Hey all!
Great news - courtesy of an Australian Government "Cert 3 Guarantee", I have just started the course "Certificate 3 Driving Operations" which includes a Medium Rigid truck licence (MR is a Truck over 8 ton, no more than 2 axles) at no cost to me, other than the time taken to complete the course. However, I am paying an extra $144 to go to Heavy Rigid, which is over 8 ton, 3 or more axles.
Ans yes, it's a crash box
After a year, I will be able to upgrade again, to HC, heavy combo, which is a proper semi-trailer, and then another year later to MC (multi-combo, B-Doubles/Triples, Road Trains).
So yeah, very exciting time for me, as any clown can go get a licence, but this course teaches all the Australian trucking legislation which realistically is the "real" trucking life - all the #### paper work that goes along with shooting down the highway.
For those interested, this is what is included in the course - https://training.gov.au/Training/Details/TLI31210