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Almost every site around Harlow that takes a delivery needs a counterbalance driver, which is what makes it the most useful ticket to hold locally. WSUK places counterbalance drivers into loading, container and yard work near Harlow on weekly PAYE pay.
Counterbalance FLT jobs around Harlow cover loading and unloading trailers, devanning containers, block stacking and moving stock around a yard. Sites near Harlow want a current accredited counterbalance certificate (RTITB, ITSSAR, AITT or NPORS), normally refreshed within the last three years. WSUK places counterbalance drivers around Harlow at £13.00—£15.00 an hour, paid weekly through PAYE, with no fee to you.
Harlow is a post-war new town in west Essex, planned with its industry grouped into dedicated zones rather than mixed through the centre. Templefields, in the north-east near Old Harlow, holds estates such as Mead Park Industrial Estate, while the Pinnacles on the western side includes Harlow Business Park along Parkway and a run of engineering and industrial units. In 2011 part of the town was designated an Enterprise Zone, covering sites at Templefields and London Road. The M11 serves Harlow at junction 7 via the A414 and at junction 7A, opened in 2022 to create a new east-west link from the town onto the motorway. Harlow Town and Harlow Mill stations sit on the West Anglia Main Line, and the M25 is a short run south, with Epping, Sawbridgeworth and Hoddesdon all close by.
Harlow's quick links to the M11 and M25 make it a base for London-facing distribution, so demand rises with retail and online shopping peaks and when new occupiers move into Templefields or the Pinnacles. Every one of those swings opens gaps that must be filled quickly. WSUK supplies temporary warehouse and forklift teams — pickers, packers, loaders, goods-in/out operatives and counterbalance, reach and PPT truck drivers — inducted and ready for Harlow sites. We manage vetting, right-to-work verification, PAYE payroll and working-time compliance, and flex headcount up for peaks and back down afterwards.
Counterbalance work is the movement of goods in and out of the building rather than up into the racking. It is more varied than reach work and more of it is outdoors.
Driving into trailers and curtainsiders to load and unload, building and breaking down pallets on the bay, and working to a vehicle departure time.
Unloading shipping containers, often hand-balled onto pallets at the door and then moved by truck. Physical, and busiest at import-heavy sites and the ports.
Moving stock around a yard, block stacking where there is no racking, and feeding production or waste lines. Outdoor work in all weather, so sites provide the kit.
WSUK covers Harlow and west Essex, from Templefields, the Pinnacles and Harlow Business Park to workers drawn from Epping, Sawbridgeworth, Hoddesdon and Ongar. From a single counterbalance driver for a night shift to a full multi-shift picking operation, we mobilise vetted temporary warehouse and forklift staff quickly.
A current accredited counterbalance certificate, refreshed within the last three years for most sites, plus a familiarisation on their own trucks and traffic routes. Beyond that, counterbalance roles are the easiest forklift work to get into with modest hours behind you, which makes it the sensible first ticket if you are moving up from operative work. A lot of counterbalance shifts also include some manual handling, and we will tell you when that is the case.
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 |
|---|---|
| Counterbalance FLT Driver (days) | £13.00–£14.50 / hr |
| Counterbalance FLT Driver (nights) | £13.75–£15.00 / hr |
| Container Devanning & FLT | £13.00–£14.75 / hr |
| Counterbalance & Reach (dual) | £14.00–£16.00 / hr |
| Warehouse Team Leader | £14.50–£18.00 / hr |
Counterbalance suits operatives taking their first step up, and experienced drivers who would rather be on the loading bay and in the yard than in a narrow aisle all shift.
Counterbalance is the ticket most often used as a lever to pay someone the operative rate for forklift work. We book and pay it 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.
It depends how close you are to a port or an import-heavy distribution site. Devanning work concentrates around the container terminals and the big import sheds, and where there is a lot of it near Harlow the shifts tend to involve more hand-balling alongside the driving. We will tell you the split before you accept.
Both exist near Harlow. Loading bay work is mostly under cover, while yard moves, block stacking and external loading are outdoors in all weather. Sites issue the appropriate kit, and we will tell you which kind of shift a role actually is.
A forklift that carries the load on forks out front, balanced by a counterweight at the rear, with no outrigger legs. That design is what lets it drive directly into trailers and containers, which is why it is the truck used for loading, unloading and yard work.
For most people, yes. It is the most widely asked-for ticket because nearly every site loads or unloads vehicles, and it is the easiest forklift work to get into without a long history of hours. Reach and VNA pay more but sites are stricter about demonstrable experience.
Usually £13.00—£14.50 an hour on days and £13.75—£15.00 on nights. Drivers who also hold reach and can be used on both typically sit at £14.00—£16.00.
WSUK supplies temporary warehouse and forklift staff 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 ticket and last refresher date. We will match you to counterbalance work around Harlow and reply within 2 working hours.