Young Australian driver wanting to drive uk

Hi, my name is Tristan and I want to do a working holiday in the uk driving a truck. Here in Australia I have a heavy combination licence (HC) which I think is equivalent to you hgv my licence entitles me to drive a truck with a semi trailer. I have done some research my licence will cover me to drive a car on the uk but not a truck, my question is, is it hard to get hgv process involved in getting it ie do I need to get a ridged licence first then hgv etc. how much would it cost? Bearing in mind that I do already have that class of licence in Australia. Also what is the likely hood of getting work once in in the uk ie are companies hesitant to put foreigners on age restrictions for insurance etc. any answers would be greatly appreciated.

Hi

The process is reasonably complicated - but simple enough if you speak to a good trainer as they will look after each step for you.

Medical
Apply for licence exchange (car) and provisional LGV
Study for theory tests
Take theory tests (3)
Train for CAT C (rigid) licence
Pass CAT C test
Train for Practical driver cpc
Pass Practical driver cpc test
Train for CE (artic or drawbar combination - same licence)
Pass CE test
Get a job

Approx cost - start to finish £3000. Could be less if you can impress the trainer with your prior knowledge (I am not being sarcastic though it sounds it!).

All the best, Pete :laughing: :laughing:

Tristan.stoneman1:
Hi, my name is Tristan and I want to do a working holiday in the uk driving a truck. Here in Australia I have a heavy combination licence (HC) which I think is equivalent to you hgv my licence entitles me to drive a truck with a semi trailer. I have done some research my licence will cover me to drive a car on the uk but not a truck, my question is, is it hard to get hgv process involved in getting it ie do I need to get a ridged licence first then hgv etc. how much would it cost? Bearing in mind that I do already have that class of licence in Australia. Also what is the likely hood of getting work once in in the uk ie are companies hesitant to put foreigners on age restrictions for insurance etc. any answers would be greatly appreciated.

Before you even start looking into licenses you will first need to find out if you can get a visa and a work permit. I suspect you will find this impossible.

Right the process of getting a UK HGV license is as follows.

Step 1, get a doctor to fill out a D4 form (you can download it from DVLA’s [British Body who look after driving licences] website.) Send it off with a British car license and a D2 form (which you fill out yourself) to get your provisional HGV entitlement. Although you can do it later this is also a good time to apply for a digital techograph card.

Step 2, Book the three required theory tests (Hazard Perception, HGV Theory & CPC Mod2). The HGV theory test and hazard perception tests have to be passed before you can take the practical test. The Mod 2 can be left till afterwards.

Step 3, Do your class C (Rigid) training and test, most people can train in about 4 days. You will also need to do you CPC Mod 4 test which is a practical test where you have to answer questions while pointing at a lorry.

Step 4, Wait for the DVLA to process your pass and issue you a new license.

Step 5, Do your class C+E (artic) training and test.

The trouble is I don’t think you will be able to start the ball rolling unless you’re living in the UK. So you will need to either get other work or have enough money to keep yourself going for several months.

EDIT: If you are doing step one tick the boxes for provisonal HGV and PSV licenses. There’s no extra cost and it saves you repeating the process if you ever make the switch to driving coaches or buses.

KCLeblanc:

Tristan.stoneman1:
Before you even start looking into licenses you will first need to find out if you can get a visa and a work permit. I suspect you will find this impossible.

Without meaning any disrespect, I certainly hope this is the case. After all, the Australians have done the same to us Brits who would dearly love to move to Australia and work as truck drivers over there. It would be grossly unfair if Australians are able to come the the UK and work as truck drivers here without any reciprocal arrangements.

ORC:

KCLeblanc:

Tristan.stoneman1:
Before you even start looking into licenses you will first need to find out if you can get a visa and a work permit. I suspect you will find this impossible.

Without meaning any disrespect, I certainly hope this is the case. After all, the Australians have done the same to us Brits who would dearly love to move to Australia and work as truck drivers over there. It would be grossly unfair if Australians are able to come the the UK and work as truck drivers here without any reciprocal arrangements.

Yeah mate I totally agree with you, I’ve looked into the visa side of things I can apply for a “working holiday” visa which allows me to work in the uk for 18 months this is reciprocal so uk citizens can do the same in Australia, I’m also able to apply for an “ancestory” visa because my grandfather immigrated to Australia from England which will allow me to work for 5 years. I’m not sure how easy/hard either one of these visa’s are to apply for but I guess I will find out.

Tristan,

You should also be aware that you must be resident in the UK for 185 days before being presented for a Driving Test. You may apply for your Vocational Provisional Driving Licence and also sit your relevant computer tests within the 185 days however.

Yeah mate I totally agree with you, I’ve looked into the visa side of things I can apply for a “working holiday” visa which allows me to work in the uk for 18 months this is reciprocal so uk citizens can do the same in Australia, I’m also able to apply for an “ancestory” visa because my grandfather immigrated to Australia from England which will allow me to work for 5 years. I’m not sure how easy/hard either one of these visa’s are to apply for but I guess I will find out.

If it’s anything like when I did a working holiday in Australia it’s a simple as showing them a bank statement saying you have ■■ £ to support you. Then you could work in any one job for a maximum of three months. However, this was back in 2000 so things may have changed a little since then.

I’m a little suprised you have to resit the tests completely. I would check with the DVLA or DVSA (not sure which would be relevant) to check it can’t just be converted prior to shelling out a few grand.