HGV Driver Pay in the UK: 2026 Rates, Compared

Licence classes, in plain English

Almost every HGV job advert boils down to two licences. Class 1 — officially category C+E — is the articulated lorry licence: tractor units pulling trailers up to 44 tonnes. Class 2 — category C — covers rigid lorries over 3.5 tonnes, the box trucks and tippers doing local and regional delivery. Below those sit C1 (3.5 to 7.5 tonnes) and the ordinary B car licence.

Pay follows the licence because responsibility follows the licence. A Class 1 driver coupling and uncoupling artics, often working nights away from base, earns £4,000 to £8,000 a year more than a Class 2 driver in permanent work — and £2 to £4 an hour more through agencies. The RHA's 2026 report puts the median hourly rate at £15.05 for C+E against £14.50 for C.

Getting the licence is the barrier that keeps pay high. Training and tests for a C+E licence cost £3,000 to £5,000 or more, and the pass rate for the CE test sits at just 57.1%. Employers know how few people hold the top licence, and the pay reflects it.

How drivers actually get paid

There are three ways HGV money reaches you. Permanent employed work pays an annual salary — £38,000 to £50,000 for Class 1, £28,000 to £36,000 for Class 2 in 2026, according to Aspion's salary guide. You get a payslip, a pension, paid holidays and sick pay, and the number is the number: divide by twelve and that is roughly your monthly gross.

Agency work pays by the hour — £18 to £24 an hour for Class 1, £16 to £20 for Class 2 — or by the day, with day rates typically £170 to £310 depending on the shift and the licence. The headline rate looks better than a salary, and the take-home often is higher, but there is no paid holiday, no sick pay and usually no pension: the comparison is not as simple as the hourly figure suggests.

Then there is the premium layer on top of both: nights and overtime. Night work typically adds 15 to 25% to the base rate — agency Class 1 nights and weekends run £19 to £26 an hour against £16 to £20 for days. Overtime is usually paid at 1.5 times the base rate after 45 to 48 hours a week. A live 2026 advert pattern from the South East shows the shape clearly: days at £19.24, lates at £22.13 and nights at £24.05 — nights a full 25% above days.

The shortage, dated properly

You will still see the figure of 100,000 quoted for the driver shortfall — but that is a 2021-era number from the height of the crisis, and using it today misleads. The current picture comes from Logistics UK's survey for the second quarter of 2026: only 56.2% of operators said they had sufficient drivers, and the estimated gap sits above 50,000.

The RHA put it in starker terms in April 2026: the industry needs 60,000 new drivers every year to stand still. An ageing workforce, the cost of licences (£3,000 to £5,000-plus) and the 57.1% CE pass rate all choke supply at the entry end, which is why employers keep bidding pay upward — and why new drivers can still negotiate.

What the shortage means for your pay is straightforward: leverage. Operators short of drivers pay premiums for nights, weekends and flexibility that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. If you hold a C+E licence and will work nights, you are the driver every haulier in the country is trying to hire.

Where the money is: regions and shifts

London and the South East pay 10 to 20% above the national average for permanent Class 1 work — £42,000 to £55,000 a year — reflecting both living costs and the concentration of distribution work. The North West and Midlands sit at £38,000 to £46,000. The RHA's hourly medians tell the same story in finer grain: £15.35 in the South and East, £15.13 in the Midlands, West and Wales, and £14.62 in the North.

But the biggest lever is not geography, it is the clock. Night trunking and specialist work pays £45,000 to £55,000 or more for Class 1 drivers — a full band above standard days. Agency night and weekend rates of £19 to £26 an hour for Class 1 tell the same story: unsocial hours are where the money concentrates.

The trade-off is real life. Night trunking means sleeping in the cab or a cheap hotel four or five nights a week; tramper work means living in the cab full-time. The premiums exist precisely because most drivers would rather be home. Go in with your eyes open about what the extra money costs you.

What a typical week looks like in money

The RHA's 2026 report gives the clearest picture of the working week: Class C+E drivers average 55 hours a week at an average rate of £15.48 an hour, grossing £883 a week. Annualised, that is £45,916 a year — before any night premium or overtime uplift. Class C drivers average 49 hours at £14.78 an hour, grossing £741 a week, or £38,532 annualised.

Those hours explain why HGV pay looks generous next to office salaries: the money is earned across long weeks. A 55-hour week at £15.48 is a different proposition from a 37.5-hour week at the same rate. When you compare offers, always convert to the hourly figure and count the hours — the salary number alone flatters long-week jobs.

Run your actual hours through the take-home calculators. A £44,000 Class 1 salary leaves £33,840.24 a year after tax, National Insurance and pension — £2,820.02 a month. A £32,000 Class 2 salary leaves £25,632.24 — £2,136.02 a month. The monthly figure is the one that pays the mortgage, so start there.

How to compare two HGV job offers

Do not compare salaries — compare hourly rates for realistic hours, then add the package. Take two typical 2026 offers: Offer A, a £44,000 salary on a 48-hour week; Offer B, £19.50 an hour agency on a 55-hour week. Offer A works out at £17.63 an hour (£44,000 divided by 52 weeks divided by 48 hours). Offer B grosses £55,770 a year (£19.50 × 55 × 52) — but with no paid holidays, no pension and self-funded CPC. The hourly rate flatters B; the package flatters A.

Next, price the missing benefits. Four unpaid weeks off at Offer B's £1,072.50 weekly gross costs £4,290 of gross income that simply never arrives. The pension on Offer A is £1,888 of your money plus the employer contribution on top. CPC at £300 to £500 every five years lands on you with B and usually on the employer with A. Add it up and the 'better-paid' agency offer is often only marginally ahead — for income that stops the moment work dries up.

Finally, check the shift behind the money. Night-trunking money on a days contract does not exist: if Offer A is £44,000 for nights, it is underpaying (the band is £45,000–£55,000-plus); if it is £44,000 for days, it is fair. Run both offers through the take-home calculators with honest hours, add the benefits, and the better deal usually becomes obvious within minutes.

Where the numbers come from

Salary bands on this hub come from Aspion's 2026 HGV salary guide and the RHA Pay Report 2026, whose survey ran in October and November 2025. Shortage figures are from Logistics UK (Q2 2026) and the RHA (April 2026). Employer anchors — Aldi, Culina, Tesco, DHL and XPO — are 2026 advertised rates, shown as examples of what named employers pay rather than as national averages.

Take-home figures are computed with the 2026/27 UK tax model: England bands, Personal Allowance £12,570, employee National Insurance at 8% between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above, and auto-enrolment pension at 5% of qualifying earnings. Full workings are shown on each calculator page, and the complete tax model is explained in the 2026/27 tax guide.

How to use this hub

Start with your licence: Class 1 drivers should head to the Class 1 hub for trunking, nights and agency detail; Class 2 drivers can go straight to the Class 2 take-home calculator. Agency drivers should read the agency-versus-employed comparison before choosing — the headline hourly rate hides missing holiday pay, sick pay and pension. New to the industry? The new-driver calculator and the Driver CPC guide cover entry pay and the qualification you cannot legally drive without.