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School of Trades & Practical Skills

Professional Driving Pathways: commercial licences and safety

Step 7 of 7 in The Workshop

This is the last course in this building's path. All learning paths

What you'll be able to do
  • Read Ontario's commercial licence map (classes A, A restricted, B, C, D, E, F and the Z air brake endorsement) and pick the class a job needs.
  • Explain the path to a commercial licence: age, medical, knowledge and road tests, Class A mandatory training and the manual transmission rule.
  • Explain the medical, vision and hearing standards for commercial drivers and what happens if a medical report is late.
  • Lead a daily (circle check) inspection and know which papers a truck driver must carry.
  • Read and check a daily log against the hours-of-service limits, and know when an electronic logging device is needed.
  • Explain how an operator's CVOR safety record works and how each driver builds a safety culture.
  • Mentor a new driver and run a short safety briefing that a team can follow.

Before this course: Defensive & Winter Driving: hazards and bad weather (course 12.5.3). You already know defensive driving, sharing the road with trucks, fatigue, bad weather, winter and emergencies in a car. This Expert course is about driving as a profession: the commercial licences, the rules professional drivers live by, and how to lead and teach others. It uses only ontario.ca pages from the Ministry of Transportation (MTO), including the Official MTO Truck Handbook. Every number is shown with the year of the page it comes from, or the year it was checked (2026). The Truck Handbook's contents page was last updated in August 2022, so always compare it with the newer ontario.ca pages, which win if they differ. This is education only, not legal advice: confirm rules with the MTO, DriveTest or your employer's safety department, and train only with an approved school.

Words in this course 46Open the Vocabulary Hall
01

The commercial licence map

In simple words

Before this course: Defensive & Winter Driving (course 12.5.3). A Class G licence is like a ticket for the small rides at a fair. Bigger rides, like a big truck or a bus full of children, need their own special ticket, and each ticket says exactly which rides you may go on.

Key facts
  • To apply for a truck or bus licence you must hold a valid Ontario licence other than G1, G2, M, M1 or M2 (ontario.ca, 2026).
ClassWhat it lets you drive (ontario.ca, 2026)Minimum age (2026)
AAny truck or tractor-trailer combination, combinations where the towed vehicle is over 4,600 kg with air brakes, double trailers; also Class D trucks and Class G vehicles. Not buses with passengers.18
A restricted (A/R)Smaller truck-trailer combinations such as recreational, horse or utility trailers; also Class D trucks and Class G vehicles. No air-brake trailers, full-size tractor-trailers or double trailers.18
DTrucks over 11,000 kg, and combinations over 11,000 kg where the towed vehicle is 4,600 kg or less; also Class G vehicles.18
BSchool buses with more than 24 passengers; also classes C, D, E, F and G.21
ESchool buses with up to 24 passengers; also classes F and G.21
CRegular (non-school) buses with more than 24 passengers; also classes D, F and G.18
FRegular buses with up to 24 passengers, for example a 15-passenger van or an ambulance; also Class G.18
  • Z endorsement: you need an air brake (Z) endorsement on your licence to drive a vehicle with air brakes or air-over-hydraulic brakes (ontario.ca, 2026).
  • A towed vehicle over 4,600 kg needs Class A or A restricted, not Class D (ontario.ca, 2026).
  • Commercial drivers must have no alcohol or drugs in their system under Ontario's zero tolerance rules (ontario.ca bus licence page, 2026).
Step by step
  1. Write down the job you want: what vehicle, how heavy, how many passengers, and whether it has air brakes.
  2. Use the table: is it a truck (A, A/R, D) or a bus (B, C, E, F)?
  3. For trucks, check the weight: over 11,000 kg is Class D; a towed vehicle over 4,600 kg means Class A or A/R (2026 figures).
  4. For buses, check two things: school bus or not, and more or fewer than 24 passengers (2026 figures).
  5. Ask: does the vehicle have air brakes? If yes, add the Z endorsement.
  6. Note the minimum age for that class (18 or 21 in 2026).
  7. Check: you can name the class and endorsement for three jobs, for example a city bus, a dump truck and a tractor-trailer.
Watch on YouTube
How to get a commercial AZ or DZ truck licence in OntarioFriendly Truck Driving School · YouTube · youtube.com

Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.

LESSON 01The commercial licence map
LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:10
Read the video script
[Host next to a city bus and a dump truck] "Every big vehicle in Ontario has its own licence class. Pick the wrong one and you are not licensed for the job."
[Text on screen: Trucks: A, A/R, D. Buses: B, C, E, F (ontario.ca, 2026)] "Trucks use classes A, A restricted and D. Buses use B, C, E and F."
[Text on screen: Over 11,000 kg = D. Towing over 4,600 kg = A (2026)] "In 2026, a truck over 11,000 kilograms is Class D. Towing more than 4,600 kilograms needs Class A."
[Screen: air brake chamber under a trailer] "Air brakes? Add the Z endorsement."
[Host] "Know your class before you take the job."
Try it now

Make a one-page "licence map" for five local jobs (for example a school bus driver, a delivery truck driver, a tow-truck driver, an ambulance driver and a long-haul driver). For each, write the class, whether a Z endorsement is likely needed, and the minimum age, with the year of the facts.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Professional Driving Pathways: commercial licences and safety" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "The commercial licence map".

What the lesson teaches:
- To apply for a truck or bus licence you must hold a valid Ontario licence other than G1, G2, M, M1 or M2 (ontario.ca, 2026).
- Class - What it lets you drive (ontario.ca, 2026) - Minimum age (2026)
- A - Any truck or tractor-trailer combination, combinations where the towed vehicle is over 4,600 kg with air brakes, double trailers; also Class D trucks and Class G vehicles. Not buses with passengers. - 18
- A restricted (A/R) - Smaller truck-trailer combinations such as recreational, horse or utility trailers; also Class D trucks and Class G vehicles. No air-brake trailers, full-size tractor-trailers or double trailers. - 18
- D - Trucks over 11,000 kg, and combinations over 11,000 kg where the towed vehicle is 4,600 kg or less; also Class G vehicles. - 18
- B - School buses with more than 24 passengers; also classes C, D, E, F and G. - 21
- E - School buses with up to 24 passengers; also classes F and G. - 21

The exercise I'm working on:
Make a one-page "licence map" for five local jobs (for example a school bus driver, a delivery truck driver, a tow-truck driver, an ambulance driver and a long-haul driver). For each, write the class, whether a Z endorsement is likely needed, and the minimum age, with the year of the facts.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.
I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "The commercial licence map" from the course "Professional Driving Pathways: commercial licences and safety".

Here's what the lesson says:
Before this course: Defensive & Winter Driving (course 12.5.3). A Class G licence is like a ticket for the small rides at a fair. Bigger rides, like a big truck or a bus full of children, need their own special ticket, and each ticket says exactly which rides you may go on.

The activity:
Make a one-page "licence map" for five local jobs (for example a school bus driver, a delivery truck driver, a tow-truck driver, an ambulance driver and a long-haul driver). For each, write the class, whether a Z endorsement is likely needed, and the minimum age, with the year of the facts.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.
Open Claude
Sources
My notes
02

Getting licensed: training, tests and endorsements

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

03

Fit to drive: medical, vision and hearing standards

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

04

The daily inspection and the papers you carry

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

05

Hours of service and the daily log

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

06

Safety culture and the CVOR record

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

07

Leading and teaching other drivers

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

++

Final project

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

??

Quiz

  1. In Ontario (2026), which licence class covers a truck over 11,000 kg towing 4,600 kg or less?

  2. What does the Z endorsement allow?

  3. In Ontario (2026), what is the difference between Class B and Class C?

  4. In Ontario (2026), how many hours must Class A mandatory entry-level training have at minimum?

  5. How often must a 50-year-old commercial driver in Ontario file a medical report (2026)?

  6. What happens if a commercial driver's medical report is not filed on time in Ontario (2026)?

  7. What must happen if the daily inspection finds a major defect?

  8. How long is a daily inspection good for, according to the MTO Truck Handbook (2022)?

  9. What are the handbook's daily driving and on-duty limits (2022)?

  10. What does the CVOR record track?

  11. Why does each driver's behaviour matter to the company?

  12. What are the three steps of teaching a new skill in this course?

EX

Final exam

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

CE

Certificate

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.