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Class 1 work around Sheerness 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 Sheerness 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 Sheerness 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.
Sheerness, at the north-west tip of the Isle of Sheppey, is built around the Port of Sheerness, operated by Peel Ports as part of its London Medway cluster since the Royal Navy left in 1960. The port is a major UK gateway for imported vehicles, with around 190 acres of secure storage at Lappel Bank, and it runs one of the country's largest fresh produce terminals, with temperature-controlled storage, alongside a timber and forest products terminal handling about 1.3 million tonnes a year. A branch rail line serves the port, and the A249 crosses the Swale on the Sheppey Crossing to reach the M2 at junction 5 and the M20 at junction 7. Inland, Queenborough's industrial estate and the Neats Court retail and employment area add workshops, depots and trade units, making Sheppey a port-led logistics location.
Sheerness demand follows vessel arrivals, rising with vehicle import volumes ahead of the March and September plate changes and during fresh produce import seasons, then easing between shipments. 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.
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.
WSUK supplies temporary HGV and van drivers across Sheerness and the Isle of Sheppey, for operators around the Port of Sheerness, Lappel Bank and Queenborough and drivers based in Queenborough, Minster, Halfway and Sittingbourne. We match driver classes and shift patterns to each operator's routes, delivery windows and compliance needs.
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 Sheerness 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 Sheerness 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 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.
Tell us whether you want trunk, tramp or day work around Sheerness. We will reply within 2 working hours.