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LGV and HGV mean the same thing, and adverts around Chatham use both plus "Class 1" and "Class 2" interchangeably. What decides the work and the rate is the category letter. We will check yours free and match you locally.
LGV jobs around Chatham span three categories: C1 for 3.5—7.5 tonne vehicles, C for rigids over 3.5 tonnes (Class 2) and C+E for artics and drawbars (Class 1). LGV and HGV are the same thing — LGV is just the current official term. All commercial driving over 3.5 tonnes needs a Driver CPC and a digital tachograph card. Rates near Chatham run £13.00—£24.00 an hour by category, paid weekly through PAYE, with no fee to you.
Chatham's industrial story is tied to the former Royal Dockyard, which closed in 1984 and was split into a heritage site, the Chatham Maritime business and university quarter, and the commercial Chatham Docks. The docks estate, around Basin 3 and largely within Gillingham's boundary, is now in transition: Peel Waters is redeveloping it for homes and employment space under plans approved by Medway Council, and port-linked businesses there have faced relocation or job losses. The A289 and the Medway Tunnel link Chatham Maritime to Strood and the M2 at junction 1. Chatham's other established employment area is Lordswood Industrial Estate on Revenge Road, about four miles south of the town centre, where terraced warehouse and workshop units reach M2 junction 3 via Walderslade Woods and the A229. Chatham station, on both the North Kent and Chatham Main Lines, also makes the town a commuting hub.
Chatham's demand is shaped by the redevelopment of Chatham Docks, which is displacing port-linked roles, alongside steadier light-industrial and multi-drop work around Lordswood that follows construction activity and seasonal retail peaks. Sickness, holidays, contract ramp-ups and peak seasons all outpace a fixed driver roster. WSUK fills temporary driving jobs with Class 1 (C+E) drivers for trunking and container work, Class 2 (C) drivers for rigid distribution, 7.5-tonne (C1) drivers, and van and multi-drop drivers. Every driver clears DVLA licence checks, CPC verification and right-to-work before starting, and we run PAYE payroll with tacho and working-time compliance built in.
Job adverts use LGV, HGV, Class 1 and Class 2 interchangeably and inconsistently. The category letter is the only thing that is precise.
The 7.5 tonne box or curtain-sider. Often held automatically by anyone who passed a car test before 1 January 1997. Sometimes advertised as "small LGV".
Any rigid goods vehicle above 3.5 tonnes, typically an 18 or 26 tonne lorry. The industry calls it Class 2, and adverts may say "LGV 2" or "LGV Class 2".
Articulated lorries and rigids with a drawbar trailer. The industry calls it Class 1, and adverts may say "LGV 1". Requires category C first.
WSUK supplies temporary HGV and van drivers across Chatham and Medway, for operators around Chatham Maritime, Chatham Docks and Lordswood Industrial Estate and drivers based in Walderslade, Lordswood, Luton and Rochester. We match driver classes and shift patterns to each operator's routes, delivery windows and compliance needs.
All four terms are in daily use and they overlap confusingly. LGV and HGV are synonyms for the same class of vehicle. Class 1 and Class 2 are industry shorthand for C+E and C respectively, left over from an older licensing system. So "LGV Class 1", "HGV Class 1" and "C+E" are three names for one thing, and an advert using any of them wants the same entitlement. If you are unsure what you hold, send us a DVLA check code and we will read the categories for you.
Indicative PAYE rates as a guide — actual pay varies by shift, experience and site, with premiums for nights, weekends and bank holidays. Every rate we advertise is at or above the National Living Wage.
| Role | Indicative pay |
|---|---|
| C1 (7.5 tonne) Driver | £13.00–£15.00 / hr |
| Category C / LGV 2 Driver | £16.00–£20.00 / hr |
| Category C+E / LGV 1 Driver | £18.00–£24.00 / hr |
| LGV 1 Night Trunk | £19.00–£26.00 / hr |
| LGV Driver with ADR | £19.00–£25.00 / hr |
This page is for drivers working out what they hold, what an advert is actually asking for, and which category is worth adding next.
We will tell you what your licence actually entitles you to before you waste applications on jobs it does not cover.
From application to your first shift, with the checks and the payroll handled for you.
Tell us your licence, tickets and which shifts you can actually work.
A named consultant calls within 2 working hours to talk through what fits.
Right-to-work, references and the site induction handled before you start.
Start on shift, then paid weekly through PAYE with holiday accrued.
C+E (Class 1) is usually the hardest to fill and therefore the best paid wherever there are distribution depots near Chatham. Category C work is more plentiful and more varied. We will tell you which of the two is genuinely busier locally rather than guessing.
Yes, and it costs nothing. Generate a DVLA licence check code and send it over. We will list the categories you hold, flag anything that has lapsed such as your CPC or tacho card, and tell you what that entitlement is worth around Chatham.
Yes. LGV (Large Goods Vehicle) is the current official term used on licences and in legislation; HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) is the older term the industry still uses. Jobs advertised as LGV and HGV want the same entitlement, and the pay is the same.
LGV 1 means category C+E — articulated or drawbar vehicles, also called Class 1. LGV 2 means category C — rigid vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, also called Class 2. LGV 1 pays more because you must hold category C before you can get C+E and the vehicles are larger.
Category C, because you need it before you can take C+E. Plenty of drivers work on C for a year, then upgrade, and many operators will part-fund or fully fund the C+E test for a reliable driver. If you already hold C1 through a pre-1997 licence, going straight to C is still the route.
WSUK supplies temporary HGV and van drivers across the UK's major regional distribution hubs. Choose an area for local information.
Greater Manchester is the North West's main logistics hub, where the M60, M62 and M56 meet the Manchester Ship Canal, rail freight terminals at Trafford Park and Port Salford, and Manchester Airport's cargo operation.
Bristol and Severnside combine two deep-sea docks, the M4/M5 crossroads and one of the largest concentrations of big-box warehousing in the South West, from Avonmouth and Portbury to the aerospace cluster around Filton.
Stretching from London Stansted and the M11 along the A120 and A12 corridors to the ferry port at Harwich, this part of Essex and east Hertfordshire links air freight, sea freight and busy industrial estates.
Medway and north Kent line the Thames and Medway estuaries between the M25 and the Swale, combining working ports at Sheerness, Thamesport and Tilbury with M2, A2 and A249 industrial estates serving London and the South East.
The south bank of the Humber combines the UK's busiest port complex by tonnage at Grimsby and Immingham with refineries, Freeport land, food processing and steel, all tied together by the M180 and A180.
Send a DVLA check code and we will tell you what you can drive and what is live around Chatham. Reply within 2 working hours.