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Class 1 work around Kettering splits into night trunking, tramping and day running, and they are very different lives. WSUK tells you which one a job actually is before you accept it, and pays weekly through PAYE.
Class 1 HGV jobs around Kettering are category C+E roles on artics and drawbars, split between night trunking between depots, tramping with nights away, and day running back to the same site. Rates near Kettering typically run £18.00—£24.00 an hour with night trunk to £26.00. You need C+E, a Driver CPC and a digital tachograph card. WSUK pays weekly through PAYE and it never costs you anything to apply.
Kettering (NN16) is a prime Northamptonshire logistics location strung along the A14, with Junction 7 feeding the M1 and M6 west and the A1 and M11 east, and Junction 9 serving the town's newer parks. Kettering Venture Park sits immediately beside A14 J9, while Telford Way Industrial Estate, Kettering Business Park, Pytchley Lodge Road, Kingsthorne Industrial Park and the large-format Prologis Park Kettering carry regional distribution centres, 3PLs and manufacturers. Central-England positioning puts roughly 80% of the UK population within a four-hour drive, and the East Coast Main Line adds rail reach. Neighbouring Corby, Burton Latimer - home to food manufacturing - and Wellingborough thicken the cluster, channelling constant rigid and articulated flows through the town's estates toward national RDCs.
This distribution weight generates steady pressure to fill temporary driving jobs. Retail and grocery RDCs need Class 1 (C+E) trunking drivers; 3PL and pallet-network operators call for Class 2 (C) drivers; and store and urban deliveries suit 7.5t (C1) and multi-drop van drivers. Demand peaks around retail seasons, food-production surges and holiday absence, when a single unfilled cab stalls a loading bay. WSUK supplies vetted Kettering drivers for temporary cover, ongoing contracts and multi-driver mobilisations, with DVLA licence and CPC verification, right-to-work checks, PAYE payroll and tacho and working-time compliance handled before the first shift - and crews scaled up or down as A14 volumes move.
The single most useful thing to know before accepting a Class 1 job is which of these three it is, because the hours, the pay and whether you sleep at home all follow from it.
Running the same route between two depots overnight, usually dropping a loaded trailer and picking up another. Predictable hours, minimal handball, and the best hourly rate in general haulage.
Out for several nights, sleeping in the cab, running wherever the planner sends you. Paid a nightly-out allowance on top of the hourly rate. Suits drivers who want hours and do not want to be home daily.
Out and back to the same depot within a shift, or yard shunting on trade plates. Fewer hours than tramping but home every night, and the usual choice for drivers with families.
From our Midlands base we fill temporary driving jobs across Kettering (NN16) and its estates - Telford Way, Kettering Venture Park, Kettering Business Park and Prologis Park - supplying Class 1, Class 2, 7.5t and van drivers to RDCs, 3PLs and manufacturers on the A14 corridor for cover, peaks and short-notice shifts, backed by a single local point of contact.
You are limited to 9 hours driving a day, extendable to 10 twice a week, with a 45-minute break once you have driven 4.5 hours and a daily rest period afterwards. In practice a trunk shift is often 9—11 hours door to door with one long drive each way, while a multi-drop Class 1 day can be shorter driving but far busier. We plan bookings around your hours rather than against them, because an infringement is your licence, not ours.
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 |
|---|---|
| Class 1 (C+E) Day Work | £18.00–£22.00 / hr |
| Class 1 Night Trunk | £19.00–£26.00 / hr |
| Class 1 Tramping (plus nights out) | £18.00–£23.00 / hr |
| Class 1 with ADR | £19.00–£25.00 / hr |
| Class 1 Yard Shunter | £17.00–£20.00 / hr |
Class 1 suits drivers who want the top of the general haulage rate and are clear about which kind of life they want — home nightly, or away and earning.
Class 1 drivers get booked onto "trunk" jobs that turn out to be forty drops. We describe the run properly.
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.
Where there are distribution depots nearby, yes — trunking runs overnight to clear the network before morning, so it is usually the best-paid Class 1 work available locally. We will tell you which runs out of Kettering are live and what the actual start times are.
Usually. Night trunk and day work both return to the same depot, so you sleep at home. Tramping roles with nights away exist around Kettering too, but we only put you forward for those if you have said you want them.
Class 1 is the industry name for category C+E, which allows you to drive an articulated lorry or a rigid with a drawbar trailer. It is the highest standard goods category and you must hold category C first. You also need a Driver CPC and a digital tachograph card to drive commercially.
Trunking is running between two fixed points, usually overnight, and you are home at the end of the shift. Tramping means being away for several nights, sleeping in the cab, running wherever you are planned. Tramping pays a nightly-out allowance on top and generally produces higher weekly earnings.
Day work typically £18.00—£22.00 an hour, night trunk £19.00—£26.00, and ADR work up to £25.00. Tramping is usually quoted at an hourly rate plus a nightly-out allowance. Weekends and bank holidays normally carry a further premium.
WSUK serves employers across the Golden Triangle. Explore our other locations.
Tell us whether you want trunk, tramp or day work around Kettering. We will reply within 2 working hours.