Class 3 truck driver: pay in Quebec and Greater Montreal
A Class 3 truck driver operates a straight truck: one single unit, cab and body on the same frame, with no semi-trailer behind it. Around Greater Montreal that means pickup and delivery between warehouses, plants and retailers, and bringing the truck back to the yard at night. This page covers pay region by region, shifts, SAAQ requirements and the handling the job involves.
- Quebec median
- $25.20/h
- Range
- $19.45 – $34.50/h
- Montreal
- $23.68/h
Guichet-Emplois (Job Bank), edition 2025 · CNP 73300
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Class 3 truck driver pay, region by region
| Region | Low | Median | High | vs Quebec | Offered in postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All of Quebec | $19.45 | $25.20 | $34.50 | — | — |
| Montérégie | $19.75 | $25 | $33 | −1% | $29.25 (236) |
| Montréal | $16.15 | $23.68 | $33.75 | −6% | $28 (174) |
| Laval | $19.75 | $25 | $35.20 | −1% | $30 (58) |
| Lanaudière | $20 | $27 | $36 | +7% | $26.72 (64) |
| Laurentides | $21.50 | $27 | $36.06 | +7% | $28.95 (105) |
This table measures NOC 73300, transport truck drivers. One group holds both the driver of a straight truck and the driver pulling a semi-trailer, so the wages shown blend Class 3 with Class 1. Statistics Canada leaves out delivery drivers (75201), truck driver helpers (75211), truck dispatchers (14404) and road transport supervisors (72024).
Low, median and high wages published by Job Bank (NOC 73300), and pay offered in Greater Montreal job postings (6 months, February to August 2026); in brackets, the number of hourly postings — under ten, no median is shown.
Quebec median by file edition: 2023: $24/h · 2024: $25/h · 2025: $25.20/h.
What the job postings say
Of 680 postings on Job Bank in Greater Montreal (6 months, February to August 2026), 10% mention a night shift, 11% an evening shift and 9% weekends.
Local pickup and delivery starts early: the truck is loaded in the yard before the first stop and the day ends when the run sheet is done. The driver sleeps at home. That difference from long haul carries a precise regulatory consequence. The Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations waive the electronic logging device, at section 77, for a driver who stays within a 160 km radius of the home terminal and returns there each day to take at least 8 consecutive hours off duty, provided the carrier keeps accurate and legible records of those hours. Many straight-truck jobs fit inside that bubble; a single day outside it brings the daily log back. Evenings, nights and weekends exist too, mostly on retail replenishment and in food distribution.
What a class 3 truck driver does
- Drive a straight truck, dry van, dump body, flatbed or tank, on roads across Greater Montreal and the neighbouring regions.
- Run the pre-trip inspection before leaving the yard and write down any defect found on the vehicle.
- Load in reverse order of the stops, so each delivery comes out without shifting the rest of the load.
- Unload by hand, with a hand truck, a pallet jack or the tailgate lift, often alone, at customers with no dock.
- Secure the freight and check that weight stays within the permitted limit per axle.
- Work through the day’s run sheet: pickups, number of stops, appointment times at customer sites.
- Get delivery slips signed, take back returns and collect pallets that carry a deposit.
- Warn dispatch of a delay, a refused shipment or a business closed on arrival.
- Keep the hours of service record, or let the carrier keep the logs instead when the 160 km radius exemption applies.
- Bring the truck back, fuel it, keep the box clean and report to the shop whatever needs repair.
Requirements, cards and certifications
- A SAAQ Class 3 licence, issued to someone who has held a valid Class 5 licence for at least 2 years.
- A clean driving record: fewer than 4 demerit points, no licence suspended or revoked in the past 2 years.
- A medical examination report meeting SAAQ health standards, filed before you even sit the knowledge test.
- The F endorsement as soon as the truck has air brakes, and the M endorsement if it has a manual transmission.
- The physical condition for handling: straight trucks are often unloaded by hand, with a hand truck or a pallet jack.
- Forklift training under section 256.3 of the Règlement sur la santé et la sécurité du travail, Quebec’s health and safety regulation, when a delivery involves a lift truck.
- A transportation of dangerous goods training certificate when the load calls for one.
Training
No program is required before the Class 3 exams, and that is the real difference from Class 1. The SAAQ route starts with the medical report, then the knowledge test, passed at 75 %, which yields a learner’s licence valid 18 months. A learning period follows before the road tests: 3 months as a rule, cut to 1 month for anyone 25 or older, for anyone who has held a Class 5 licence for 60 months or more, and for anyone enrolled in an eligible training program. All practice happens with an accompanying driver whose licence carries the same endorsements as the vehicle. Two practical exams close it out: the pre-trip inspection test, where you describe each check out loud, and the road test, which includes a backing manoeuvre. For those who want a structured path, the SAAQ names the Conduite de camions porteurs program, taught at the Centre de formation en transport de Charlesbourg and the Centre de formation du transport routier de Saint-Jérôme. The DEP Transport par camion, a Quebec vocational diploma, program 5291, 615 hours (Inforoute FPT), aims higher: it leads to Class 1, which in turn covers the straight truck.
Career path
The straight truck is often the first rung of heavy transport: many drivers spend their first years on it, then add Class 1 for semi-trailer work. Others stay and specialize: tank, temperature-controlled freight, dangerous goods, dedicated service to a single account. Dispatch, driver training and road transport supervision wait for those who want to leave the wheel; the National Occupational Classification files them under codes other than this one.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Class 3 truck driver?
It is the driver of a straight truck, a single-unit vehicle. The SAAQ puts trucks of 3 or more axles in that class, along with 2-axle trucks whose net mass reaches 4,500 kg. The typical work is pickup and delivery over a short radius, with a fair amount of handling at every stop.
How much does a Class 3 truck driver make in Quebec?
The table on this page gives the low, median and high hourly wage Job Bank publishes for the occupation, for Quebec and then for each Greater Montreal region, next to what job postings offer. Keep in mind that it blends straight trucks with semi-trailers, since both licence classes share one code. Handling and overtime then shape what actually lands on the cheque.
What is a Class 1 truck driver?
It is the driver allowed to pull one or more semi-trailers with a road tractor. If you are aiming at the straight truck, what matters is the order of the classes: Class 1 covers Class 3, and not the other way round. Class 1 also requires a training program before the exams, where Class 3 asks only for a learning period.
How much does a Class 3 course cost in Quebec?
It depends on the route, because no course is mandatory for Class 3. You may sit the SAAQ exams at the end of the learning period, with an accompanying driver, without going through a school at all. The SAAQ publishes the fees for the tests and for adding the class; training centres set their own, which vary from one to another.
What training do you need for a Class 3 licence in Quebec?
The SAAQ requires no training before the Class 3 exams. You need the medical report, the knowledge test, then a learning period of 3 months, cut to 1 month if you are 25 or older, if you have held a Class 5 licence for 60 months, or if you are enrolled in an eligible program. The structured path the SAAQ names is Conduite de camions porteurs.
What does Class 3 mean on a Quebec driver’s licence?
Class 3 authorizes the straight truck: 3 or more axles, or 2 axles with a net mass of at least 4,500 kg. It also lets you tow a trailer under 2,000 kg and move an unhitched road tractor. It does not cover a combination of road vehicles, a bus seating more than 24 passengers, or a motorcycle.
What is a dump truck driver, and is it the same job?
A dump truck driver hauls bulk, soil, stone, aggregate or waste, and unloads by raising the body. The National Occupational Classification counts that driver among transport truck drivers, alongside the others, so the same wage table applies. This page describes industrial work, warehouse, plant and fleet, not construction sites governed by the Commission de la construction du Québec.
Can a Class 3 driver run long distance?
Yes. Class 3 limits the vehicle, not the length of the run, and a straight truck can stay out for hours. But the moment a day leaves the 160 km radius of the home terminal, or the daily return does not happen, the exemption at section 77 of the hours of service regulations lapses and the daily log becomes mandatory again.
Can you get a Class 3 licence with no truck experience?
Yes, provided you have held a Class 5 licence for 2 years, show fewer than 4 demerit points and no suspension in the past 2 years. A young driver still on a probationary licence can shorten that wait through the SAAQ’s Programme enrichi d’accès à la conduite de véhicules lourds, which requires a recognized training centre and an employer whose safety rating is satisfactory.
What is the difference between a Class 3 driver and a delivery driver?
The weight of the vehicle settles it. A delivery driver runs a van or a light truck, below the threshold that triggers the Class 3 requirement. Statistics Canada gives them two separate codes, 75201 for delivery and 73300 for transport trucks, so two sets of published wages. The table on this page measures only the second.
What is a straight truck, exactly?
It is a truck whose cab and cargo body sit on one frame, so nothing detaches at the dock. A semi-trailer, by contrast, is pulled by a separate tractor and can be dropped and left loaded. That single detail explains the shape of the job: the driver waits through loading and unloading rather than swapping trailers and rolling on.
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