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Class 2 work around Harwich & Colchester means rigid multi-drop, store delivery and cage work on a tail-lift, back to the same depot each shift. WSUK tells you the drop count before you accept, and pays weekly through PAYE.
Class 2 HGV jobs around Harwich & Colchester are category C roles on rigid vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, usually 18 or 26 tonne curtain-siders, boxes and fridges. The work is mostly multi-drop store and wholesale delivery with roll-cages and a tail-lift, home every night. Rates near Harwich & Colchester typically run £16.00—£20.00 an hour. You need category C, a Driver CPC and a digital tachograph card. WSUK pays weekly through PAYE, with no fee to you.
At the eastern end of the A120, Harwich International Port at Parkeston runs Stena Line passenger and freight ferries to the Hook of Holland and freight sailings to Rotterdam, with parking for more than 1,000 trailers and rail sidings on the Mayflower line. Nearby Bathside Bay is one of the three Freeport East tax sites, alongside Felixstowe and Gateway 14. Around 20 miles inland, Colchester sits where the A120 meets the A12, with industrial and business land spread across the Hythe, including Port Lane Industrial Estate, plus Whitehall Industrial Estate, Stanway, Severalls and Colchester Business Park near the Northern Gateway. Together the two towns combine roll-on roll-off freight and port haulage with manufacturing, warehousing and trade distribution, and the port has also served as an offshore wind installation base. Colchester station on the Great Eastern Main Line has direct trains to London Liverpool Street.
Labour demand here follows ferry and trailer volumes through Harwich, offshore wind project phases and Colchester's retail distribution calendar, with extra need around summer sailings and the pre-Christmas freight build. 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.
Class 2 is the workhorse of retail and wholesale distribution. Most rounds are one of these three, and the difference is mostly how much you handle.
RDC to high street or supermarket, delivering roll-cages through a back door on a booked window. Steady work, early starts, and a lot of cage movement on a tail-lift.
Multi-drop to pubs, restaurants, schools and convenience stores. More drops, smaller quantities, and often hand-ball into cellars and kitchens.
Deliveries to sites and merchant yards, often with a HIAB or moffett. Loads are heavier and the sites are less predictable, but the tickets carry a premium.
WSUK supplies temporary HGV and van drivers across Harwich & Colchester and north Essex, for operators around Harwich International Port, Whitehall Industrial Estate and Colchester Business Park and drivers based in Dovercourt, Manningtree, Clacton-on-Sea and Wivenhoe. We match driver classes and shift patterns to each operator's routes, delivery windows and compliance needs.
Class 2 usually pays a few pounds an hour less than Class 1, but the trade-off is not simply money. Class 2 work is nearly always home every night, has regular start times, and gets you into a cab without waiting for a C+E test. Against that, it is more physical — cages, tail-lifts and hand-ball are normal — and the days are busier. Many drivers do a year on Class 2 and then upgrade, and a lot of operators will fund that.
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 2 (C) Multi-Drop | £16.00–£18.50 / hr |
| Class 2 Store Delivery | £16.00–£19.00 / hr |
| Class 2 Nights | £17.00–£20.00 / hr |
| Class 2 with HIAB / Moffett | £17.50–£21.00 / hr |
| Class 2 with ADR | £17.50–£21.00 / hr |
Class 2 suits drivers who want to be home every night, do not mind physical work, and would rather have regular hours than the highest hourly rate.
The number that matters on a Class 2 job is the drop count, and it is the number most agencies will not tell you until you are in the cab.
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.
It depends on the sector. Store and supermarket delivery around Harwich & Colchester is often a handful of large drops on booked windows, while wholesale and foodservice rounds can run to twenty or forty smaller ones. We give you the actual drop count for a round before you accept it.
Yes, effectively always. Class 2 rounds are built around a local depot and return to it at the end of the shift, so you sleep at home. Nights away are a Class 1 tramping arrangement rather than a Class 2 one.
Class 2 is the industry name for category C, which allows you to drive a rigid goods vehicle over 3.5 tonnes — typically an 18 or 26 tonne lorry. It is the licence you take before C+E (Class 1). You also need a Driver CPC and a digital tachograph card for commercial work.
Typically £16.00—£18.50 an hour on multi-drop, £16.00—£19.00 on store delivery and £17.00—£20.00 on nights. HIAB, moffett and ADR tickets add a premium, usually taking rates to around £21.00.
Physically, usually yes. Class 2 rounds involve more drops, more roll-cages and more tail-lift work, and some sectors involve hand-ball into cellars or kitchens. Class 1 trunking is longer hours behind the wheel but far less handling. Which is "harder" depends on what you would rather do.
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 your licence and CPC status and whether you prefer store delivery or wholesale around Harwich & Colchester. Reply within 2 working hours.