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LGV and HGV mean the same thing, and adverts around Kettering use both plus "Class 1" and "Class 2" interchangeably. What decides the work and the rate is the category letter. We will check yours free and match you locally.
LGV jobs around Kettering span three categories: C1 for 3.5—7.5 tonne vehicles, C for rigids over 3.5 tonnes (Class 2) and C+E for artics and drawbars (Class 1). LGV and HGV are the same thing — LGV is just the current official term. All commercial driving over 3.5 tonnes needs a Driver CPC and a digital tachograph card. Rates near Kettering run £13.00—£24.00 an hour by category, paid weekly through PAYE, with no fee to you.
Kettering (NN16) is a prime Northamptonshire logistics location strung along the A14, with Junction 7 feeding the M1 and M6 west and the A1 and M11 east, and Junction 9 serving the town's newer parks. Kettering Venture Park sits immediately beside A14 J9, while Telford Way Industrial Estate, Kettering Business Park, Pytchley Lodge Road, Kingsthorne Industrial Park and the large-format Prologis Park Kettering carry regional distribution centres, 3PLs and manufacturers. Central-England positioning puts roughly 80% of the UK population within a four-hour drive, and the East Coast Main Line adds rail reach. Neighbouring Corby, Burton Latimer - home to food manufacturing - and Wellingborough thicken the cluster, channelling constant rigid and articulated flows through the town's estates toward national RDCs.
This distribution weight generates steady pressure to fill temporary driving jobs. Retail and grocery RDCs need Class 1 (C+E) trunking drivers; 3PL and pallet-network operators call for Class 2 (C) drivers; and store and urban deliveries suit 7.5t (C1) and multi-drop van drivers. Demand peaks around retail seasons, food-production surges and holiday absence, when a single unfilled cab stalls a loading bay. WSUK supplies vetted Kettering drivers for temporary cover, ongoing contracts and multi-driver mobilisations, with DVLA licence and CPC verification, right-to-work checks, PAYE payroll and tacho and working-time compliance handled before the first shift - and crews scaled up or down as A14 volumes move.
Job adverts use LGV, HGV, Class 1 and Class 2 interchangeably and inconsistently. The category letter is the only thing that is precise.
The 7.5 tonne box or curtain-sider. Often held automatically by anyone who passed a car test before 1 January 1997. Sometimes advertised as "small LGV".
Any rigid goods vehicle above 3.5 tonnes, typically an 18 or 26 tonne lorry. The industry calls it Class 2, and adverts may say "LGV 2" or "LGV Class 2".
Articulated lorries and rigids with a drawbar trailer. The industry calls it Class 1, and adverts may say "LGV 1". Requires category C first.
From our Midlands base we fill temporary driving jobs across Kettering (NN16) and its estates - Telford Way, Kettering Venture Park, Kettering Business Park and Prologis Park - supplying Class 1, Class 2, 7.5t and van drivers to RDCs, 3PLs and manufacturers on the A14 corridor for cover, peaks and short-notice shifts, backed by a single local point of contact.
All four terms are in daily use and they overlap confusingly. LGV and HGV are synonyms for the same class of vehicle. Class 1 and Class 2 are industry shorthand for C+E and C respectively, left over from an older licensing system. So "LGV Class 1", "HGV Class 1" and "C+E" are three names for one thing, and an advert using any of them wants the same entitlement. If you are unsure what you hold, send us a DVLA check code and we will read the categories for you.
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 |
|---|---|
| C1 (7.5 tonne) Driver | £13.00–£15.00 / hr |
| Category C / LGV 2 Driver | £16.00–£20.00 / hr |
| Category C+E / LGV 1 Driver | £18.00–£24.00 / hr |
| LGV 1 Night Trunk | £19.00–£26.00 / hr |
| LGV Driver with ADR | £19.00–£25.00 / hr |
This page is for drivers working out what they hold, what an advert is actually asking for, and which category is worth adding next.
We will tell you what your licence actually entitles you to before you waste applications on jobs it does not cover.
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.
C+E (Class 1) is usually the hardest to fill and therefore the best paid wherever there are distribution depots near Kettering. Category C work is more plentiful and more varied. We will tell you which of the two is genuinely busier locally rather than guessing.
Yes, and it costs nothing. Generate a DVLA licence check code and send it over. We will list the categories you hold, flag anything that has lapsed such as your CPC or tacho card, and tell you what that entitlement is worth around Kettering.
Yes. LGV (Large Goods Vehicle) is the current official term used on licences and in legislation; HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) is the older term the industry still uses. Jobs advertised as LGV and HGV want the same entitlement, and the pay is the same.
LGV 1 means category C+E — articulated or drawbar vehicles, also called Class 1. LGV 2 means category C — rigid vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, also called Class 2. LGV 1 pays more because you must hold category C before you can get C+E and the vehicles are larger.
Category C, because you need it before you can take C+E. Plenty of drivers work on C for a year, then upgrade, and many operators will part-fund or fully fund the C+E test for a reliable driver. If you already hold C1 through a pre-1997 licence, going straight to C is still the route.
WSUK serves employers across the Golden Triangle. Explore our other locations.
Send a DVLA check code and we will tell you what you can drive and what is live around Kettering. Reply within 2 working hours.