- Bring originals of every licence and ticket — they'll want to photocopy them.
- Be ready to talk about a near-miss and what you learned.
- Know the company's main routes, customers and trailer types before you arrive.
- Expect a practical assessment — yard reverse, coupling, load restraint demo.
Do your homework
Spend ten minutes on the company website and Google. Know what they haul, where they run, and roughly how big the fleet is. Ask intelligent questions: 'Are you mostly linehaul or distribution?', 'What's the average tenure of your linehaul drivers?'.
Common questions
Expect: 'Walk me through your driving history', 'Tell me about a time you had a near-miss', 'What would you do if dispatch asked you to keep driving when you were over hours?', 'How do you secure a load on a flat-top?'.
Answer honestly. Experienced transport managers can tell when a driver is making it up.
The practical assessment
Most operators run a yard test — a reverse into a dock, a coupling check, and sometimes an on-road drive. Take your time, narrate what you're doing, and use your mirrors. Safety beats speed every time.
Money and rosters
It's fine to ask about cents per km, hourly rates, overtime, rosters and PPE. Ask whether penalty rates, allowances and night-shift loadings are paid as per the Road Transport Award. Get the offer in writing before you resign your current role.