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Reach drivers are harder to find than counterbalance drivers around Derby, and the rate reflects it. WSUK places reach drivers at sites near Derby and tells you the aisle width and racking height before you accept, not after.
Reach truck jobs around Derby involve putting pallets away into high racking and letting them down to replenish the pick face, working aisles too narrow for a counterbalance. Sites near Derby want a current accredited reach certificate and normally real hours at height. WSUK places reach drivers around Derby at £13.50—£15.50 an hour, more on nights, paid weekly through PAYE, with no fee to you.
Derby is the East Midlands' advanced-manufacturing capital, home to Rolls-Royce and Alstom's rail works and close to Toyota's Burnaston plant, all feeding a supply chain that runs on tightly scheduled storage. Linked to the M1 (Junctions 24–25), the A38, A50 and A52, the city clusters its warehouse and logistics space at Raynesway, Sinfin, Pride Park, Wyvern and the 50-acre Indurent Park beside Pride Park. Alongside aerospace and rail-sector fabricators sit 3PL providers, e-commerce operators and FMCG distributors. With Nottingham, Burton upon Trent, Loughborough and Leicester all close and East Midlands Airport and its freight hub just down the A50, Derby combines heavyweight manufacturing logistics with strong regional distribution reach.
Production-linked storage and regional distribution make Derby's labour demand uneven: line schedules, model changes, retail and e-commerce peaks and everyday absence all open gaps that need filling at short notice. WSUK supplies temporary warehouse and forklift teams — pickers, packers, loaders, goods-in/out operatives and counterbalance, reach and PPT drivers — inducted for the city's manufacturing and logistics sites. We manage vetting, right-to-work checks, PAYE payroll and working-time compliance, so every worker arrives cleared and lawful. As volumes climb for a peak or build run and ease afterwards, we scale teams up and down, giving Derby operators flexible cover that matches real output.
Reach is a precision job more than a heavy one. Most of the difficulty is height, aisle discipline and working cleanly around pickers on foot.
Taking pallets from the goods-in marshalling area up into the racking, and bringing them back down to replenish the pick face. The bulk of most reach shifts.
Working at height in racking that commonly runs 8—12m and beyond. Placing a pallet cleanly on a top beam is the skill sites are actually paying for.
Narrow aisles mean working close to people on foot. Sites run strict segregation rules and will induct you on theirs before you drive.
WSUK covers Derby and its estates — Raynesway, Sinfin, Pride Park, Wyvern and Indurent Park — plus Nottingham, Burton upon Trent, Loughborough and Leicester. From a single counterbalance driver for a shift to a full picking and packing crew for a production or seasonal peak, we mobilise vetted temporary staff fast across the M1 J24–J25 catchment.
A current accredited reach certificate is the baseline. Beyond that, most sites want evidence that you have real hours on a reach rather than a ticket taken years ago and never used, because placing a pallet on a top beam is a skill that fades. Expect a short practical assessment on your first shift and a familiarisation on the site layout, aisle widths and racking heights. If your ticket has lapsed we can usually sort a refresher.
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 |
|---|---|
| Reach Truck Driver (days) | £13.50–£15.00 / hr |
| Reach Truck Driver (nights) | £14.00–£15.50 / hr |
| Reach & Counterbalance (dual) | £14.00–£16.00 / hr |
| VNA / High-Level Driver | £14.00–£16.50 / hr |
| Warehouse Team Leader | £14.50–£18.00 / hr |
Reach work suits experienced forklift drivers who are comfortable at height and want the better end of warehouse rates without moving into transport.
Reach drivers get asked to cover counterbalance work at the counterbalance rate all the time. We book you as a reach driver and pay you as one.
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 varies a lot. Modern distribution sheds near Derby commonly run somewhere around 8—12m, while older units are lower. Because beam height changes the job considerably, we give you the actual figure for a specific site before you accept the shift.
Some. Chilled and frozen sites around Derby run reach trucks the same way ambient sites do, but the conditions and the PPE are different and the rate usually reflects it. We always flag whether a role is ambient, chilled or frozen before you accept.
Putting pallets away into high racking and bringing them down again, in aisles too narrow for a counterbalance. The mast reaches forward over the stabilising legs, which is what lets the truck work aisles of roughly 2.7—3.2m and lift well above the height a counterbalance manages.
Typically £13.50—£15.00 an hour on days and £14.00—£15.50 on nights. Drivers who hold reach and counterbalance and can be used on both usually sit at £14.00—£16.00, and VNA work pays more again.
Yes. Forklift training is truck-specific, so a counterbalance certificate does not cover you for reach. You need an accredited reach certificate from a body such as RTITB, ITSSAR, AITT or NPORS, plus a familiarisation on the site's own trucks.
WSUK serves employers across the Golden Triangle. Explore our other locations.
Tell us your ticket and the heights you have worked around Derby. We will reply within 2 working hours.