How much do HGV drivers earn in the UK in 2026?

6 minute read · 2026-09-01

Short answer: Class 1 drivers see roughly £32,000 to £45,000 a year, and Class 2 roughly £27,000 to £35,000, with the spread depending far more on the type of work than on the employer.

By type of work

Class 1 tramping (nights out): £38,000 to £45,000, plus £25 to £35 a night out, which is paid tax free up to the HMRC allowance and adds several thousand a year.
Class 1 trunking (depot to depot, home daily): £34,000 to £42,000. Nights pay more than days.
Class 1 store delivery with handball: £32,000 to £40,000, and physically the hardest of the three.
Class 2 multi drop: £27,000 to £33,000, more with heavy handball or evenings.
ADR work: add roughly £2,000 to £4,000, more for tanks.
Agency: £15 to £22 an hour, sometimes higher for nights and weekends, but with no sick pay, less certainty and a pension that usually stops when the assignment does.

Why agency rates look better than they are

An £18 an hour agency rate is not the same as £18 an hour employed. If you are paid through an umbrella company, the employer's National Insurance, the apprenticeship levy, holiday pay and the umbrella's margin come out of the assignment rate before you see anything. Ask for the key information document, which the agency must give you: it has to show a worked example.

What actually moves the number

Nights. Consistently the biggest single lift in driving pay.
ADR, and tanks in particular.
Staying two years. Loyalty bonuses and better rotas usually appear at that point.
Region. London and the south east pay more, though not always enough to cover the cost of being there.

Reading an advert properly

"Up to £50,000" usually means the top of a range achieved with maximum overtime and every night out taken. Look for the basic hourly rate, the guaranteed hours, the overtime rate after those hours, and the night out payment. Four numbers, and any decent employer will give you all four before an interview.

An advert that will not state pay at all is telling you something. Every advert on this board shows it, because we refuse the ones that do not.

Getting the licence without paying for it

Skills Bootcamps fund HGV training free for adults in England and end with a guaranteed interview. Many hauliers will fund it in return for staying a year or two, which is a fair deal if it is written down. Paying four thousand pounds of your own money should be the last resort, not the first.

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