A lorry-loader ticket turns a driver into a driver-operator — and opens up construction, utilities, timber and plant work. Here is how the training routes compare, what the categories mean, and how often you need to refresh.
"HIAB" is one of those words the industry has borrowed and never given back. Hiab is a manufacturer brand, but drivers, planners and job adverts use it as shorthand for any lorry-mounted loader crane. Whatever it is called, the point is the same: the driver is not only moving the load, they are lifting it — and lifting operations are governed by a distinct body of health and safety law. That is why the ticket exists, and why employers take it seriously.
This is the question drivers most often ask, and the honest answer is more nuanced than a simple yes. There is no single statutory "HIAB licence" issued by a government body in the way DVLA issues driving entitlement. What the law requires is competence. Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act and its supporting regulations — principally PUWER, which covers the safe use of work equipment, and LOLER, which covers lifting operations and lifting equipment — an employer must ensure that anyone operating a loader crane is adequately trained, and that lifting operations are properly planned and supervised by a competent person.
In practice, the way an employer demonstrates that competence is with a recognised training card. So while the ticket is not a licence in the DVLA sense, no reputable operator will let an untrained driver near a crane, and no client site will accept one. Treat it as mandatory.
Three schemes dominate the UK market. All are widely recognised; which one you need often depends on the sector you want to work in.
Before booking, ask the employers you are targeting which card they and their clients accept. A driver aiming at construction delivery work may find CPCS opens more gates; a driver going into general haulage or utilities may be better served by ALLMI. Where a scheme requires a health and safety test or a site card as a prerequisite, factor that in.
Lorry-loader training is banded by role and by machine, and the categories on your card determine what you are actually signed off to do. Broadly you will encounter:
A driver whose card says "lorry loader operator" and nothing else should not assume it covers a brick grab or a fly-jib. Check the categories before accepting work that relies on them.
The commonest cause of a loader-crane incident is not poor driving skill — it is set-up: ground conditions, outrigger deployment and misjudged rated capacity at reach.
Lorry-loader competence is not a qualification for life. ALLMI recommends refresher training at least every five years, and the major card schemes operate on comparable renewal cycles, with cards carrying their own expiry dates. Renewal typically involves a shorter refresher course and reassessment rather than the full initial programme — provided you renew before expiry. Scheme rules differ, and they are revised periodically, so confirm the current requirement with your training provider or the scheme itself rather than assuming your last cycle's rules still hold.
Separately from the operator's card, the equipment has its own statutory regime. Under LOLER, lifting equipment must undergo thorough examination at prescribed intervals — generally every twelve months for lifting equipment, and more frequently for lifting accessories and for equipment used to lift people. That is the employer's duty, not the driver's, but a driver should expect to see current examination records and should raise it if they cannot.
A HIAB ticket is one of the more reliable earnings uplifts available to an HGV driver, because it changes what the employer can send you to do. Builders' merchants, timber and steel distribution, precast concrete, plant movement, utilities, waste and skip work, and modular building deliveries all depend on driver-operators. The work is more skilled, more varied and more physically involved than trunking, and it suits drivers who prefer being out of the cab and dealing with customers on site.
It also pairs well with other tickets. Drivers who hold a loader-crane card alongside ADR are unusually marketable. Whatever you add, the foundations still have to be current: Driver CPC evidenced by a valid Driver Qualification Card, a current vocational medical, and a confident grasp of drivers' hours and tachograph rules — the last of which matters more than most expect on loader work, where lengthy on-site time is very much working time.
For a view of where driver-operator pay sits in your region, try the salary checker or our logistics salary guide.
Candidates: if you hold a lorry-loader card — or you are deciding which scheme to train under — upload your CV and our specialist driving desk will tell you which cards local employers are genuinely asking for and match you to permanent driver-operator roles. Employers: driver-operators are a scarce group and rarely respond to generic adverts. Submit your vacancy and our driver recruitment specialists will run a targeted permanent search for you.
Skilled work, better money and a proper career path — placed permanently with employers who invest in their drivers.