Australia Heavy Vehicle Licence Study Guide 2026

Heavy vehicle licence classes

Australia uses the same five heavy vehicle licence classes in every state. Each class also lets you drive the vehicles in the classes below it. A car (class C) licence covers vehicles up to 4.5 tonnes GVM (gross vehicle mass). Above that, you need a heavy vehicle licence.

Class	What it covers	Before you can get it
LR (Light Rigid)	A rigid truck or bus over 4.5 t up to 8 t GVM, and buses seating more than 12 adults including the driver. May tow a trailer up to 9 t GVM.	A car licence (not a learner licence) for at least 1 year
MR (Medium Rigid)	A rigid truck or bus over 8 t GVM with 2 axles. May tow a trailer up to 9 t GVM.	A car licence for at least 1 year
HR (Heavy Rigid)	A rigid truck or bus over 8 t GVM with 3 or more axles, including articulated (bendy) buses. May tow a trailer up to 9 t GVM.	A car licence for at least 2 years, or (in Queensland) LR or MR for 1 year
HC (Heavy Combination)	A prime mover with a semi-trailer, or a rigid truck towing a trailer over 9 t GVM.	An MR or HR licence for at least 1 year
MC (Multi Combination)	B-doubles and road trains (a vehicle, other than a B-double, towing 2 or more trailers).	An HR or HC licence for at least 1 year

Some states add extra steps. In Victoria, HC and MC applicants must complete a formal training course. In NSW, MC applicants must pass a medical assessment and complete a competency based assessment. In Queensland, the time you count must be within the last 5 years and does not include time when your licence was suspended, cancelled or expired.

The knowledge test in each state

State	Knowledge test	Practical step
New South Wales	Heavy Vehicle Knowledge Test (HVKT): 45 questions on a computer at a service centre. A rigid version for LR, MR and HR and a combination version for HC and MC. A pass is valid for 36 months.	Heavy Vehicle Competency Based Assessment (HVCBA) with a Registered Training Organisation, or a driving test where HVCBA is not available. MC must use HVCBA.
Victoria	A heavy vehicle knowledge test based on the Victorian Bus and Truck Drivers' Handbook. It is passed once for rigid vehicles and once for articulated vehicles.	On-road driving and off-road skills assessments with a provider accredited by the Department of Transport and Planning.
Queensland	Heavy vehicle road rules test: 10 multiple-choice questions, at least 8 correct, taken in person. Not needed if you already hold an Australian heavy vehicle licence. A pass is valid for 5 years.	A practical driving test. For MC, training and assessment (unit TLIC4006) with an approved provider.

NSW says everything in the HVKT is in the Heavy Vehicle Driver Handbook, the Road User Handbook and the Load Restraint Guide. The NSW page we checked does not publish the pass mark.

Learning to drive a heavy vehicle

Queensland: your supervisor must have held an open licence in that class for at least 1 year. Show L plates at the front and rear and keep a zero alcohol limit.
Victoria: show 'Driver Under Instruction' plates at the front and rear, and be accompanied by someone licensed for that type of vehicle.
NSW: you cannot learn LR, MR or HR on a learner or P1 licence, or HC or MC on a learner, P1 or P2 licence.

The Heavy Vehicle National Law and the chain of responsibility

The Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) and its regulations set national rules for heavy vehicles, including fatigue, mass, dimensions and loading. The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) administers it.

Under the chain of responsibility, safety is not only the driver's job. Everyone who controls or influences the transport task must take all reasonable steps to prevent driver fatigue and speeding. This includes employers, prime contractors, operators, schedulers, consignors, consignees, loading managers, loaders and unloaders. A contract or schedule must not require a driver to break the law. The Victorian handbook sums it up as control = responsibility = legal liability.

Fatigue: work and rest hours

The Heavy Vehicle (Fatigue Management) National Regulation sets maximum work and minimum rest times for drivers of fatigue-regulated heavy vehicles. These are trucks over 12 t GVM, truck and trailer combinations over 12 t combined GVM, and buses over 4.5 t GVM built to seat more than 12 adults including the driver.

Standard hours for a solo truck driver

In any period of	Maximum work	Minimum rest
5 h 30 min	5 h 15 min	15 continuous minutes
8 hours	7 h 30 min	30 minutes, in blocks of 15 minutes or more
11 hours	10 hours	60 minutes, in blocks of 15 minutes or more
24 hours	12 hours	7 continuous hours of stationary rest
7 days	72 hours	24 continuous hours of stationary rest
14 days	144 hours	4 night rests, including 2 on consecutive days

A night rest is 7 continuous hours of stationary rest between 10 pm and 8 am, or 24 continuous hours of stationary rest. Work time is rounded up to the next 15 minutes and rest time is rounded down.

There are two other work and rest options. Basic Fatigue Management (BFM) allows a solo driver up to 14 hours of work in 24 hours. Advanced Fatigue Management (AFM) allows up to 15½ hours of work in 24 hours. Bus drivers on standard hours may work up to 12 hours in 24 hours.

The work diary

You must fill in a National Driver Work Diary if you drive a fatigue-regulated vehicle 100 km or more from your base, or work under BFM or AFM hours.
Carry your records for the last 28 days.
If your diary is lost, stolen or destroyed, tell the NHVR within 2 business days. A supplementary record can be used for up to 7 days.

Alcohol, drugs and speed

State	Alcohol limit for heavy vehicle drivers
New South Wales	Under 0.02 for heavy vehicles over 13.9 t GVM, public passenger buses and vehicles carrying dangerous goods
Victoria	Zero for any bus, any heavy vehicle over 4.5 t GVM and any vehicle with Driver Under Instruction plates
Queensland	Zero for any motor vehicle over 4.5 t GVM, buses built to carry more than 12 adults, articulated vehicles and placarded dangerous goods loads

Only time lowers your blood alcohol. Coffee, cold showers, fresh air, food and naps do not. After heavy drinking it can take more than 18 hours to reach zero. Victorian police use roadside saliva tests for methamphetamine, cannabis (THC) and MDMA.

Speed

In NSW, vehicles over 4.5 t GVM have a maximum speed limit of 100 km/h. In Victoria, it is an offence for any heavy vehicle to exceed 100 km/h anywhere.
Speed limiters must be set to 100 km/h on trucks over 12 t GVM built from 1 January 1991, and on public passenger buses over 5 t GVM built from that date.
Obey truck and bus speed signs on sharp bends and steep descents.
'TRUCKS & BUSES MUST USE LOW GEAR' signs apply to vehicles over 4.5 t GVM.

Space, following distance and turning

A heavy vehicle takes much longer to stop than a car. Air brakes can take up to a second to start working, and a driver may take two to three seconds to see a problem and brake. At 60 km/h, you can travel about 51 metres in a 3-second delay.

Keep a crash avoidance space of at least 4 seconds in good conditions, and 5 seconds or more on wet, icy or unsealed roads or at night.
Look 12 to 15 seconds ahead: about a city block in town, and up to a kilometre on the open road.
Outside built-up areas, a long vehicle (7.5 m or longer) must stay at least 60 m behind another long vehicle, and a road train at least 200 m. This does not apply on multi-lane roads, in built-up areas or when overtaking.

Turning

The rear wheels of a long vehicle follow a tighter path than the front wheels. To stop them running over the kerb, drive further into the intersection before you turn. Position the vehicle so that cars and cyclists cannot move up on your left. Where there are two right-turn lanes, use the left one of the two.

Vehicles 7.5 m or longer may display a 'Do not overtake turning vehicle' sign at the rear. Shorter vehicles must not display it and must turn within the marked lanes.

Observation, mirrors and overtaking

Good observation gives you time to act. A heavy vehicle needs more space to stop, turn and change lanes than a car, so you need to see problems early.

Plan ahead: look 12 to 15 seconds up the road, and keep your eyes moving between the road ahead, the sides and your mirrors.
Check your mirrors regularly, and always before you slow down, turn or change lanes. Keep each glance short. At 90 km/h you travel about 25 metres every second.
A heavy vehicle has large blind spots beside and behind it. Use all your mirrors, and do not assume a space is empty because you cannot see anything in it.

Overtaking

Overtaking takes a long vehicle much more time and distance than a car. Do not overtake on a hill unless you can do it quickly or there is no other traffic. On multi-lane roads with a speed limit over 80 km/h, or where 'Keep left unless overtaking' signs apply, keep left unless you are overtaking.

Brakes, hills and air brakes

Choose a low gear before you start down a steep hill. Never coast or drive out of gear.
Constant braking on a long descent causes brake fade, which can lead to brake failure. Use the gears and the engine brake to hold your speed.
Engine, exhaust and retarder brakes are not service brakes. On a slippery road they can make a lightly loaded vehicle skid or jack-knife.
Do not use the trailer hand brake for normal braking.
Avoid 'fanning' the brakes. Pressing and releasing the pedal over and over heats the brakes and wastes air.

Air brakes

The main parts of a truck air brake system.

The compressor, driven by the engine, pumps air.
The governor tells the compressor when to start and stop.
The air tanks store the compressed air.
A drain valve at the bottom of each tank lets out water and oil.
The foot valve sends air to the brakes when you press the pedal.
The brake chamber turns air pressure into a push on a rod.
The slack adjuster, moved by the rod, applies the brakes.
The brake drum, where the braking happens.

Always keep enough air for at least five brake applications.
If the low air pressure warning comes on, stop safely as soon as you can.
Air pressure should build from zero to 80% of maximum in no more than 5 minutes.
With the brakes applied, pressure should drop by no more than 20 kPa a minute on a truck, or 30 kPa on a truck and trailer.

Vehicle checks

The driver is responsible for the daily inspection, whoever maintains the vehicle. Do a pre-departure check every day and a more detailed inspection each week.

Main points on a walk-around check of a prime mover and trailer.

The engine bay.
The front lights.
The steer axle tyre, wheel and brake.
The fuel tank.
The coupling area, with the fifth wheel and the air and electrical lines.
The drive axle tyres, wheels and brakes.
The trailer landing legs.
The trailer tyres, wheels and brakes.

Tyres: at least 1.5 mm of tread over 75% of the part that touches the road.
Hydraulic brakes: pump the pedal three times, then hold it down for five seconds. If it sinks, there may be a leak.
Brake test: in first gear, at no more than 5 km/h, apply the brakes firmly.
After about an hour of driving: stop and check tyre and brake temperatures by hand, and look for leaks.

Dimensions, mass and access

Limit	General maximum
Width	2.5 m (mirrors, signalling devices and tyre pressure monitors not counted)
Height	4.3 m (4.4 m for double-deck buses; up to 4.6 m only under a notice on approved routes)
Length of a rigid vehicle	12.5 m, including any overhanging load
Length of an articulated vehicle or heavy trailer combination	19 m
Length of a B-double (under its notice or approval)	26 m
Rear overhang (vehicles over 4.5 t GVM)	60% of the wheelbase or 3.7 m, whichever is less

Never go over the manufacturer's GVM or GCM, component ratings or the legal mass limits.
B-doubles and road trains are restricted access vehicles. They may use only approved networks under a notice or permit. Combinations over 22 m must display a sign.
Do not pass a bridge or gross load limit sign if your gross mass equals or is more than the limit shown.
Unless a sign says otherwise, a 'No trucks' sign applies to vehicles over 4.5 t GVM.
Know the height of your vehicle and load, and watch for low clearance signs.
Vehicles wider than 2.2 m need clearance and side marker lights working at night, visible for 200 m.

Projecting loads and load restraint

Driving with a load that is not restrained to the performance standards is illegal across Australia. A load must not overhang dangerously or cover lights, indicators, reflectors or number plates.

A load must not stick out more than 1.2 m in front of the vehicle, or more than 150 mm from each side. The total width must stay within 2.5 m.
If a load sticks out more than 1.2 m behind, show a brightly coloured flag at least 300 mm on each side in daylight, and a red light visible from 200 m at night.

Performance standards

A restraint system must be able to hold the load against forces equal to 80% of its weight forward, 50% sideways, 50% rearward and 20% upward. The forward force is the biggest because hard braking throws the load forward.

Containment: the load is held inside a solid-sided body, tanker or shipping container.
Blocking: headboards, bulkheads, load racks, stakes and chocks stop the load moving.
Lashing: chains, webbing and other lashings hold the load down or in place.
Sheeting: covers keep loose loads in. A tarpaulin alone does not secure a load.

Breakdowns, parking and level crossings

Vehicles over 12 t GVM must carry three warning triangles. If your vehicle or its load stops on the road, place them so traffic is warned in time:

On a two-way road: one in front, one beside and one behind the vehicle.
On a divided or one-way road: one beside the vehicle and two behind it.
In Victoria, on roads under 80 km/h where the vehicle cannot be seen from 200 m, place the front and rear triangles 50 to 150 m away. On roads of 80 km/h or more, place them 200 to 250 m away.

Outside a built-up area, a heavy vehicle must not stop on the road except on the shoulder. In a built-up area it must not stay stopped for more than one hour unless a sign allows it (buses are exempt).

Railway level crossings

Never enter a level crossing if a train is coming or the road beyond is blocked. A long vehicle needs time and room to clear the tracks.
The view to the left side of the cabin can be limited. Look carefully both ways.
If your vehicle gets stuck, get out, move to safety and call triple zero (000).
In Victoria, a bus seating more than 12 adults must stop 3 to 12 m from the nearest rail at an uncontrolled crossing and not change gears while crossing.

Tips for the knowledge test

Read your state's heavy vehicle handbook and the Load Restraint Guide.
Learn your state's numbers: licence holding times, alcohol limits and the test format.
Learn the national numbers: 4.5 t, 8 t, 9 t and 12 t; 2.5 m, 4.3 m, 12.5 m and 19 m; 60 m and 200 m; 12 hours and 7 hours.
Practise until you get almost every question right.