How hard is it for an American to be hired as a truck driver in Australia?

No mate, I'm 36 so that rules me out for the working holiday visa, I should have went years ago but like a lot of people here I thought I was getting rich when the banks here were shoving cheap money down our throats and buying trucks left, right and centre. That was great right up until the economy stopped, Ahh well we live and learn! I still have one truck and reefer but I would gladly give it up if I got work in Australia .

 

Depends on how bad a boy you've been Josh. Made a mathematical error on one page in the "Dear Diary" and drove for 1 hour more than I should have...*tsk tsk*. ######## up there near the QLD border check station (forgot the name but I'm sure you'll know the one) picked it up and ended up costing $250, but fortunately no demerit points lost.

I reckon thats b/s a logbook mistake now takes up demerit points....but remember its all about "Road $afety" isn't it......

 

Interesting thread as I sometimes thought about moving to Australia from the US and wondered how to go by this but my wife and kid aren't on the same page. Sometimes wonder if were even reading the same book.

 

Yeah they've changed the rules abit in QLD i'm pretty sure now that you will get a fine and lose demerit points , I remember way back in the years when i drove in NSW i got pulled over, well actually they followed me into the companies yard, i had no clearance lights working fortunately my break lights were working they looked at my log book and noticed all the pages i hadn't filled in properly if they wanted too they could of wrote up a fine for ever page, it would of cost me $thousands however cause i co-opertated with the DOT they just wrote up a defect for the trailer all it needed was a new plug anyways i went straight home that night and got the ruler out and put a line through every page it was either that or accidently drop it in a puddle of water.

 

hi aussiejosh, i am looking to work in the usa with my partner as a team driving all over the states, can u recommend a company that takes on aussies or have any other advice you can give me about how to go about this?

 

Lupe thanks for your interest in Australian trucking the truth to that matter Lupe is things are alot tougher over here thats why Aussie drivers love driving in the USA after what we put up with over here after driving long haul in the USA i'd never ever go back to driving on the roads in Australia having said that , thats just my opinion i've seen both sides of the coin or boths sides of the Pacific however if you have a sence of adventure and you really love the great outdoors then by all means "come on down" the true aussie experience can only be found in the outback everyone is fair dinkum true blue you've got to see it to beleive it. OH just some of the local lingo if you are coming over so you won't be bamboozled by our speech either that or buy an ozzie phraze book. 1. Donk (engine or motor) 2. Prang,bingle (car accident) que (line) dunny thunder box (toilet, bathroom) Capsicium (red or green peppers) rubbish (trash or garbage) Petrol Station ( Gas Station) Gas (LPG) Chips (fries only thicker) take away (to go) oh you get the idea we say things abit different and if we talk really fast it will throw you abit, i know cause i have fun understanding either Irish or Scottish accents.

 

G'day mate well a few of us went over to the USA back in 05/06 but that was in the boom we went through TruckersforUSA they got all the permits and visas organized for us all we had to do basically was go to the consulate for an interview , your up for around $200 + non refundable fee paid at auspost you will have to get online and make an appointment through visa point hey i just thought of an idea i should offer a service to do that, anyways boy i'm getting carried away here but this does give you some idea of what you up against the companies usually want you to have a pretty squeeky clean record as well for insurance reasons , anyway theres lots more i could mention 3 companies come to mind that did hire aussie drivers and had the H2b visas approved were Calark , Freymiller, and LW Miller there all on the internet as well check there sites out on the employment applications and you'll get an idea as to how many fines and infringements you can / can't have.

 

I Got off the hook a few years back pretty lightly i got called in to the DOT UTAH I-15 near Brigham City i was called in for a level 1 inspection that was just all my paper work including licience health cirtificate log book truck & trailer rego Bill of lading (BOL) i go into the office of course i never bring paper work in unless asked so i head back to my truck after being informed of the level 1 inspection i race frantically to fill out my log book which i hadn't updated since earlier that morning it was now about 00:15 in the morning after racing through my log the way i filled it out it turn out i was exactly 5 minutes over on my 11 hrs so they shut me down for 8 hrs no fine thank goodness but i learnt a valuable lesson that day never pass a DOT port of entry with out updating your logs

 

Well do you want to hear the good or the bad news first? i'll give you the good news first, yes it is quite possible to get a driving job in Australia especially in the mining industry at the moment there literally screaming out for Dump truck operators in Coal or Gold mining areas. However as far as good weather mate i've got bad news unless your driving down in Tasmania its pretty hot in most parts of Australia especially in the summer if you've been to Nevada,Arizona, or New Mexico thats what most parts of Australia are like the east coast is more greener and especially up north of Rocky (Rockhamton) where you get the tropical weather very very humid the further north you venture. My advice to you is if you like the good life your better off in the USA however if you like doing things rough and can handle the pitiful truck stops we have over here the almost 3rd world road conditions then by all means come on down.

 

Thanks Aussiejosh, are any of those mining companies starting to sponsor drivers yet or is it still hard to get sponsored as a driver?