Speak to a Specialist
0800 772 0727
LGV and HGV mean the same thing — LGV is simply the current official term. What actually decides what you can drive, and what you get paid, is the category letter on your licence. Here is which is which, and the work we place for each.
LGV stands for Large Goods Vehicle and is the current official term used on licences and in legislation; HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) is the older name the industry still uses every day. They mean the same thing, and a job advertised as either wants the same entitlement. What matters is the category: C1 covers 3.5—7.5 tonnes, C covers rigids over 3.5 tonnes (Class 2), and C+E covers articulated and drawbar (Class 1). Anything over 3.5 tonnes driven commercially also needs a Driver CPC and a digital tachograph card. WSUK places LGV drivers in every category, paid weekly through PAYE.
WSUK operates from the Midlands Golden Triangle, framed by the M1, M6, M42 and A14 and home to mega distribution parks and rail-freight interchanges including DIRFT, Magna Park, East Midlands Gateway and Prologis Park Ryton. National retailers, parcel carriers and 3PLs run round-the-clock trunking, multi-drop and store-delivery operations from these sites, with driving demand that swings sharply through the year.
That is why employers need to fill temporary driving jobs at short notice — peak retail, contract wins, sickness and holidays. WSUK supplies Class 1, Class 2 and 7.5t HGV drivers plus van and multi-drop drivers, scaling teams up and down and managing vetting, DVLA licence and CPC checks, right-to-work, PAYE payroll and tachograph and working-time compliance.
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.
From our Golden Triangle base we fill temporary driving jobs for employers UK-wide, reaching the major logistics parks — DIRFT, Magna Park, East Midlands Gateway, Fradley Park, i54 and Brackmills — via the M1, M6, M42, M69 and A14. From one shift to an ongoing run, we match vetted, licence-checked drivers to your vehicles and routes.
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.
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.
Any commercial driving over 3.5 tonnes does, along with a digital tachograph card. That covers C1, C and C+E work. The CPC requires 35 hours of periodic training every five years, with National Driver CPC for UK-only driving and International Driver CPC if you drive commercially into Europe.
Check the back of your photocard, where the categories are listed, or generate a DVLA licence check code online and send it to us. We will read it and tell you exactly what you are entitled to drive, what it is worth locally, and whether anything has lapsed.
Beyond our Golden Triangle base, WSUK supplies temporary HGV and van drivers to employers at the UK's major regional logistics hubs. Choose a region, then 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.
We serve employers across the UK's Golden Triangle and beyond. Choose your area for local information.
Send us a DVLA check code and we will tell you exactly what your licence covers and what it is worth. Reply within 2 working hours.