Lgv Driver Day

An LGV driver operates large goods vehicles (lorries over 3.5 tonnes) to move freight between depots, warehouses, construction sites, shops and customers. "Day" simply means the shift pattern - daytime work rather than nights or trunking runs - which usually means more multi-drop deliveries, customer contact and traffic than a night driver faces. The job combines driving with loading checks, paperwork, vehicle inspections and working to tight delivery windows for logistics firms, hauliers, supermarkets, builders' merchants, waste companies and manufacturers.

Starting salary: £25k–£32k
Live graduate jobs: Search all jobs
Main way in: Direct entry after gaining a Category C (rigid lorry) or…
They usually ask for: A full Category C or C+E driving licence

Approximate graduate salary

Pay is usually quoted hourly or as an annual figure and varies a lot by licence category, region, sector and shift. As a very broad approximation, newly qualified Category C day drivers often start somewhere around £25,000–£32,000 a year equivalent, with experienced C+E drivers and those with specialist endorsements earning more. Overtime, weekend rates and night premiums can change take-home pay substantially, and agency hourly rates differ from permanent salaries.

What you'd actually do

Carry out a walkaround vehicle check before setting off - tyres, lights, brakes, fluid levels, load security - and record any defects; legally you cannot drive a vehicle you know to be unroadworthy
Drive a planned route, which on day shifts is often multi-drop (several deliveries in one shift) rather than a single long trunk run between depots
Load, unload or supervise unloading, which depending on the employer can mean operating a tail lift, using a pump truck, roping and sheeting a flatbed, or tipping a bulk load
Manage driving hours and breaks under EU/GB drivers' hours rules using a digital tachograph (the device that records driving time), including taking a break after a set period behind the wheel

Show 3 more

Complete delivery paperwork or handheld-device scans, get signatures, and report shortages, damages or refused deliveries back to transport planners
Deal with customers and site staff at delivery points - often in tight yards, residential streets or busy retail service areas requiring reversing and manoeuvring
Communicate with the transport office about delays, traffic, breakdowns or re-routing, and refuel the vehicle at the end of the shift

How graduates get in

Direct entry after gaining a Category C (rigid lorry) or Category C+E (articulated) licence - this is the standard route, and it is not a graduate route. You need a provisional entitlement, a medical, theory tests and a practical test, plus the Driver CPC (Certificate of Professional Competence) initial qualification.
Employer-funded or part-funded licence training - some logistics firms, supermarkets and hauliers will pay for C or C+E training in exchange for a commitment to stay a certain period. Common in larger operators facing driver shortages.
LGV driver apprenticeship (Large Goods Vehicle Driver standard) - an entry route combining paid work with licence acquisition and CPC training.
Stepping up from a Category B or 7.5-tonne (C1) role such as van driving, courier work or warehouse driving, with the employer sponsoring progression to C or C+E.

Show 2 more

Agency driving - signing with a driving agency once licensed, which gives varied work across employers and often leads to a permanent contract. Very common as a first paid driving role.
Graduates specifically: rare as a destination role, but some people with degrees take it as a well-paid interim job, or enter via a logistics graduate scheme where a short driving placement forms part of operational training. If your interest is management, a transport/logistics graduate scheme is the more usual path.

What employers ask for

A full Category C or C+E driving licence. C covers rigid lorries; C+E covers articulated 'artics' and drawbar combinations and generally pays more and opens more jobs. Which one an advert wants varies - read it carefully.
Driver CPC - a periodic training qualification requiring a set number of hours of approved training every five years to keep your Driver Qualification Card valid. Employers will usually check it is in date.
A digital tachograph driver card, and a clean or near-clean licence. Most employers set a limit on penalty points; the exact tolerance varies a lot between operators and their insurers.
A medical examination to obtain and renew the vocational entitlement, and a minimum age of 18 in most circumstances.

Show 2 more

No degree is required, and the subject is irrelevant. A degree neither helps nor hinders for the driving job itself, though it can matter if you later move into transport planning or management.
Some roles add requirements: ADR certification for dangerous goods, HIAB/lorry-loader crane tickets, tipper or tanker experience, or a DBS check for deliveries to schools and hospitals.

Skills that matter

Vehicle manoeuvring and reversing in confined spaces

Day shifts mean delivering to busy retail yards, building sites and narrow urban streets where blind-side reversing with a long trailer is a daily skill, not an occasional one.

Working knowledge of drivers' hours and tachograph rules

Breaching daily driving limits or failing to record other work can bring fines and penalty points for you personally, not just your employer, so you must manage your own clock.

Load security and weight distribution

An unsecured or badly distributed load is a prosecutable offence and a real danger; you are responsible for checking it even when someone else loaded the vehicle.

Route and time planning under pressure

Multi-drop day work means juggling booking-in slots, congestion, low bridges and weight restrictions, and deciding when to call ahead rather than arrive late.

Calm customer-facing manner

On day shifts you are often the only person from your company the customer meets, and you handle disputes over short deliveries or access problems on the spot.

Physical stamina and safe manual handling

Many day roles involve hand-balling cages, operating tail lifts and repeated climbing in and out of the cab, which is more physically demanding than people expect.

Putting these on a CV? We counted which skills 12,914 live graduate adverts ask for, and what to do with the answer — part of our application advice.

Where it leads

Start on rigid (Category C) work or agency shifts, building confidence with different vehicle types and delivery environments.
Upgrade to Category C+E and move onto artic work - often better paid and with more long-distance or trunking options. Timing varies widely; some drivers upgrade within a year, others stay on rigids by choice.
Add specialist endorsements - ADR for hazardous goods, tanker, lorry-loader crane, abnormal loads or waste - which usually command higher rates and more settled routes.
Move into driver trainer, driver assessor or driver mentor roles, teaching new starters and conducting on-road assessments.
Step off the road into transport operations: shift planner, transport supervisor, then transport manager. This typically requires the Transport Manager CPC (a separate qualification to the Driver CPC), and is the route where a degree or management experience can genuinely help.
Some experienced drivers become owner-drivers, buying or leasing a vehicle and contracting to hauliers or parcel networks - this means running a business as well as driving.

What people get wrong

“It is just driving, so it is a simple job you can learn in a week.”

The driving is the easy part. The job is really about legal compliance - hours, tachographs, weight limits, load security, vehicle defects - where mistakes can cost you your licence and livelihood, and about reversing a long vehicle into places it barely fits.

“Day shifts are the easier, more desirable option.”

Night and trunk work is often less stressful driving - empty roads, fewer drops, less customer contact. Day work means traffic, tight delivery slots, more manual handling and dealing with people at every stop. Night work also frequently pays a shift premium.

“A licence alone is enough to get hired.”

Most employers and their insurers also want the Driver CPC in date, a tachograph card, a licence within their points tolerance, and often a minimum period of post-test experience - newly qualified drivers often start through agencies or on smaller vehicles because of insurance conditions.

“It is a dead end with nowhere to go.”

There is a clear ladder into training, assessing and transport management, and the Transport Manager CPC is an achievable professional qualification. Operators regularly promote drivers who understand compliance into planning and supervisory roles.

Where this varies

The work differs enormously by sector. Supermarket and retail distribution tends to be structured, depot-based, with cages and tail lifts and fixed routes. Construction and tipper work involves sites, mud, early starts and physical loading. Parcel and pallet networks are high-drop-count and time-pressured. Tanker, fuel and chemical work is specialist, better paid and heavily regulated. Agency work pays by the hour with variable shifts and no guaranteed days; permanent contracts offer stability, holiday pay and often a regular vehicle. There is also a regional element - rates are generally higher around major distribution corridors and the South East, and driver demand fluctuates seasonally, peaking before Christmas.

Search Lgv Driver Day jobsFrom employers' own careers sites, updated daily Tailor your CV for this roleFree with an account, 3 a month

General guidance about the role across the UK market, not about any specific employer. Entry routes and requirements vary — always check the individual job advert.