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INLong Distance Operations Award Pay Calculator
Work out what a week of long-haul driving actually pays — the right vehicle grade, the industry disability and overtime loadings already built into the driving rate, and super, calculated the way the award says.
How the Long Distance Operations Award is applied
- This calculator models the hourly driving method (clause 16.5) — the calculator uses the Schedule A hourly driving rates, current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026, for whichever grade you select.
- The hourly driving rate already has two loadings built in: an industry disability allowance (1.3x) covering weekend work, night driving, roadside meals and irregular hours, and an overtime allowance (1.2x) covering an assumed 2 hours in every 10 at double time — so don’t add a separate weekend penalty or overtime multiplier on top of it.
- The cents-per-kilometre (CPK) method (clause 16.4) is the award’s other, and default, pay method: multiply kilometres travelled by the CPK rate for the vehicle grade (55.00¢/km at Grade 3 up to 62.34¢/km at Grade 10). The minimum driving rate is whichever of CPK or hourly is higher for the trip — this calculator doesn’t take a distance input, so use the hourly method here and cross-check a CPK trip payment separately if that’s how your drivers are paid.
- Casual loading on the driving rate is 15%, not the usual 25% (clause 11.1) — because the CPK/hourly rates already carry the disability and overtime loadings, the casual premium on top is smaller.
- Full-time and part-time drivers have a guaranteed minimum fortnightly payment of twice the weekly classification rate (clause 16.2), regardless of how the CPK/hourly math comes out in a slow fortnight.
- Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings under the driving rate — but the built-in overtime component (the 1.2x factor) is itself part of the ordinary hourly rate for super purposes, since this award doesn’t pay a separate overtime rate on top; the trap is assuming a "driving rate" job has no super obligation on the loaded components, when in fact almost the whole rate is ordinary-time earnings.
Who the award covers
- Interstate truck drivers, and drivers on any return journey over 500km, carrying materials or livestock
- Grade 3–10 rigid, articulated, B-double and road train drivers on long-distance runs
- Drivers paid by the hour, by cents-per-kilometre, or a mix of both
- On-hire long-distance drivers placed by a labour-hire business
- Group-training trainees engaged in long-distance transport work
A driver temporarily doing local (non-long-distance) runs is covered by the Road Transport and Distribution Award instead while doing that work — this award only applies once the job is genuinely a long-distance operation (interstate, or a return trip over 500km).
Which level is your team member?
Long-distance drivers are graded 3 to 10 (this award doesn’t use Grades 1–2) purely by the vehicle: axles, gross combination mass and carrying capacity. There’s no supervision or experience test — classify by the biggest, heaviest combination the driver is actually rostered to pull.
| Level | Per hour | Per week (38h) | Typical roles | The test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | $41.25 | $1057.60 | 2-axle rigid vehicle up to 13.9t GVM, capacity up to 8t | The lowest grade this award uses (Grades 1–2 don’t apply here) — a 2-axle rigid truck carrying up to 8 tonnes. |
| Grade 4 | $41.97 | $1076.20 | 3-axle rigid vehicle over 13.9t GVM, capacity 8–12t | A 3-axle rigid vehicle over 13.9 tonnes GVM, carrying over 8 and up to 12 tonnes. |
| Grade 5 | $42.49 | $1089.60 | 4-axle rigid, or rigid-and-trailer/articulated up to 22.4t GCM, capacity over 12t | A 4-axle rigid vehicle, or a rigid-and-heavy-trailer or articulated combination up to 22.4 tonnes GCM. |
| Grade 6 | $42.98 | $1102.00 | Rigid-and-trailer or articulated 22.4–42.5t GCM, or low loader up to 43t, capacity up to 24t | The award’s standard rate grade — a rigid-and-heavy-trailer or articulated combination between 22.4 and 42.5 tonnes GCM. |
| Grade 7 | $43.60 | $1118.00 | Rigid-and-trailer 42.5–53.4t GCM, or double articulated (incl. B-double) up to 53.4t, or low loader over 43t | A heavier combination up to 53.4 tonnes GCM, including standard B-doubles. |
| Grade 8 | $44.87 | $1150.50 | Rigid + trailer(s) or double articulated over 53.4t GCM, or multi-axle trailing equipment up to 70t | A rigid-plus-trailers or double-articulated combination over 53.4 tonnes GCM, or multi-axle trailing equipment up to 70 tonnes capacity. |
| Grade 9 | $45.62 | $1169.70 | Road train or triple articulated vehicle exceeding 94t GCM | A road train or triple-articulated combination over 94 tonnes GCM. |
| Grade 10 | $46.75 | $1198.80 | Multi-axle trailing equipment | The award’s most senior grade — driving multi-axle trailing equipment. |
- Grade 6 is the award’s standard rate and a common middle ground — a rigid-and-trailer or articulated combination between 22.4 and 42.5 tonnes GCM.
- B-doubles generally land at Grade 7 (up to 53.4t GCM) or Grade 8 (heavier combinations and multi-axle trailing gear up to 70t).
- Road trains and triple-articulated vehicles over 94 tonnes GCM are Grade 9; Grade 10 (multi-axle trailing equipment) is the top of the ladder.
- Higher duties apply for the whole day: if a driver pulls a heavier grade of vehicle for any part of a day, the higher grade’s rate applies to all of that day (clause 16.7).
Allowances that can apply on top
Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The Long Distance Operations Award adds allowances for particular duties and situations — being the designated first aid officer, working overtime without notice, using your own car. They’re small lines individually, but they’re legal entitlements and they add up. The common ones (1 July 2026 amounts):
The calculator below doesn’t include allowances — add the ones that apply to your team on top of the result. The full list lives in the award’s allowances clause.
Break entitlements under the Long Distance Operations Award
Breaks are part of the award too — and missed or worked-through breaks usually carry a penalty rate, so they belong in the roster, not just the tea room. Here’s what the Long Distance Operations Award requires:
From the award’s breaks clauses (clauses 13–14). Heavy-vehicle fatigue rules in each state can be stricter — follow whichever is tighter.
Calculate a week under the Long Distance Operations Award
Enter the week as it’s actually rostered. Weekend, evening and public-holiday hours are paid at the award’s penalty rates; anything beyond 38 hours is priced as overtime; super is applied to ordinary-time earnings only.
Rates current as of 1 July 2026 (adult minimums, MA000039) — first full pay period on or after that date.
This week’s numbers
Nothing is stored or sent — the maths runs on this page.
Are these the exact legal rates?
The Schedule A hourly driving rates and clause 16.4 CPK rates are current at 1 July 2026. This award has no age-based junior rate scale — classification is entirely by vehicle grade. Treat the result as a planning number and confirm against the award or your payroll adviser, especially before setting a CPK trip rate.
Why is casual loading only 15% here, when every other award uses 25%?
Because the hourly driving and CPK rates already include a 1.3x industry disability allowance and a 1.2x overtime allowance — those two factors do a lot of the work a casual loading normally does. The award sets the casual top-up at 15% on top of that already-loaded rate (clause 11.1).
How does the cents-per-kilometre method actually work?
You multiply the kilometres actually travelled (or the agreed distance from the award’s route schedule, where the journey is listed) by the CPK rate for the vehicle’s grade — 57.30¢/km at Grade 6, for example. It’s the award’s default method if no method is nominated in writing, and the driver must get whichever is higher: the CPK payment or the hourly-method payment for the same trip.
Does the public holiday loading really work differently here?
Yes — instead of a flat multiplier, the award adds 20% of the weekly rate (30% on Good Friday and Christmas Day) on top of ordinary pay for the hours actually worked that day (clause 25.3), and only when the majority of a journey falls on the public holiday. The calculator approximates this as a bucket multiplier; for an exact figure on a specific trip, calculate the 20%/30% weekly-rate uplift separately and add it to the hours-worked pay.
This is a general calculator, not legal advice. It applies the award’s published adult minimums to the hours you enter — it can’t see your enterprise agreement, allowances or individual arrangements, and junior, apprentice and shiftwork rates differ. Always confirm pay against the award, your agreement or your adviser. If you believe something here is materially wrong or out of date, please contact us — we’ll review it promptly.
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