A driver CV has one job: get a transport manager to pick up the phone. Here is what they look for, how to lay it out, and the small details that separate a shortlisted CV from one that goes no further.
Most people applying for HGV driver jobs assume the CV barely matters — that if the licence is right, the rest follows. It does not work that way. A transport manager filling a permanent seat is choosing someone who will represent the business at customer sites, protect an Operator's Licence and stay for years. The CV is the first evidence of whether you are that person, and it is usually read in under a minute.
The good news is that driver CVs are easy to do well, because so few are. A clear, honest, well-ordered two pages will put you ahead of most of the field.
Put your credentials at the very top, immediately under your name and contact details. Do not bury them in a paragraph or leave them to page two. A short block like this does the work:
Two things here are decisive. First, be specific: "ADR" tells a recruiter nothing; "ADR packages, classes 3, 8 and 9, valid to 03/2029" tells them whether you fit the run. Second, be honest about endorsements. Points are rarely fatal on their own, but discovering them at licence-check stage after you have hidden them almost always is.
Three or four lines, no more. Name the licence, the type of work, the sectors and what you are looking for. "Class 1 driver with eleven years on tramping and trunking work in chilled and ambient food distribution, ADR-qualified, currently seeking a permanent day-shift role within an hour of Wakefield" tells a manager more than a paragraph of adjectives.
Avoid the generic opener — "hardworking, reliable team player with excellent communication skills" — because every CV has it and none of it can be checked. Replace personality claims with facts that imply the same thing: long service, clean record, no missed collections.
"HGV Driver, ABC Logistics, 2019–2024" tells a reader almost nothing. Two identical job titles can mean completely different jobs. Under each role, cover the things a transport manager actually needs to know:
Where you can, add something that shows performance: a clean incident record across a set period, a fuel or MPG performance figure your employer tracked, a customer site you were specifically requested for, a period covering a shunter or trainer role. Concrete details of this kind are what convert a CV into an interview.
The single most persuasive thing on a driver CV is a pattern of long service with clean records. If you have it, make it impossible to miss.
Driving CVs often carry short assignments and gaps, and experienced recruiters know why. What harms you is not the gap; it is leaving it unexplained so the reader fills it in themselves. One line is enough: a period of agency work between permanent roles, time out for family or health reasons, a site closure or contract loss, training toward the next licence category.
If your recent history is a run of short placements and you now want stability, say so directly in your profile. Employers hiring permanently are looking for exactly that signal.
Keep it to two pages. Use a plain, single-column layout with clear headings, consistent dates in month/year format and a readable font. Avoid tables, columns, text boxes, photographs, logos and graphics — they look tidy on your screen and often break when a recruitment system parses the file or a manager opens it on a phone in a transport office.
Send it as a PDF unless you are told otherwise, and name the file properly: Firstname-Surname-CV.pdf. Check your contact details are current and that your voicemail is set up. It is a small thing that costs people interviews every week.
Read the advert twice and mirror its priorities. If the role is chilled retail store deliveries with tail lift and cage work, that experience should appear in your profile and in the first bullets of your most recent job. If the role is container work out of a port, your experience with skeletals, pins and weight distribution belongs high on the page. The content of your CV barely changes; the order does, and order is what a manager scanning quickly actually reads.
It is also worth knowing the market rate before you apply. Our salary checker and the UK logistics salary guide give you an evidence-based view of what your licence and experience are worth, which matters when the conversation reaches package. If you are weighing whether the career is right for you at all, our piece on whether becoming an HGV driver is worth it covers the trade-offs honestly, and if you are stepping up a category, read how to progress from Class 2 to Class 1.
Freight Talent is a permanent-only driving recruitment agency. We do not supply temporary or agency drivers, which means when we take your CV we are looking for a role you will still be in years from now — not a shift to cover. Our driving desk and wider driver recruitment and haulage recruitment teams work directly with transport managers, so we can tell you what a specific operator actually cares about before you apply. If your ambitions run past the cab, career paths beyond driving sets out the routes into planning and management.
Candidates: once your CV covers the licence, the CPC, the tickets and the type of work you do, upload your CV and a specialist consultant will review it honestly and tell you which permanent roles it fits. Employers: if you are struggling to judge driver CVs at volume and want a screened, compliance-checked permanent shortlist instead, submit your vacancy and we will do that work for you.
We place drivers into permanent roles with operators who value long service — and we will tell you honestly where your CV stands.