HGV Class 1 Driver
Job description
Original text imported from Reed
About the role
A job where you are in the driving seat!
As the face of Tesco out on the road, our HGV drivers get the opportunity to meet and talk to different colleagues at stores. That’s why this role is about much more than just driving: it's about helping others and delivering great service, with a smile.
No two shifts are ever the same, for most of the day you’ll feel like your own boss, out on the road delivering to our stores, but there is always a team of managers and colleagues back at the distribution centre ready to support you when you need them.
You’ll meet great people, learn new things and be part of a specialist, diverse team, where everyone is welcome.
Whether you are looking for stability or flexibility to suit your lifestyle, or the opportunity to progress your career, this can be the role for you.
What is in it for you
Warehouse postcode - LE10 3BZ
Requirements:
- HGV Class 1 (C+E), max 6 points
- Valid DQC & Driver Card
- 12 months continuous Class 1 experience
Pay: Days: £18.63/hr
*Where premiums overlap, only the higher premium applies*
- 25% extra working between 22:00PM - 06:00AM
- 33% extra working on weekends
- 50% extra working overtime (only paid when hours are over 46.25)
Shift Patterns
4-Day Shifts (9.25-hour contracted shifts) Thursday to Sunday
- Day start window: 09:30 – 12:00
- Late start window: 19:00 – 21:00
3-Day Shifts (9.25-hour contracted shifts) Friday to Sunday
- Early start window: 04:00 – 05:30
- Day start window: 12:00 – 14:30
- Late start window: 21:00 – 23:45
We offer excellent benefits that help make Tesco a great place to work. These include but aren't limited to:
- Paid breaks
- Holiday starting at 20 days plus a personal day rising to 22 days after 12 months (plus Bank holidays)
- Request flexible working from day one
- Get 10% off and 15% at pay day weekends – save up to £2,000 a year with your Colleague Clubcard with an additional card to share with family outside your home
- Access to free wellbeing services with a range of resources to support your mind, body, and life
- Life cover of five times your pay and an award-winning pension with matching contributions up to 7.5%
- Benefits to suit you, choose what you use – from discounts and shares to cycle to work schemes
- Uniform provided and policies to support you for all of life’s moments, big and small
- Access to our colleague networks providing a space for colleagues to come together from a range of backgrounds. For more information about our colleague networks please click here.
- Click here to read more about the benefits we have available for our colleagues
You will be responsible for
- Professionally representing the Tesco brand whilst on UK roads
- Ensuring our products reach our stores on time and in good condition
- Being out on the road but also working collaboratively with colleagues and representing Tesco to everyone you meet
- Driving safely, responsibly and within the law
- Collecting as well as delivering, supporting your distribution centre by moving trailers and keeping vehicles fuelled
You will need
- To be passionate about delivering great customer service
- Friendly, approachable and reliable
- Able to adhere to WTD and EU Drivers Hours
- To become a Tesco Driver, you'll need a full HGV 1 (C+E) EU license with no more than six penalty points, needs a valid DQC and a Driver Card.
Should you be successful in your application, your offer will be subject to and conditional upon you providing your bank account details before your agreed start date.
About us
Our vision here at Tesco is to become every customer's favourite way to shop, whether they are at home or out on the move. Our core purpose is ‘Serving Britain's shoppers a little better every day’. Our business was built with a simple mission – to be the champion for customers, helping them to enjoy a better quality of life and an easier way of living. This hasn't changed. Customers want great products at great value which they can buy easily and it's our job to deliver this in the right way for them. In the UK, we serve some 66 shoppers every second, so it's our goal to ensure every one of those customers experiences just a little better service on each visit.
At Tesco, inclusion means that Everyone’s Welcome. Everyone is treated fairly and with respect; by valuing individuality and uniqueness we create a sense of belonging. Diversity and inclusion have always been at the heart of Tesco. It is embedded in our values: we treat people how they want to be treated. We always want our colleagues to feel they can be themselves at work and we are committed to helping them be at their best. Across the Tesco group we are building an inclusive workplace, a place to actively celebrate the cultures, personalities and preferences of our colleagues – who in turn help to build the success of our business and reflect the diversity of the communities we serve.
We know life looks a little different for each of us. That’s why at Tesco, we always welcome chats about flexible working. Some people are at the start of their careers, some want the freedom to do the things they love. Others are going through life-changing moments like becoming a carer, nearing retirement, adapting to parenthood, or something else. So, talk to us throughout your application about how we can support.
We’re proud to havKey skills
AI-extracted from the job advert
Application advice
5 AI-generated recommendations to maximise your chances.
⭐ Place your HGV Class 1 (C+E) licence, DQC and Driver Card details prominently in your CV header or personal statement — the advert lists these as hard requirements before anything else.
📊 Quantify your driving experience: e.g. 'Completed 18 multi-drop deliveries per shift across 12 stores, maintaining a 99% on-time delivery rate over 3 years of Class 1 driving.'
🎯 Explicitly state your points total (e.g. 'Current licence: 0 points') since the advert specifies a maximum of 6 points — recruiters will screen for this immediately.
🌐 Mention any experience delivering to retail or supermarket distribution centres (e.g. Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's DCs) as the role is store-delivery focused from a Hinckley DC (LE10 3BZ).
🤝 Highlight your ability to represent a brand professionally on the road — the advert frames drivers as 'the face of Tesco', so reference any customer-facing or colleague-interaction experience in your personal statement.
Suggested CV bullets
3 bullets our AI drafted for this specific advert, mirroring its ATS keywords.
Add these 3 bullets under your most recent experience:
- •Completed an average of 6 store drops per shift across a 180-mile daily route, maintaining 100% on-time delivery compliance over a 14-month period with zero licence infringements.
- •Passed annual Driver CPC periodic training (35 hours over 5 years) and maintained a clean tachograph record across 2 years of Class 1 HGV operation for a national retail distribution client.
- •Conducted daily walkaround safety checks on 44-tonne articulated vehicles, identifying and reporting 3 defects in 12 months that prevented potential roadside prohibition notices.
Free to copy — tailoring requires a 30-sec CV upload.
Your cover letter is ready
We've drafted a cover letter for Tesco. Preview the opening, then unlock the full personalised version.
Letter preview — tailored to Tesco
Dear Hiring Manager,
Tesco's reputation for structured shift patterns and transparent pay premiums is exactly what drew me to this HGV Class 1 Driver position at the Hinckley distribution centre. I hold a current C+E licence with zero penalty points, a valid DQC, and a digital tachograph Driver Card — meeting every licence requirement stated in the advert — backed by over two years of continuous Class 1 driving across multi-drop retail delivery routes.
My background in distribution centre operations has given me a thorough grounding in pre-shift vehicle safety checks, EU drivers' hours compliance, and professionally representing an employer's brand whilst out on the road. I am comfortable across a range of shift windows, including early-morning and late-night starts, and I understand how premium structures such as the 25% night uplift and 33% weekend rate are applied in practice.
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Interview questions
10 questions generated from this advert.
Technical
- ›Walk me through the daily vehicle safety checks (walkaround check) you complete before starting a shift.
- ›How do you manage your tachograph card and ensure you remain compliant with drivers' hours regulations?
- ›What steps do you take if your vehicle develops a fault mid-delivery route?
- ›How do you plan your breaks to stay within EU drivers' hours rules on a 9.25-hour shift?
- ›Describe your experience operating a curtainsider or rigid trailer during store deliveries — what specific techniques do you use when reversing onto a tight bay?
Behavioural
- ›Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult situation on the road and how you resolved it safely.
- ›Describe a shift where things did not go to plan. What happened and what did you do?
- ›Give an example of when you went above and beyond to deliver great service to a store or colleague.
- ›Tell me about a time you had to adapt quickly to a change in your delivery schedule or route.
- ›Describe a situation where you identified a safety concern and explain the steps you took to address it.
STAR answer examples
Model answers using the Situation-Task-Action-Result framework. Adapt to your own experience.
Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult situation on the road and how you resolved it safely.
Give an example of when you went above and beyond to deliver great service to a store or colleague.