Speak to a Specialist
0800 772 0727
Almost every site around Hinckley 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 Hinckley on weekly PAYE pay.
Counterbalance FLT jobs around Hinckley cover loading and unloading trailers, devanning containers, block stacking and moving stock around a yard. Sites near Hinckley want a current accredited counterbalance certificate (RTITB, ITSSAR, AITT or NPORS), normally refreshed within the last three years. WSUK places counterbalance drivers around Hinckley at £13.00—£15.00 an hour, paid weekly through PAYE, with no fee to you.
Hinckley sits on the western edge of the logistics Golden Triangle, wrapped by the M69 (J1) and the A5, with the M69/A5 interchange feeding fast into the M1 and M6. The town's warehouse ecosystem runs from established stock on Dodwells Bridge Industrial Estate, Sketchley Meadows and Harrowbrook to the large Hinckley Park and Logix schemes, home to Europe's biggest automated parcel depot operated by DPD alongside Amazon and third-party logistics names such as Syncreon and Neovia. E-commerce fulfilment, parcel sortation and 3PL contract work dominate here, with Nuneaton, Lutterworth, Leicester and Coventry all inside a short drive, so labour demand from neighbouring distribution parks spills directly into Hinckley recruitment.
Parcel and fulfilment operations of this scale run on volatile volumes, which is why Hinckley employers repeatedly need to fill temporary warehouse and forklift roles at short notice. WSUK supplies pickers, packers, goods-in and goods-out operatives, loaders, warehouse labourers and counterbalance, reach and powered-pallet-truck FLT drivers for seasonal peaks, sickness and holiday cover and sudden contract wins. We handle vetting, right-to-work verification, PAYE payroll and working-time and break compliance, and we scale teams up for Black Friday or a new client go-live then back down again, so site managers keep throughput without carrying permanent headcount they cannot justify off-peak.
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 the whole of Hinckley and Burbage, from Dodwells Bridge and Sketchley Meadows to Harrowbrook and the Hinckley Park/Logix parcel hubs by the M69 and A5. We also reach nearby Nuneaton, Lutterworth and Leicester the same day, supplying temporary warehouse staff and FLT drivers for parcel, e-commerce and 3PL operations whenever your shift volumes spike.
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 Hinckley the shifts tend to involve more hand-balling alongside the driving. We will tell you the split before you accept.
Both exist near Hinckley. 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 serves employers across the Golden Triangle. Explore our other locations.
Tell us your ticket and last refresher date. We will match you to counterbalance work around Hinckley and reply within 2 working hours.