Heavy vehicle licences

LR, HR, HC and MC compared side by side — plus the HR to MC fast-track that skips a step for drivers who qualify for it.

At a glance

Four classes, one ladder

Each class builds on the one below it. The right one for you is decided by the vehicle you will actually drive, not by aiming as high as possible.

Heavy vehicle licence classes compared
Class	What you can drive	Typical progression	Who it suits
LR	A single vehicle over 4.5 tonnes and up to 8 tonnes, including small buses in that range.	The first step up from a car licence.	Delivery work, small tippers, courtesy and community buses.
HR	Rigid vehicles with three or more axles, and a light trailer behind them.	Up from LR. Opens both HC and the direct MC upgrade.	Tippers, agitators, tankers, larger buses, civil and waste work.
HC	A prime mover with a single semi-trailer, or a rigid truck towing a heavy trailer.	Up from HR. The standard route towards MC.	Linehaul, container and general freight.
MC	B-doubles and road trains — multi-combination units.	Up from HC, or direct from HR via the upgrade pathway.	Long-haul, bulk freight and interstate work.

Prerequisites depend on your licence history — we confirm yours before you book.

In detail

What each class involves

Light Rigid

The gentlest introduction to commercial driving. An LR vehicle is big enough to change how you plan a turn and read a gap, but small enough that the jump from a car is manageable in a few lessons.

It is a sensible choice if you want commercial work without committing to the cost of a bigger class, or if the role in front of you specifically needs it.

Training covers

Walk-around and pre-start checks
Vehicle dimensions, swing and overhang
Reversing and kerbside positioning
Load awareness and stopping distances
Assessment-route familiarisation

Heavy Rigid

The class most operators ask for by name. HR puts you in tippers, agitators, tankers and larger buses, and it is the fork in the road where you choose between HC and the direct MC upgrade.

Most of the learning is in gear work and in reversing something with a rear overhang and real blind spots.

Training covers

Range and splitter gear patterns
Air brake systems and safe operation
Multi-axle reversing, including blind side
Load restraint and mass limits in plain terms
Road craft on assessment routes

Heavy Combination

The first articulated class. A prime mover and semi-trailer does not behave like one object — it bends, it cuts in, and it goes where the trailer decides if you get the geometry wrong.

Coupling and uncoupling gets drilled until it is automatic, because it is both a safety-critical task and a visible part of the assessment.

Training covers

Coupling and uncoupling, repeatedly
Trailer swing, cut-in and off-tracking
Reversing a trailer straight and around a corner
Braking a combination, including in the wet
Coupling checks as an assessor expects them

Multi Combination

B-doubles and road trains. The top of the ladder, and the class that rewards planning more than reflexes — by the time a multi-combination needs a sudden input, you have already made a mistake.

Training covers

Two trailers through turns and roundabouts
Coupling a B-double set and a converter dolly
Multi-combination reversing
Route planning, mass limits and permitted roads
Fatigue management on long runs

HR to MC upgrade

The fast-track that skips HC

A dedicated pathway from Heavy Rigid straight to Multi Combination, without stopping at Heavy Combination on the way. It is its own course, not a shortened MC.

For an experienced rigid driver moving into linehaul, the standard route means two separate courses and two assessments. The upgrade pathway compresses that into one, covering the articulation skills HC would have taught alongside the multi-combination work.

It is not for everyone. It asks more of you in a shorter time, and eligibility depends on how long you have held HR and what else is on your record.

Call us with your licence details and we will tell you on the spot whether this route is open to you — and if it is not, exactly what would need to change first.

Check if you qualify

From HR

To MC

Skips HC step

Eligibility We check it