Examples & writing guide
HGV Driver CV Example and Writing Guide
Updated 13 July 2026
A strong HGV driver CV lets an employer find the useful evidence quickly: the work you have handled, the results you can prove and the qualifications relevant to the vacancy. This guide explains how to organise that information whether you are experienced, changing career or writing an HGV driver CV with no experience.
Examples by experience level
Entry-level HGV driver
TemplateNavy Atlas4 / 5
Why this works
This HGV driver CV sample leads with the relevant licences, transferable delivery experience and defensible evidence of safe vehicle checks, secure loading and reliable route completion.
Continue writing your CVExperienced HGV Driver
TemplateGrey Frame5 / 5
Why this works
This CV pairs a clear record of reliable deliveries with evidence of careful load handling, route planning, vehicle checks and confident use of transport systems.
Continue writing your CVSenior HGV Driver
TemplateBlue Horizon3 / 5
Why this works
Shows safe vehicle operation, dependable delivery performance, driver coaching and measurable improvements across a substantial driving career.
Continue writing your CVJunior vs senior: what changes
| Aspect | Junior | Senior |
|---|---|---|
| Personal statement | Focuses on transferable delivery, mechanical or dispatch experience, relevant learning and a careful approach to vehicle and load safety. It does not present transferable work as professional HGV experience. | Leads with the length and scope of relevant work, operations handled, dependable delivery results and responsibility for difficult routes, loads or driver support. |
| Employment evidence | Uses recent examples from driving, warehousing, mechanics or logistics to demonstrate punctuality, checks, documentation, route discipline and customer contact. | Prioritises sustained HGV results across larger delivery volumes, wider routes or more complex operations, supported by figures the candidate can explain at interview. |
| Safety and compliance | Shows careful use of checks, reporting procedures, safe handling and instructions, with clear examples of learning and following established processes. | Shows a longer record of safe operation, accurate defect escalation, load security and sound judgement when traffic, weather, access or delivery conditions change. |
| Technology | Names systems actually used, such as hand-held scanners, navigation tools or defect-reporting systems, and briefly explains how they were used accurately. | Shows confident use of tachographs, telematics and delivery systems in daily operations, including how the information supported routing, reporting or fuel control. |
| Customer and team contribution | Demonstrates polite handovers, accurate paperwork and prompt communication with dispatchers, warehouse teams and customers. | Shows ownership of delivery problems, coordination with suppliers and customers, support for less experienced colleagues and clear escalation of damage or anomalies. |
| CV structure and emphasis | May use a skills-based format when entering the field or changing career, provided dates and employment details remain clear and truthful. | Usually benefits from reverse-chronological presentation because recent HGV achievements, operational scale and career progression carry most of the argument. |
How to write a HGV driver CV
For most drivers, use a reverse-chronological CV, putting your latest role first. If you are entering HGV driving or changing career, a skills-based format can bring relevant training and transferable experience forward. Aim for one or two pages, use plain headings and give recent roles three or four focused bullets.
| Section | What to include |
|---|---|
| Header | Full name, target role, professional email, reachable mobile number, city and country |
| Personal statement | Two to four sentences covering experience, useful abilities and one credible result |
| Employment history | Employer, title, location, dates and concise achievement bullets |
| Skills | A vacancy-specific selection supported by evidence elsewhere in the CV |
| Education | Qualifications and relevant training, newest first |
| Extras | An active LinkedIn profile or genuinely relevant additional information |
Leave out your photo, date of birth, marital status, passport number, full street address and postcode. Add LinkedIn only when the profile is active and consistent with your application.
In the personal statement, name the type of work you have done, its scale and one result. In employment history, concentrate on recent contributions instead of copying a standard list of duties. Match the skills section to the advert while keeping every claim accurate. Present education briefly and make the relevant licence and role-specific qualification easy to find.
If you are changing career, connect delivery driving experience, mechanics, dispatch or route-optimisation experience directly to the vacancy. Keep your actual job titles and make the connection through evidence, such as delivery volumes, inspection work or route changes. This gives the recruiter a clear reason to consider your application without suggesting that adjacent work was HGV experience.
Personal statement examples
Safety-conscious HGV driver with seven years of trunking and multi-drop delivery experience across regional routes. Regularly completes time-sensitive runs with accurate paperwork and has reduced avoidable mileage through careful route planning. Methodical during walk-round checks, calm with customers and comfortable adjusting plans when traffic or site access changes.
I am a hard-working driver looking for a new challenge. I have good communication skills, work well alone or in a team and can carry out normal driving duties. I would like to join a successful company where I can develop my career.
Writing your experience
Treat each employment bullet as evidence, not as a copied job description. A useful structure is action + scope + result + defensible measure. Start with what you did, add enough context to show the volume or frequency, then state the outcome. Measures might include drops per shift, routes covered, on-time arrivals, delivery discrepancies, avoidable mileage, inspection frequency, defect-reporting time or paperwork accuracy. A clear count is often more convincing than a percentage whose basis is unclear.
| Duty-led wording | Evidence-led wording |
|---|---|
| Responsible for deliveries | Completed 18 to 22 scheduled drops per shift across two regional routes, recording 98% on-time arrival over six months |
| Checked the vehicle each day | Completed walk-round checks before every assigned shift and reported four developing defects before departure |
| Planned routes | Reworked a recurring 14-stop route around access restrictions, cutting average distance by 11 miles per run |
These rewritten bullets identify the action, scale and outcome. They give concrete evidence of timely deliveries, vehicle checks, defect reporting and economical route changes. Other bullets could cover safe and fuel-efficient driving, correct documentation, load restraint, protection against theft or damage, restricted-space manoeuvring, trailer coupling, goods-handling equipment, transport IT systems or the resolution of delivery anomalies with customers and suppliers.
Choose precise verbs: delivered, completed, inspected, reported, secured, coupled, manoeuvred, planned, rerouted, recorded, resolved, protected and reduced. Use "managed" only when you genuinely managed people, schedules or a defined operation. Replace openings such as "helped with" and "involved in" with the action you personally took.
For a first HGV role, translate adjacent experience carefully. A van driver might quantify daily drops and delivery accuracy. A mechanic can record inspection and defect-diagnosis work. A dispatcher can show route volumes, schedule changes or reduced mileage. Keep the original title accurate and never present transferable work as direct HGV experience.
Give each recent, relevant position three or four bullets and put the strongest result first. Shorten older or unrelated roles; work more than 10 to 15 years old can usually be omitted. Tailor the wording to each advert by using relevant terms naturally, but retain the exact facts you can support.
Key skills & ATS keywords
Hard skills
Soft skills
ATS keywords
Education & certifications
List education and training in reverse-chronological order. Give the exact qualification or course name, provider and completion date. Applicants without direct HGV experience can place relevant logistics, transport or vehicle-maintenance education, courses, workshops, training programmes and earned commercial driving licences near the top.
For UK routes, new HGV professionals need a full car licence. HGV drivers driving lorries need an HGV driving licence, while professional goods-transport drivers are required to hold a vocational driving licence. HGV drivers also need a valid Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC). The initial qualification is the route to the professional driving qualification, which is evidenced by a Driver Qualification Card (DQC). Put applicable credentials where the recruiter can find them quickly and avoid an ambiguous entry such as "driving licence".
Qualified HGV drivers need 35 hours of driver CPC training every five years to stay qualified. They also need to renew their HGV driving licence every five years. Record each credential exactly as awarded and show relevant dates clearly. Do not merge different licence descriptions or claim a broader credential than the one you hold.
The Advisory Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) Certificate applies to HGV work involving hazardous goods. Include it only when you hold it and it is relevant to the vacancy; it is not a general credential for every HGV position.
For an intermediate HGV-driver apprenticeship in England, applicants will usually need some GCSEs, normally including English and maths, or equivalent. State the subjects and grades actually achieved, since the usual entry profile does not establish whether an individual application will succeed.
Common mistakes to avoid
AvoidListing routine driving duties without showing reliability, scale or results. A line such as "delivered goods to customers" says little about the standard, volume or outcome of the work.
InsteadUse concise, action-led bullets that connect the work to an outcome. Add figures you can defend, such as delivery volumes, route mileage, punctuality, fuel use, completed checks or reported defects. Leave a number out if you cannot verify it.
AvoidSending the same generic HGV driver CV for every vacancy, even when the advert stresses a particular load, route, vehicle operation or type of delivery work.
InsteadTailor the CV to the vacancy. Bring forward genuine experience in load restraint, trailer operation, customer deliveries, vehicle checks or route planning when the job description uses those terms.
AvoidBurying directly relevant driving work beneath unrelated jobs, or arranging employment so that recent experience is hard to find.
InsteadFor most applications, put employment in reverse-chronological order with the latest role first. Concentrate on recent, relevant work and generally leave out positions more than 10 to 15 years old unless they still provide useful evidence.
AvoidUsing valuable CV space for a full street address, postcode, date of birth, marital status or passport number.
InsteadKeep the header practical: give your full name, target role, professional email address, reachable mobile number, and city and country. Add LinkedIn only when the profile is active and supports your application.
AvoidTreating an hgv driver cv no experience application as though the absence of an HGV job leaves nothing useful to say.
InsteadLead with transferable evidence from delivery driving, mechanics or dispatch route optimisation. Include relevant transport, logistics or vehicle-maintenance learning, training and commercial driving licences you have earned, while describing your experience level accurately.
AvoidFilling the skills section with broad claims such as "good driver", "hard-working" and "team player" without proving them elsewhere.
InsteadChoose specific terms that fit the vacancy, then support them in the employment section. Link vehicle checks to defects reported, route planning to schedules completed, load security to goods protected, or customer communication to delivery problems resolved.
Frequently asked questions
One or two pages is usually enough. Use the space for recent, relevant evidence rather than long duty lists, and make the header, personal statement, employment history, skills and education easy to scan.
Emphasise transferable work from delivery driving, mechanics or dispatch route optimisation. Include relevant logistics, transport or vehicle-maintenance learning and any commercial driving licences you have earned, but describe your actual level of HGV experience plainly.
Use an hgv driver cv template to organise the page, then replace every example with your own evidence. Hgv driver cv examples can suggest useful phrasing, but the employers, dates, duties and figures in your application should be accurate and defensible.
A British CV does not carry a photo. Give useful contact details, but leave out your date of birth, marital status, passport number, full street address and postcode.
List each relevant licence and role-specific qualification you genuinely hold, using its exact title. Place these details in a clearly labelled section and include dates where they help an employer assess their relevance to the vacancy.
Compare the advert with your own evidence and reuse relevant wording naturally, such as vehicle checks, load restraint, route planning or customer deliveries. Leave out any vehicle type, system or responsibility you have not handled.
From example to application
Turn this HGV driver example into a CV that sounds like you.
Keep the structure that works. Tailor the details around your experience, strengths, and the role you want.