Priority will be given to learners who need the heavy vehicle licence for work and are hired by companies that have lorries with speed limiters installed. - Photo: ST
SINGAPORE: The Traffic Police (TP) will from September 2025 begin rolling out three licence classes for those looking to drive heavy vehicles with automatic transmission.
The three new licence classes will complement three existing ones – Class 4A, Class 4 and Class 5 – whose holders can drive both manual and automatic heavy vehicles.
The new automatic licence classes are:
- Class 4P: For driving automatic transmission Class 4 vehicles that exceed 2,500kg
- Class 5P: For driving automatic transmission Class 5 vehicles which exceed 7,250kg
- Class 4AP: For driving automatic transmission Class 4A vehicles or omnibuses. These are restricted to public transport operators.
The roll-out will begin on Sept 1 with lessons for Class 4P at the Singapore Safety Driving Centre (SSDC) in Woodlands on an invitation basis, said the TP in a statement on Friday (June 6).
Individuals enrolled at the SSDC and waiting for Class 4 lessons will be among those invited to enrol for Class 4P.
Priority will be given to learners who need the licence for work and are employed by companies that have lorries with speed limiters installed, said the TP, to encourage early installation of the speed limiters and improve road safety.
From Jan 1, 2026, older heavy vehicles registered before 2018 with a maximum laden weight between 5,001kg and 12,000kg must be equipped with speed limiters in order to be approved for use in Singapore.
By July 1, 2027, all lorries, including newer ones and lighter ones with a maximum laden weight between 3,501kg and 5,000kg, will need to be equipped with speed limiters that do not allow the vehicle to go beyond 60kmh.
While the number of lorries that would have to install the mandatory speed limiters came to around 17,000 as at the end of 2024, only 50 had done so, said Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam in a written parliamentary reply in January 2025.
Class 5P lessons will follow, with application by the public to also open on Sept 1. No date has been set for when these lessons will begin.
Applicants for the 5P lessons should have a valid Class 4 or, in due course, Class 4P, licence.
Those who are applying for the Class 4P licence, on the other hand, should already have a valid Class 3, 3A, 3C or 3CA licence and have passed eyesight, practical and theory tests.
Lessons for the new automatic licence classes will cost the same as those for the manual licence of the same classes.
At the SSDC, the fee for one Class 4 practical lesson is listed as S$164.59 for off-peak hours and S$175.49 for peak hours.
The SSDC at Woodlands Industrial Park is currently the only driving school that will offer lessons for the new licence classes as it is the only one equipped with infrastructure for heavy vehicle training and testing. - The Straits Times/ANN
