Haha i would choose brisbane if I was going over seems nice place weather aswell. Wouldn’t mind Perth if could get in the mines 
The only way to get in the mines is go there and try, if your on a working holiday visa you don’t have a legal obligation to tell them. As long as your legal to work and have a tax file number that’s all that matters.
Jeff…
Smoggie89:
Haha i would choose brisbane if I was going over seems nice place weather aswell. Wouldn’t mind Perth if could get in the mines
You will have to take a truck driving test-car and motor cycle licence are transferred straight over, but car licence only allows you to drive vehicles up to 4.5 tonnes. Ironically, to drive the big Cat dumpies you only need an HR (heavy rigid) licence. If you want to tow one trailer you need HC (heavy combination) and for anything bigger MC (multi combination). Depending on which way the wind blows on the day, the ppl in licencing office may let you go straight for HC or insist on you doing HR first. You’ll need to be able to work an 18 speed non-syncro Road Ranger gear box for an un-restricted licence. It cost me AU$1500 to gain my HC and a further AU$900 for my MC licence further down the track.
Unless you’ve job to go to expect heaps of rejections along the “you’ve no WA experience” lines.
Mine site driving is over rated and doesn’t pay as well as people think-I was offered a job at Christmas Creek two years ago, but it paid AU$93,000 and I was making that driving locally with the odd bush trip thrown in. The big mining money is in trades like boiler making, mechanics, electricians etc.
NSW, Queensland, Victoria, and Tasmania go like this.
No none Australian Licenses are transferable, not even NZ ( but They usually argue anyway ) you have to sit a test for everything but if you are over 21 and you already have a current UK HGV class 1 ( how old fashion am I ) you can go straight for an Australian HC Heavy Combination ( single trailer artic) this will also cover your car license and you will not have to display P plates for a year. Like the UK, motorcycle licenses stand alone in their own class.
The next big one is the MC (multi combination) This is for any vehicle that bends more than once, B Doubles and road trains. Some states state that it must also be used for draw bar combinations, so you need one for a drag on an A frame but not a center axle ( Pig trailer )
The current legislation also states that if you sit your test on a syncro, ( Volvo Scania Merc etc ) auto, or semi auto box then you have a restriction for that class of vehicle. If you sit you test on a road ranger ( Fuller ) then there are non restriction at all. Some driving schools and assessors are actually charging more for lessons on road ranger boxes. Shop around… But check with the RTA in the state you are taking your test in…
Jeff…
News Just in
The Australian government has just announced that it will increase immigration from 180,000 to 250 000 per year, as of the new financial year. June ( That doesn’t include 1 year working holiday visas )
Areas they are looking to fill are skilled workers in mainly the Mining, Medical and Farming sectors.
Jeff…
Maybe I should be a farmer lol
Plenty farmers have trucks here, some arable ( crop ) farms are as big some of the home counties in the UK. There are farms here that can produce 10’s of thousands of tons of produce every year and all of that is trucked of site.
Jeff…
Jelliot:
NSW, Queensland, Victoria, and Tasmania go like this.No none Australian Licenses are transferable, not even NZ ( but They usually argue anyway ) you have to sit a test for everything but if you are over 21 and you already have a current UK HGV class 1 ( how old fashion am I ) you can go straight for an Australian HC Heavy Combination ( single trailer artic) this will also cover your car license and you will not have to display P plates for a year. Like the UK, motorcycle licenses stand alone in their own class.
The next big one is the MC (multi combination) This is for any vehicle that bends more than once, B Doubles and road trains. Some states state that it must also be used for draw bar combinations, so you need one for a drag on an A frame but not a center axle ( Pig trailer )
The current legislation also states that if you sit your test on a syncro, ( Volvo Scania Merc etc ) auto, or semi auto box then you have a restriction for that class of vehicle. If you sit you test on a road ranger ( Fuller ) then there are non restriction at all. Some driving schools and assessors are actually charging more for lessons on road ranger boxes. Shop around… But check with the RTA in the state you are taking your test in…
Jeff…
My car and motorcycle licences were transferred at the licencing dept on the spot-all I had to pass was an eye test.
robbiminator:
http://mobile.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/australian-trucking-association-appeals-for-government-to-make-foreign-drivers-eligible-for-457-visas-to-aid-shortage/story-fnii5s3x-1226794470866
Truckies might qualify for employer sponsored skilled migration visa, if Australian industry body gets its way.
IMO that article is spin piad for by what you might call “vested interests” (it’s a news.com site, so no surprise there). Apart from the “tougher” driving hours rules (those log books, so hard to fiddle) as far as I know (and I admit my experience is limited) the notion that there is a “severe” driver shortage is drivel - fact is work is short at the moment (at least in NSW, can’t speak for elsewhere). Same goes for the claim that the mining industry is taking drivers away from rural areas - AFAIK most workers on mine sites are FIFO (fly in/ fly-out) and live in the bigger towns and cities near the coast. Yes there can be skills shortages in remote rural areas, but that’s mostly cos rural and remote towns are dying anyway, thanks largely to mechanisation on the (increasingly) large farms, a drop in custom for other local businesses, which leads to fewer jobs and more people moving away. Not to mention trivial stuff like extended droughts. It has SFA (or at least very little) to do with the mines. In short this is the ATA putting a ptich to the tories in government to get the transport industry added to the list of those industries who are eligible to bring in foreign workers on 457 visas. It won’t do anyone bar the big transport outfits any good - in my view it will make things worse - fewer jobs for the locals, rates pared to the bone (like there’s any fat on them as it is), more subbies going under (why pay for a subbie when you can employ a 457 visa worker cheaper?), and the possibility that inexperienced foreign drivers will cause more accidents (much shock horror in certain sections of the media but I don’t think it’s as big an issue as they make out). And what will it do to address the so-called “severe” shortage of drivers in rural areas? Both halves of[zb]-all.
In short, the ATA is gilding the lily more than a little.
The biggest problem is the job snob attitude the a lot of the locals have. There are loads of fruit picking and tree pruning jobs available in my area as well as other farm labor jobs like digging in irrigation lines and general maintenance but none of the locals want to do it. They’d rather sit on their fat ■■■ and drink beer while claiming the dole.
I can only go on how it was from when I arrived in SA when I came here the first time in the 80’s. I had to sit a test and since then I was lucky enough to be back here before it ran out again so I just kept renewing it. It’s now transferred to Tasmania, and I still do some interstate driving and never had any problems.
I have a mate the was on International from the UK and came out here a few years ago and had to do it the same way in NSW so I can only go on that. I know WA have there own set of rules as I once met 19 year old kid that was driving a K 900 a triple road train.
Jeff…
Jelliot:
The biggest problem is the job snob attitude the a lot of the locals have. There are loads of fruit picking and tree pruning jobs available in my area as well as other farm labor jobs like digging in irrigation lines and general maintenance but none of the locals want to do it. They’d rather sit on their fat ■■■ and drink beer while claiming the dole.I can only go on how it was from when I arrived in SA when I came here the first time in the 80’s. I had to sit a test and since then I was lucky enough to be back here before it ran out again so I just kept renewing it. It’s now transferred to Tasmania, and I still do some interstate driving and never had any problems.
I have a mate the was on International from the UK and came out here a few years ago and had to do it the same way in NSW so I can only go on that. I know WA have there own set of rules as I once met 19 year old kid that was driving a K 900 a triple road train.Jeff…
Do the road train drivers earn alot more than just standard artic? I wouldn’t be botherd about road trains, I would like to have a go in 1 but I would prefer just normal artic lol
Like the UK there is a very wide range of driving job which are just as wide and varied as any where else on the planet. Local metro jobs, on anything from shop deliveries in smaller vehicles to factory and manufacturing jobs in B-Doubles. Rural would offer more larger vehicles and mining larger still.
The pay scale usually goes on the size of vehicle you drive, so a 7 ton delivery van is unlikely to go home with the same pay as a B Double driver. I’ve never done Metro work as it doesn’t appeal to me but some companies pay per hour plus productivity bonus, fuel bonus, as well as other things like not damaging the vehicle.
I usually do long haul which is payed by the k per trailer. A single artic which is now very rare will get a set rate, B-Double will get single artic plus A trailer. Road Trains will get a 3 trailer rate, this is just a general thing that I have found, and I’m sure there are exceptions to this.
If I’m on log trucks it’s usually pay by the shift as there are various distance involved depending on where we are hauling to and from.
If your on general stuff on the south and east side of the country expect to get between $900 and $1300 take home per week, but you’re expected to work for it.
Jeff…
Have you drove a road train Jeff ? I don’t think I’ll be going to oz soon , it will have to be a dream until I win the lottery lol
Yes I’ve been driving Road Trains on fridges and general of and on since 1987. Good fun some times, night mare at others, I prefer to stick to B Doubles, much more manageable not as many regulations involved.
Jeff
Jelliot:
If your on general stuff on the south and east side of the country expect to get between $900 and $1300 take home per week, but you’re expected to work for it.Jeff…
'kin oath.
More generally, this documentary aired on the ABC (Australian equivalent of the Beeb) last night:
“This Trucking Life”
I’m not saying it’s 100% kosher but as far as I’m concerned it’s not a bad summary of the state of play here. Of course other parties will offer different opinions, though I’ll be [zb]ed if I ever give house room to the mouthpiece from the ALC (Australian Logistics Council), nor Peter Garske (Quld Transport Association) for his blatant propaganda denying the blindingly obvious link between rubbish rates and fatigue (“We have no evidence and nobody has brought to the tribunal any solid, factual data or evidence that pay is linked to causation” Truckies hit back at Four Corners' claims - ABC News). When I took a breath and thought back, I realised there was no-one from the TWU (Transport Workers Union) on the programme, not even a statement. Then I remembered the TWU are a pale shadow of their former self, a gutless, useless bunch of blowhards whose membership fees are too expensive for truck drivers on a typical wage - if that doesn’t qualify as irony I don’t know what does.
What most gets under my skin are the number of incidents where drivers get kicked from backside to breakfast (I’m not saying some don’t deserve it) but the companies and operators get off without a scratch. Same old, same old.
So if you think this place is a land of milk and honey, think again.
One national set of rules for all states, EXCEPT WA
Good, NOTHING good has ever come from the east to WA.
ParkRoyal2100:
Jelliot:
If your on general stuff on the south and east side of the country expect to get between $900 and $1300 take home per week, but you’re expected to work for it.Jeff…
'kin oath.
More generally, this documentary aired on the ABC (Australian equivalent of the Beeb) last night:
“This Trucking Life”
Four Corners - ABC News
I’m not saying it’s 100% kosher but as far as I’m concerned it’s not a bad summary of the state of play here. Of course other parties will offer different opinions, though I’ll be [zb]ed if I ever give house room to the mouthpiece from the ALC (Australian Logistics Council), nor Peter Garske (Quld Transport Association) for his blatant propaganda denying the blindingly obvious link between rubbish rates and fatigue (“We have no evidence and nobody has brought to the tribunal any solid, factual data or evidence that pay is linked to causation” Truckies hit back at Four Corners' claims - ABC News). When I took a breath and thought back, I realised there was no-one from the TWU (Transport Workers Union) on the programme, not even a statement. Then I remembered the TWU are a pale shadow of their former self, a gutless, useless bunch of blowhards whose membership fees are too expensive for truck drivers on a typical wage - if that doesn’t qualify as irony I don’t know what does.What most gets under my skin are the number of incidents where drivers get kicked from backside to breakfast (I’m not saying some don’t deserve it) but the companies and operators get off without a scratch. Same old, same old.
So if you think this place is a land of milk and honey, think again.
Tnx for posting the link , same ■■■■ different country , good viewing all the same .
Once again it was the big 2 ( Woolworths and Coles ) supermarkets that were behind the scenes telling the government what to do, then the guy with the real power stepped in ( independent MP Eric Abetz ) and threw all the hard work out the window. Mean while yesterday the Australia government announced that from 2017 it would be the end of car manufacturing in the country with around 50,0000 direct jobs lost. Well done the faceless Abbot government your really making your mark. ( not that any of the other ones did any better)…
Jeff…
I fail to see how the withdrawal of Ford, Holden and Toyota manufacturing is the govt’s fault. They’ve failed to see the writing on the wall. Large car sales have been declining for fifteen years yet they continue to build six cylinder gas guzzlers that ppl just don’t want anymore. Further when Toyota tried to renegotiate with its work force the union blocked the attempt with a high court ban-whom will the shop stewards represent now?
We have no union representation, a few years back during the last major recession we were given the choice to accept a three day week or some of the workers would loose their job-we opted for the three day week, but other places with union reps weren’t allowed a vote and so some ppl lost their jobs.