Speak to a Specialist
0800 772 0727
Class 1 is category C+E — artics and drawbars — and most of the work splits into trunking, tramping and day running. They are very different lives. WSUK tells you which one a job is before you take it, and pays weekly through PAYE.
Class 1 HGV jobs are category C+E roles driving articulated or drawbar vehicles. The work divides into trunking (point-to-point between depots, usually overnight, little or no handball), tramping (away from home several nights, sleeping in the cab, paid a nightly-out allowance) and day running (deliveries returning to the same depot). Rates typically run £18.00—£24.00 an hour, and night trunk to £26.00. You need a C+E licence, a Driver CPC and a digital tachograph card. WSUK pays weekly through PAYE and it never costs you anything to apply.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
Under GB and EU drivers' hours rules, 9 hours a day, extendable to 10 twice a week, with a break of at least 45 minutes after 4.5 hours of driving and a daily rest period afterwards. Weekly and fortnightly limits apply too. We plan your bookings around these rather than expecting you to absorb them.
Yes. Night trunking and day work both return to the same depot, so you are home between shifts. Only tramping involves nights away, and we will not put you forward for it unless you have told us you want it.
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.
Tell us whether you want trunk, tramp or day work and we will only send you that. Reply within 2 working hours.