Hiring a permanent HGV driver is not just a resourcing decision — it is a licensing one. This checklist sets out what UK operators should verify before a new driver turns a wheel, and what evidence to keep on file.
Every driver you employ sits inside your Operator's Licence. If a driver turns out to hold the wrong category, an expired Driver CPC or no valid right to work, the consequence is not simply an awkward conversation — it is a compliance failure that can surface at a DVSA roadside stop, in a maintenance investigation or at a Traffic Commissioner public inquiry. Good HGV driver recruitment therefore starts with a disciplined pre-employment process, applied consistently to every hire.
The checklist below reflects how careful transport operators run their onboarding. It is general guidance rather than legal advice: rules and thresholds change, and the definitive sources are always DVLA and DVSA. Where anything is unclear for a specific driver, check with them directly rather than relying on a rule of thumb.
Start with the driving licence itself, and check the actual entitlement rather than the job title on the CV. The categories that matter most in road haulage are:
Sight the physical photocard, confirm it is in date and check the driver's identity against it. Then verify the entitlement digitally — DVLA's online licence-checking service lets a driver share a code so an employer can view their record, including categories, endorsements and any disqualification. Take a dated record of what you saw, not just a tick in a box.
Endorsements deserve judgement rather than a blanket rule. Points for speeding in a car are a different conversation from a drink-drive conviction or a tachograph offence. Set a written policy on what your business will and will not accept, apply it evenly, and re-check licences on a defined cycle — commonly every six or twelve months, more often for drivers with active endorsements.
Any driver you employ to drive an HGV professionally needs a valid Driver Certificate of Professional Competence. The rule most employers need to hold in their head is straightforward: 35 hours of periodic training every five years to keep the qualification current. Training is delivered by approved centres in modules, and drivers can spread the hours across the five-year cycle rather than sitting them in one block.
The proof is the Driver Qualification Card (DQC), the plastic card a driver must carry when driving professionally. Check the expiry date on the card and diarise it. A driver whose DQC lapses cannot drive commercially until the hours are completed and the card reissued — a wholly avoidable gap in your rota if the date sneaks up.
A handful of exemptions exist, for example for drivers whose driving is not the principal activity of their role. These are narrower than people assume, so treat any claimed exemption as something to verify rather than accept. Drivers who qualified some years ago may also hold acquired rights; the periodic training obligation still applies.
Confirm the driver holds a valid digital tachograph driver card and note its expiry. Cards are issued by DVLA and are personal to the driver — they must never be shared. If a card is lost, stolen or faulty there are specific replacement steps and interim printout rules; make sure your transport office knows them before you need them.
Onboarding is also the moment to establish that the driver genuinely understands the rules they will work to. Depending on the work, that will be the GB domestic rules or the retained EU drivers' hours rules that govern most in-scope goods vehicle work, alongside the Working Time Regulations for mobile workers. Daily and weekly driving limits, break requirements, rest periods and the separate working-time averaging rules all interact, and a driver who is vague about them is a risk to your infringement record. Set out from day one how you download cards and vehicle units, how infringements are reported back and what the escalation process looks like.
The strongest operators treat compliance as an ongoing routine, not a folder assembled the week before an audit. Expiry dates for licences, DQCs, tachograph cards and medicals should live in one diarised system with owners and reminders.
Vocational licence holders must meet higher medical standards than car drivers. Entitlement for categories C and C+E is granted following a medical examination reported on the D4 medical form, completed by a doctor and submitted to DVLA with the relevant application. Vocational entitlement is time-limited and requires periodic renewal, with more frequent medical review as drivers get older — DVLA publishes the current intervals and standards, and those are the figures to work from.
Eyesight, blood pressure, diabetes management, sleep disorders and certain neurological or cardiac conditions all have specific guidance. Drivers have a legal duty to notify DVLA of relevant conditions, and employers should make that duty explicit in the contract and in briefings rather than assuming it is understood.
Complete a compliant right-to-work check before employment begins, using the Home Office online service where the individual's status supports it, or the manual document check where it does not. Follow the published process precisely, record the date of the check and retain the evidence for the required period — a correctly performed check is what establishes a statutory excuse if a problem later emerges.
Then reference properly. For driving roles that means confirming employment dates and, where the previous employer will provide it, information on accident history, disciplinary matters and infringement record. Gaps in a driving CV are not automatically a concern, but they should be explained. If your work involves high-value goods, retail deliveries into secure sites, or particular customer requirements, factor in any additional screening those contracts specify.
Some vehicles and loads need more than a category and a CPC. Depending on the work, verify:
Record the awarding body, certificate number and expiry for each, and treat refreshers with the same diary discipline as the DQC.
Finish with a documented induction covering daily walkaround checks and defect reporting, load security, vehicle familiarisation, working time and infringement policy, and incident reporting. Have the driver sign to confirm they have received and understood it.
Keep the whole pack together: licence check evidence, DQC details, tachograph card number, medical status, right-to-work evidence, references, additional certificates and the signed induction. Store it in line with UK GDPR — hold what you need for a defined purpose, keep it secure, and delete it when the retention period ends. Auditors look for a repeatable system as much as for individual documents.
Most compliance failures we see are not deliberate. They are the product of urgency — a vacancy that has been open too long, a peak that arrived early, a driver who starts on Monday because the run has to go out. That pressure is exactly why the checks should be built into the recruitment process rather than bolted on afterwards.
Freight Talent recruits permanent drivers only. We do not supply temporary, agency or contract workers, so we are never balancing a placement against a filled shift. Our specialist driving desk screens entitlement, CPC status and additional tickets before a candidate reaches your shortlist, and our wider driver recruitment and haulage recruitment teams work with operators who want drivers who stay. Where the vacancy is on the management side, our transport manager recruitment desk covers CPC-qualified and O-licence-critical appointments. If you are shaping a package, our UK logistics salary guide and salary checker are a sensible starting point.
Employers: if you would rather receive drivers who have already been checked for entitlement, CPC currency and the tickets your work demands, submit your vacancy and we will brief a permanent shortlist against your compliance standard. Candidates: if your licence, DQC and tickets are current and you want a permanent role with an operator that runs a tight, professional operation, upload your CV and we will talk you through what is live.
We screen licence categories, CPC currency and additional tickets before a shortlist ever reaches your desk.