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Driver CV: writing one for HGV, van and multi drop jobs

7 minute read · Updated 2026-08-24

A driver CV is read differently from any other. Before a transport manager looks at your career, they check four things: your licence categories, whether your Driver CPC is in date, how many points you carry, and whether you have done the specific type of work they are hiring for. Put those four in the top third of page one and you will get calls. Bury them on page two and you will not, however good the rest is.

What goes at the top of a driver CV

Directly under your name and contact details, add a short block of facts. A transport office can then make a decision without hunting:

  • Licence categories held, in the form the industry uses: C+E, C, C1, D1, plus B for car and any trailer entitlement.
  • Driver CPC status with the expiry year, since 35 hours of periodic training is required every five years to drive professionally.
  • Digital tachograph driver card and its expiry.
  • Points on your licence and the codes, or a clear statement that your licence is clean. Insurers set the limits, and being upfront saves everyone a wasted interview.
  • Additional tickets: ADR (with the classes), Hiab or lorry loader, moffett, forklift, PCV entitlement, first aid.
  • Availability: nights out, weekends, tramping, a four on four off rota, or days only.

Employers will ask you to share your licence details through the DVLA online service or a check code at interview stage, so make sure what you have written matches what the check will show.

Describe the work, not just the vehicle

Two Class 1 drivers can have completely different jobs. Say which one you are, because a firm running store deliveries into supermarket regional distribution centres wants different experience from a firm running plant machinery to sites.

  • Trailer types: curtainsider, box, fridge, moving floor, skeletal and containers, tanker, low loader, tipper.
  • Work pattern: trunking, tramping, multi drop, store deliveries, agency assignments, general haulage, waste, tipper and grab.
  • Customers and sites: RDC deliveries with booking windows, construction sites, farms, ports, domestic addresses.
  • Volumes that show pace: a typical day of eighteen drops, or four trunk legs a night, described honestly.
  • Loading responsibility: strapping and load security, ratchet straps, pallet trucks, tail lift work, coupling and uncoupling.

Add the compliance side too, because it is what separates a safe hire from a risk: daily walkaround checks and defect reporting, drivers hours and WTD rules, manual entries on the tacho, and any FORS or earned recognition scheme your employer operated.

Van, 7.5 tonne and multi drop CVs

For van and 7.5 tonne work the emphasis shifts to reliability, customer contact and route knowledge. Employers want to see that you can handle a full round, deal with people at the door and get the paperwork right. Mention handheld scanners and the delivery apps you have used, proof of delivery processes, cash on delivery if relevant, and your familiarity with a particular area.

If you passed your car test after 1 January 1997 you will not automatically have C1, so state clearly what you can drive. For roles up to 3.5 tonnes, note that many insurers require a minimum age and a minimum period of holding the licence, so give the year you passed.

Pay, agencies and how you want to be engaged

Driving is one of the few sectors where it helps to be direct about the arrangement you want. Say whether you are looking for PAYE employment, agency work, or a mix, and be clear about your expectations, for example seeking a permanent PAYE role at around £15 an hour with paid overtime after 45 hours. That is your figure, not a market claim, and it saves two phone calls.

If an agency proposes paying you through an umbrella company, understand what that means before you agree: the umbrella becomes your employer, and deductions such as its margin, employer National Insurance and the apprenticeship levy are typically taken from the assignment rate, so the headline rate is not your gross pay. You should still receive a payslip, holiday pay and at least the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage for your age. Check the deductions carefully, and if something looks wrong, ACAS can explain your position.

Keep it to two pages

Long distance drivers often have many employers, particularly through agencies. Group agency assignments under the agency with a single date range and list the main clients underneath, rather than giving each assignment its own block. Give full detail for the last three or four roles and one line each for the rest, and put earlier work under a short Earlier career heading.

Finish with anything that reduces the employer's risk: no accidents or claims in a stated period if that is true, a clean tacho record, and a willingness to complete an assessment drive. Then check the layout will survive being opened on a phone in a transport office, which our guide to ATS CV format covers, and tighten the wording using our skills section guide.

Next step: put your licence categories, CPC expiry and points in the first block of your CV, then search current driving roles in our job listings and apply directly to the employer.