You have a clear path up. Many newcomers start on a car or LR licence doing van and light-truck runs, then add MR or HR once the work suits them

Some employers fund the next class for reliable drivers they want to keep, so ask after a few solid weeks rather than paying upfront.

No Australian driving experience? Here's what counts

Overseas truck driving is genuine experience and belongs on your resume, but the Australian licence class is what an employer screens for first. Years behind the wheel abroad count for the work; they do not replace the local licence, so lead with the class you hold here.

Three moves surface what you already have:

Name the Australian class up top, then use your history to prove the driving is real — 3 years long-haul delivery, loaded and secured freight daily, no at-fault incidents
Convert overseas experience into results, not duties: distances driven, loads handled and a clean safety record all travel across borders
Show you are set up to work — your own transport to the depot, a local mobile, and availability for early or split shifts

If you hold an overseas licence and are converting it, say so plainly with a date rather than leaving a gap. Never list a class before it is on your Australian licence, because a depot checks on day one.

The rest of the transport resume

Transport hiring is a reliability and safety problem, so the rest of the resume should answer roster and safety questions rather than tell a career story. A depot manager filling a gap this week reads for four things:

Availability, spelled out. Runs start early and cover weekends — Available Mon–Sat, 4am starts OK answers the question before it is asked
A clean, current record. A safe driving history is the industry's core screen, so state it plainly when it is true
Extra tickets that widen the roster. A Forklift (LF), White Card, dangerous goods or fatigue-management ticket each open more shifts, so list only the ones you hold
Australian format throughout. No photo, no date of birth, one to two pages — the Australian resume guide has the full rules

Real numbers from your own history beat adjectives every time, because "hard worker" says nothing a depot manager can roster on.

Put your truck licence resume together

A transport-ready resume header answers the licence question and the roster question in two lines, before your experience is read at all:

Licences: HR (Heavy Rigid) — current · Forklift (LF) · White Card Rigid and articulated driver — depot deliveries, freight securing, clean record. Available 7 days including 4am starts.

Class visible in seconds, availability answered, safety signalled. That is the whole job of the top of the page, and it takes about two minutes to write. Everything below the header — your history in results-style bullets, your transport, your local mobile — simply backs up what the header already promised.

If you would rather not wrestle a template into the right Australian shape, the builder puts your licence class where employers look and produces the rest in the correct format — you see about half of it free, A$12 when you are happy with it.

Frequently asked questions

What truck licence do I need in Australia?: It depends on the vehicle. Above a car (C) licence, the heavy vehicle classes are LR (Light Rigid), MR (Medium Rigid), HR (Heavy Rigid), HC (Heavy Combination) and MC (Multi Combination), rising with the weight and setup of the truck. Match the class to the ads you want — most transport jobs name the class they require. Confirm the exact requirement with your state road authority before you apply.
Where do I put my truck licence on my resume?: In a plain-text Licences line near the top — for example, 'Licences: HR (Heavy Rigid) — current · Forklift (LF)' — and again in your one-line summary. Transport employers screen for the class before they read anything else, so a licence mentioned only in your work history is effectively invisible on a phone screen.
Does my overseas truck licence count in Australia?: Your overseas driving is real experience and belongs on your resume, but an overseas licence generally does not let you drive a heavy vehicle here — you need the Australian class. If you are converting your licence, say so plainly with a date. List the experience, lead with the Australian class you hold, and never list a class before it is on your local licence.
Can I get a driving job with no Australian experience?: Often, yes. For entry driving roles, employers screen for the right licence class, a clean record, reliability and availability more than a long local history. Lead with your class and a safe record, turn overseas driving into results-style bullets, and show you have your own transport to the depot and can do early starts.
How do I move up from a car licence to an HR licence?: You generally hold a lower class for a set minimum period before the next — commonly a car licence before LR or MR, then MR or LR before HR. The exact holding times and any training vary by state, so check your state road authority. Many drivers start on car or LR van runs and add MR or HR once transport work suits them.