Truck Licences
TMR Driver Licence · HR Class
Heavy Rigid (HR) Licence Brisbane
HR truck licence training in Brisbane. Auto or Road Ranger packages, both TMR
tests booked for you, from $1,069 at our Mansfield depot.
- Training since 2014
- Both TMR tests booked for you
- Mansfield depot training
- Open 7 days, 7am–5pm
An HR licence covers rigid trucks and buses over 8 tonnes with three or more axles, which takes in most
tippers, agitators, waste trucks, crane trucks and articulated buses working around Brisbane. It’s the
class most transport employers ask for, and it’s the last step before a semi-trailer.
Great Heavy Driving School trains and tests you for it in Brisbane in either an automatic truck or a Road
Ranger, and books your Transport and Main Roads tests on your behalf. Which of those two you choose changes
what you’re allowed to drive afterwards, so it’s worth reading the gearbox section below before
you book.
Licence Data
Licence data
HR Class
Heavy Rigid Licence: Spec Plate
Licence class
HR Heavy Rigid, issued by Transport and Main
Roads
What you get
An upgrade to your existing Queensland driver licence. This
is not a certificate or a ticket.
Prerequisite
A car (class C) licence held for 2 years, or an LR or MR
licence held for 12 months
Auto Truck package
3 hours behind the wheel, $1,069 including TMR booking fees
Road Ranger package
5 hours behind the wheel, $1,569 including TMR booking fees
Additional training
$140 per hour auto, $150 per hour Road Ranger
Tests required
TMR practical driving test, plus the road rules knowledge test if you
don’t already hold an LR or MR
Where
Mansfield depot, 359 Wecker Road, Mansfield QLD 4122
Vehicle Classes
What an HR licence lets you drive
An HR licence covers a truck or bus over 8 tonnes GVM with more than two axles, including
a prime mover or a mobile crane, plus articulated buses — the bendy ones. You can
also tow a trailer up to 9 tonnes GVM. Everything MR, LR and a car licence already allowed
stays included.
Where the line actually sits
The difference between MR and HR is the axle count, not the weight. There’s no upper weight limit
on either class. A two-axle truck at 20 tonnes is still an MR vehicle; a three-axle truck at 12 tonnes
is an HR. Count the axles on the truck you’ll be driving at work, because that single number
decides which licence you need.
The trailer is the other limit. An HR lets you tow up to 9 tonnes GVM behind the truck. The moment the
trailer goes over 9 tonnes you’re in HC territory, which is why a rigid truck with a dog trailer
usually needs more than an HR.
Typical HR vehicles
- Three-axle tippers, tilt trays and crane trucks
- Concrete agitators
- Waste collection and compactor trucks
- Articulated buses and larger route buses
- Three-axle rigid freight and delivery trucks
Before You Book
Are you eligible?
There are two ways in, and the faster one depends on what you already hold.
Two ways in
- From a car licence: you must have held a valid Australian car (class C) licence
for 2 years.
- From an LR or MR licence: you only need to have held it for 12 months.
You’ll also need
- Secondary identification
- Fully enclosed footwear for training, boots or runners
- A functional level of English, since all training and assessment is conducted in English
- To declare you’re medically fit to drive the higher class. If you have a medical condition
that could affect your driving, TMR will require a medical certificate from your doctor before you
can upgrade.
The knowledge test waiver
One thing worth knowing if you already hold a truck licence: if you hold an LR or MR, you don’t
have to sit the written knowledge test again. You go straight to the practical.
The five-year rule
The qualifying period has to fall within the last five years, and it doesn’t have to be
continuous. TMR will add up separate periods. What it won’t count is any time your licence was
suspended, surrendered, cancelled or expired.
If you’ve had a break in your licence history, check with us before you book so you’re not
paying for a test you can’t sit.
The $500 Question
Auto or Road Ranger: what the $500 actually buys
This is the most important decision on the page, and it isn’t really about the extra two hours of
training.
The transmission you sit your practical test in determines what you’re allowed to drive for the rest
of your working life:
What each test result means
- Test in an automatic and TMR adds an automatic (A) condition to your HR class. You
can then only drive automatic heavy vehicles. Driving a manual one puts you outside your licence.
- Test in a synchromesh manual and you may carry a synchromesh (B) condition, which
permits synchromesh gearboxes but not a constant-mesh Road Ranger box.
- Test in a Road Ranger — a constant-mesh, non-synchromesh box — and
there’s no gearbox condition on your licence at all. You can drive any HR vehicle regardless of
transmission.
That’s what the price difference buys: not just five hours instead of three, but an unrestricted
licence.
Which one is right depends on the work
- Auto is fine if you’re heading into waste, council, bus or metro distribution
work, where fleets are increasingly automatic, and you know your employer’s trucks.
- Road Ranger is the safer buy if you want to be employable across any yard, if
you’re looking at linehaul or older fleets, or if HC and beyond are in your plans. Most of the
trucks you’d progress into are manual.
You can remove a condition later, but it means going back and passing another full practical driving test
in an unrestricted vehicle. That costs more than the $500 difference. If you’re genuinely unsure,
call us and tell us what work you’re chasing. See TMR’s page on licence classes and conditions for the full detail on conditions like this one.
The Process
How it works
-
1
Confirm you’re eligible and book. Give us a call or book online, and choose
the auto or Road Ranger package. We’ll check your licence history and current class against
the requirements before you pay for anything.
-
2
Pass the TMR road rules knowledge test. If you’re coming from a car licence,
you’ll sit a written road rules test with Transport and Main Roads. We book this on your behalf as part of the Full
Package. There’s a free practice test you can work through beforehand and we’d recommend
doing it more than once. If you already hold an LR or MR, skip this step.
-
3
Complete your driving lessons. Three hours in an automatic, or five in a Road
Ranger, with an instructor at our Mansfield depot in our truck. We cover vehicle checks, controls,
road positioning, turning and clearances, reversing, mirror use and managing the length of the
vehicle, plus the observation habits the testing officer is actually watching for. The Road Ranger
course spends a good share of that extra time on gear selection and range changes. If you need more
time, additional hours are available and there’s no pressure to sit the test before
you’re ready.
-
4
Sit the practical driving test. We book this for you and you sit it in a vehicle
you’ve already trained in, which removes a lot of the guesswork. Pass and TMR reissues your
licence with the HR class added. The new card arrives in the post within about 21 days, and heavy
vehicle licences are issued as a magenta card showing the highest class you’re authorised to
drive.
You don’t receive a certificate, a Statement of Attainment or an
industry wallet card from us for this. An HR licence is a driver licence class, and TMR issues it.
Cost
HR licence cost
From $1,069
Auto Truck or Road Ranger Full Package, both including TMR booking fees.
Afterpay and Zip payment options accepted.
| Item |
Price |
| Auto Truck Full Package (3 hours training plus TMR booking fees) |
$1,069 |
| Auto Truck additional training |
$140 per hour |
| Road Ranger Full Package (5 hours training plus TMR booking fees) |
$1,569 |
| Road Ranger additional training |
$150 per hour |
Afterpay and Zip are accepted. Plenty of employers pay for staff licence upgrades,
particularly for HR, so it’s worth asking before you book it yourself.
Afterpay
Zip
Between Lessons
Practising between lessons
Caution — the penalty is real
If you’re planning to get extra practice in someone else’s truck between lessons, there are
rules and the penalty is real.
While learning to drive a class above your current licence, you must:
- Be accompanied by a supervisor who holds an open licence in that class and has held it for at least a
year
- Display L plates on the front and rear of the vehicle
- Stay on a zero alcohol limit
- Not be under the influence of any drugs, illegal or prescription
- Obey any conditions already on your own licence
Driving unaccompanied while learning a higher class carries 4 demerit points and a $267 fine,
with a maximum court penalty over $3,300.
Worth noting: if your current licence is automatic only, you’re still permitted to learn to drive a
manual vehicle of the same or a higher class under supervision.
Your Next Step
Where an HR licence leads
HR is a destination for plenty of drivers, but it’s also the gateway to combination work.
- HR to HC
after holding your HR for 12 months. That’s prime movers with a trailer over 9 tonnes, which is
most semi-trailer work.
- HR to MC after 12 months, for B-doubles and road trains.
The MC step is worth understanding before you plan your route, because it isn’t a driving test. TMR
doesn’t conduct practical tests for MC. Instead you complete the competency unit Drive
Multi-combination Vehicle (TLIC4006) with an approved multi-combination training provider and present the
statement of attainment.
The detail that matters: coming from HR, that unit takes a minimum of 16 hours. Coming from HC,
it’s 8. So if MC is the end goal, going HR to HC to MC generally works out
easier than jumping HR straight to MC, even though both require the same 12 months. Talk to us about which
route suits your timeline before you commit.
From The Yard
What HR licence holders say
“Did the HR license, 3 hours training and an hour test at Wynnum I can’t recommend them
enough. Their patience and explaining of truck operations are incredible. passed my test with flying
colours with minimal truck experience. Also, epic beard to boot. Thanks Nav and family, you guys are
amazing. I’ll see you for my MC, forklift, skid and BFM tickets. Cheers.”
“After 15 years of early retirement from the Defence Force my resume didn’t look so
impeccable so an opportunity arose to earn some money driving a truck but there was a catch, I had to
get my HR license and that’s where Great Heavy became the Key to unlock my new future, when every
other Truck school said we are booked for months Great Heavy said pick a day next week, I paid and they
delivered, it was almost that simple ! I had time to learn the test required by Queensland Transport and
after a couple of hours getting to know the truck and my assigned instructor I passed the practical
driving test and then the written test with ease, since then I have been rebuilding my life financially
and socially. Looking back over the last 2 years and seeing everything I have accomplished it’s
truly been worth every penny”
HR Licence FAQs
Frequently asked questions
No. Plenty of people book an HR having never driven a truck. Training starts with vehicle
familiarisation and basic control before moving to road driving and the manoeuvres required for the
assessment.
No. If you already hold an LR or MR licence you go straight to the practical driving test. The
written road rules test is only required if you’re upgrading from a car licence.
Yes. You can go straight from a car licence to an HR once you’ve held the car licence for 2
years. If you already hold an LR or MR, the wait is only 12 months, which is why some drivers pick
up an MR first rather than waiting out the second year.
If there’s any chance you’ll drive a manual heavy vehicle, do the Road Ranger. Testing
in an automatic puts an A condition on your licence and limits you to automatic trucks, and removing
it later means sitting another full practical test. Auto suits drivers who know their
employer’s fleet is automatic.
That depends mostly on test availability rather than training. Three or five hours of driving can
usually be done across one or two sessions. Both tests are booked with TMR, so the timeline is set
by their schedule. Call us and we’ll give you a realistic date.
You rebook it. Additional training is available if you want more time first, and your instructor
will tell you honestly what went wrong. Failing a test is common and it isn’t the end of
anything.
No, and it’s worth being clear about it because it’s a common mix-up. An HR is a driver
licence class that TMR adds to your existing licence. There’s no Statement of Attainment and
no wallet card. Our plant courses like forklift
and excavator work differently.
You need to have held your HR for 12 months, then complete the competency unit TLIC4006 with an
approved multi-combination training provider — a minimum of 16 hours coming from an HR, or 8
hours if you hold an HC. TMR does not conduct practical driving tests for the MC class.
Find Us
HR Licence Training in Brisbane
Get Licensed
Book your HR licence in Brisbane
Auto or Road Ranger, your TMR tests booked for you, and an instructor who’ll
tell you straight when you’re ready.
Mansfield depot · 359 Wecker Road, Mansfield QLD 4122 · Open
Mon–Sun 7:00am–5:00pm