Logistics and manufacturing · Mid level · UK conventions

HGV driver: resume example, explained

This fictional example shows a Category C+E driver with six years' experience applying for a night trunking role with a pallet network: licence categories and Driver CPC status in the headline, compliance shown through walkaround checks, defect reports and a clean tachograph record, and trunking and multi-drop work kept separate with the counts behind each. Each decision is explained, three weak bullets are rewritten from the evidence behind them, and the editable download lets you replace every detail with your own. Nothing here describes a real person or employer.

Illustrative example. An illustrative, invented HGV driver who spent three years on Category C multi-drop deliveries for a fictional builders' merchant, upgraded to C+E and now trunks at night for a fictional pallet network, applying for a trunking contract with a larger fictional haulier. Every employer, date and figure is fictional.

Editable version of this example (.docx)

Priya Sandhu-Kerr

HGV Driver (Category C+E) · Driver CPC current · Night trunking and multi-drop · Six years with no at-fault incidents

Warrington, Cheshire · 07700 900 318 · priya.sandhu-kerr@example.com

Profile

Category C+E driver with six years of professional driving, currently trunking a 44-tonne articulated vehicle four nights a week between a regional depot and a central hub, with 98% of runs inside the hub's unloading window over the last 12 months. Clean tachograph infringement record for 24 consecutive months and three earlier years of multi-drop building-materials deliveries on an 18-tonne rigid. Seeking a night trunking contract with a larger fleet.

Experience

HGV Driver (Category C+E), night trunking — Fictional Pallet Network Haulage, Warrington

February 2023 – present · Night trunking between the regional depot and the network's central hub; day-shift multi-drop cover when needed.

Drive night trunk runs of around 180 miles each way between the regional depot and the central hub, four nights a week in a 44-tonne articulated vehicle, with 98% of runs arriving inside the hub's unloading window over the last 12 months.
Hold a clean record on the operator's monthly tachograph infringement reports for 24 consecutive months, planning breaks and rest around hub slot times under the drivers' hours rules.
Complete the daily walkaround check before every shift and record it on the operator's defect app; reported 9 defects in the past year, including a trailer light fault and a tyre below the operator's tread limit, with each vehicle taken off the road until fixed.
Couple and uncouple trailers at the hub around eight times a shift, checking the fifth-wheel coupling, air lines and trailer brakes before every move.
Cover day-shift multi-drop routes of 12 to 18 pallet deliveries when the depot is short, capturing proof of delivery and reporting damages on the handheld.

HGV Driver (Category C), multi-drop — Fictional Regional Builders' Merchant, Stockport

May 2020 – February 2023 · Deliveries of building materials to sites and trade customers on an 18-tonne rigid curtainsider.

Delivered 10 to 15 drops a day of building materials to sites and trade customers, planning each route around site access restrictions and delivery slots.
Secured mixed loads of timber, boards and bagged goods with straps and edge protectors under the company's load-securing procedure, with no load-shift incidents recorded in three years.
Upgraded from Category C to C+E in 2022 while employed, and completed 35 hours of Driver CPC periodic training ahead of the 2024 card renewal.

Education

Category C+E licence (articulated), 2022; Category C, 2020
Driver CPC: Driver Qualification Card current, periodic training completed 2024
GCSEs including English and Maths — Fictional Academy, Stockport, 2014

Licensing and training

Driver CPC periodic training, 35 hours completed 2024 (card valid to 2029)
Digital tachograph driver card held

Skills

Articulated (C+E) and rigid (C) vehicle operation · Digital tachograph and drivers' hours planning · Daily walkaround checks and defect reporting · Trailer coupling and uncoupling; curtainsider and box trailers · Load securing (straps, edge protectors, internals) · Proof-of-delivery handhelds and route apps · Night trunking and multi-drop delivery

Why it is written this way

Licence categories and Driver CPC lead because they are the legal gate

A transport manager screens an HGV driver resume for the licence category the vacancy needs and a current Driver CPC card before reading anything else, because both are legal requirements for professional lorry driving in Great Britain. The headline gives the category (C+E), the education section gives the years acquired and the CPC renewal, and the licence number and card number are left off the resume.

Compliance is shown as behaviour, not asserted

'Fully compliant' is a claim. A clean tachograph infringement record over a stated number of months, a walkaround check recorded on the operator's app and a count of defects actually reported are evidence. The defect count is included deliberately: operators are responsible for roadworthiness, and a driver who finds and reports faults protects the operator's licence, so reported defects read as a strength.

Trunking and multi-drop are kept separate with their own figures

The two kinds of work use different skills. Trunking is about slot times, night driving, coupling at the hub and staying inside drivers' hours on a fixed run; multi-drop is about access planning, load securing, proof of delivery and customers. The resume labels each role by type and gives distances, drop counts and windows so the reader can match the vacancy without guessing.

The Category C years stay in, with the load-securing detail

Builders' merchant multi-drop is less glamorous than trunking, but it is where the driver learned load securing for mixed loads, site access and tight reversing. Transport managers worry about load shift on mixed freight, so three years with no load-shift incidents is kept, along with the in-service upgrade to C+E.

Bullet rewrites, and the evidence behind them

Each rewrite was produced by asking an evidence question and using only the (fictional) answer. No number appears in a rewrite that is not in its evidence.

Before
Trunk driving between depots.
Evidence question
How far, how often, in what vehicle, and how reliably did you hit the hub window?
Evidence (fictional)
Around 180 miles each way; four nights a week; a 44-tonne articulated vehicle between the regional depot and the central hub; 98% of runs inside the hub's unloading window over the last 12 months.
After
Drive night trunk runs of around 180 miles each way between the regional depot and the central hub, four nights a week in a 44-tonne articulated vehicle, with 98% of runs arriving inside the hub's unloading window over the last 12 months.
Before
Fully compliant with tachograph rules.
Evidence question
Over what period, how is that measured, and how do you stay inside the rules on a tight slot?
Evidence (fictional)
No infringements on the operator's monthly tachograph analysis reports for 24 consecutive months; plans breaks and rest around hub slot times under the drivers' hours rules.
After
Hold a clean record on the operator's monthly tachograph infringement reports for 24 consecutive months, planning breaks and rest around hub slot times under the drivers' hours rules.
Before
Carry out vehicle checks.
Evidence question
Which checks, how are they recorded, how many defects did you find, and what happened to the vehicle?
Evidence (fictional)
Daily walkaround check before every shift, recorded on the operator's defect app; 9 defects reported in the past year, including a trailer light fault and a tyre below the operator's tread limit; each vehicle taken off the road until fixed.
After
Complete the daily walkaround check before every shift and record it on the operator's defect app; reported 9 defects in the past year, including a trailer light fault and a tyre below the operator's tread limit, with each vehicle taken off the road until fixed.

Try it on your own bullets with the bullet workbench, which asks the same questions and never adds a figure you did not supply.

Transferable skills in this example

Working inside a regulated time framework
Evidence: Drivers' hours planned around hub slot times with a clean infringement record over 24 months.
Where it helps: Rail, aviation ground operations, security and any role with legal duty-time limits.
Pre-use inspection and defect reporting
Evidence: Daily walkaround checks recorded on an app, with defects reported and vehicles taken off the road until fixed.
Where it helps: Plant and equipment operation, facilities and maintenance support, warehouse handling-equipment roles.
Independent route and time planning
Evidence: Multi-drop routes of 10 to 15 deliveries planned around site access and delivery slots.
Where it helps: Field service, delivery and courier operations, and transport planning roles.
Customer-facing delivery
Evidence: Trade and site customers served daily with proof of delivery captured and damages reported on the spot.
Where it helps: Trade counter, installation, field sales support and customer service roles.

Occupation notes

Hard requirements

To drive a lorry professionally in Great Britain you need the correct licence category (Category C for rigid vehicles over 3,500 kg, and C+E to tow a trailer over 750 kg behind one) and the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC), which is kept by completing 35 hours of periodic training every 5 years (GOV.UK). State the categories, the year acquired and the CPC renewal year; never put the licence number or driver card number on the resume.
A digital tachograph driver card is needed to drive a vehicle fitted with a digital tachograph; say that you hold one, not its number.

Vocabulary that belongs on the page

Category C (often called Class 2, rigid) and C+E (Class 1, articulated)
Driver CPC, Driver Qualification Card (DQC), periodic training hours
Tachograph, driver card, infringement report, drivers' hours, working time
Daily walkaround check, defect report, nil-defect sheet, VOR (vehicle off road)
Trunking, multi-drop, tramping, backhaul
Coupling and uncoupling, fifth wheel, air lines, trailer brake
Load securing: straps, edge protectors, internals, axle weights

Pitfalls specific to this occupation

Writing 'Class 1 licence' with no category, year or CPC status; transport managers screen for C+E and a current card, and a missing renewal year means a phone call or a rejection.
Putting the driving licence number, driver card number or penalty points on the resume; provide these only when asked through the verified operator's recruitment process, including its application form.
Describing the work as 'delivering goods safely and on time' with no vehicle, distance, drop count or window figure, so trunking and multi-drop experience cannot be told apart.
Treating defect reports as a negative and leaving them out; reported defects show you do the walkaround properly, which an operator's compliance audit looks for.

UK and US differences

UK: Operators usually ask for penalty points and any convictions on the application form or at the licence check; answer there, honestly, and keep the resume to categories, CPC status and experience.

US: In the US the equivalent is a commercial driver's license (CDL) with endorsements, and trunking is called line-haul or over-the-road work; use the posting's terms and give the same vehicle, distance and compliance evidence.

Common questions

Should I put my licence number or penalty points on an HGV driver resume?

No. State the categories held, the year you got them and your Driver CPC renewal year. The verified operator will confirm when it needs a licence check and details of any points. Answer those questions honestly through its recruitment process rather than publishing document numbers on the resume.

How do I show tachograph compliance on a resume?

Give the period covered by your operator's infringement reports and the result, and say how you plan breaks around slot times. A clean record over a stated period is evidence; 'fully compliant' on its own is a claim.

Sources

GOV.UK: Driver CPC trainingGOV.UK (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) · Great Britain · checked 3 November 2026
GOV.UK: become a qualified lorry or bus driverGOV.UK (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) · Great Britain · checked 3 November 2026

Published 6 November 2026 · Every person, employer and figure in this example is fictional. Drafted with AI assistance and checked against Luceria’s editorial standards.