Operating an HGV — the essentials

You must check your vehicle is roadworthy before you first drive it each day. Walk around the whole vehicle (and trailer) and check at least:

• Lights, indicators and reflectors — clean, working, right colour.
• Tyres and wheels — tread, cuts, pressure, wheel nuts (look for movement markers).
• Brakes — including trailer brake line connections and any air leaks.
• Steering, horn, wipers, washers and all mirrors/glass.
• Mirrors and cameras aligned for your blind spots.
• No fluid leaks (fuel, oil, coolant, AdBlue topped up) and no excessive exhaust smoke.
• Load secure; curtains, doors and body sound; number plate visible.
• Coupling/fifth wheel secure with clip in place (artics); landing legs up.
• Tachograph working and your card in; height marker correct in the cab.

Found a defect? Report it before you drive, the same way you were shown at induction. Driving with a dangerous defect can mean a prohibition and a fixed penalty at the roadside — for you, not just the company. Defect reports are kept on file for 15 months.

💡 The DVSA publishes the full check: gov.uk — HGV walkaround check.

• Daily driving: max 9 hours (can be 10 hours twice a week).
• Breaks: after 4½ hours of driving you must take a 45-minute break (or a 15-minute then a 30-minute break within the 4½ hours).
• Weekly driving: max 56 hours, and max 90 hours in any two weeks.
• Daily rest: normally 11 hours in every 24 (can reduce to 9 hours up to three times between weekly rests).
• Weekly rest: normally 45 hours (one reduced rest of at least 24 hours is allowed each fortnight — the reduction must be paid back).
• Working time: on top of the driving limits, average working time must not exceed 48 hours a week (max 60 in any single week), and night workers are limited to 10 hours in 24 unless a workforce agreement says otherwise.

⚠️ Tiredness kills. If you feel yourself fading, stop somewhere safe — no delivery window is worth it, and the office will always back a driver who stopped because they were unsafe to continue.

💡 Full rules: gov.uk — drivers’ hours.

• Your driver card must be in the tachograph whenever you’re in charge of the vehicle.
• Use the mode switch properly: driving, other work, availability, break/rest.
• Make manual entries for work done away from the vehicle (e.g. loading before you inserted your card).
• Never drive without your card, use someone else’s, or interfere with the unit — these are offences.
• At a roadside check you must be able to produce records for today plus the previous 28 days.
• Lost, stolen or damaged card? Tell the office straight away and apply for a replacement within 7 days.

💡 Rules and card info: gov.uk — tachograph rules.

• England & Wales: 50 mph on single carriageways · 60 mph on dual carriageways · 60 mph on motorways.
• Scotland: 40 mph on single carriageways · 50 mph on dual carriageways · 60 mph on motorways.
• Built-up areas: 30 mph unless signs say otherwise — and always slower where conditions demand.

💡 Check the table: gov.uk — speed limits.

• Never exceed the plated weights — gross vehicle weight AND each axle weight. Overloads are your offence as the driver.
• Spread the load so weight sits over the axles evenly; heavy items low and against the headboard.
• Secure every load with rated equipment (straps, chains, bars). Standard curtains are weather protection, not load restraint, unless rated and marked as such.
• Re-check the load and straps after your first stop and after any part-delivery.
• If a load has shifted, don’t continue — make it safe or call the office.

💡 The DVSA’s expectations: gov.uk — load securing guidance.

• Know your travelling height before you set off — it must be displayed in the cab when it’s over 3 metres.
• Plan your route for bridges; don’t blindly follow a car sat-nav. Use the company sat-nav profile set for your vehicle.
• Arched bridges: the signed height often only applies at the centre — watch your position.
• If you touch a bridge — stop, call the police (and the railway if it’s a rail bridge) and the office. Driving on is a criminal matter.

• Expect cyclists and motorcyclists on your nearside at junctions and lights — check mirrors and cameras before every turn.
• Give cyclists at least 1.5 metres when overtaking; more at speed.
• Set your mirrors before you move; keep windows and lenses clean.
• In towns, watch for pedestrians stepping out between parked vehicles.

• Zero tolerance on alcohol and drugs — including the morning after and some prescription/over-the-counter medicines. If a medicine makes you drowsy, tell the office before you drive.
• You must tell the DVLA about medical conditions that affect driving — and tell the office too.
• Eyesight: you must meet the standard (number plate at 20 metres; wear your glasses if your licence requires them).
• Professional licence medicals: at 45 and then every 5 years (annually from 65).

• Drive only what your licence categories cover (C, C+E etc.).
• Driver CPC: 35 hours of periodic training every 5 years — no valid CPC card, no professional driving.
• Digi (tachograph) card in date and with you every shift.
• Points, bans or charges — tell the office immediately. Our insurers check licences regularly through the DVLA, so it will always come out; telling us first protects you.

💡 CPC rules: gov.uk — Driver CPC.

• DVSA officers (and police) can stop you at any time. Pull in when directed — it’s an offence not to.
• They typically check: tachograph records (28 days), your cards and licence, the vehicle’s condition, the load and weights.
• Be polite, hand over what’s asked, and phone the office as soon as it’s practical.
• Outcomes range from nothing, to fixed penalties, to a prohibition (vehicle or driver grounded until fixed). Every result affects the company’s DVSA scores — and clean checks help them.

• Collision: stop, make the scene safe, exchange details, photograph everything, admit nothing about fault, and call the office before you leave the scene.
• Breakdown: get the vehicle as far out of live traffic as possible, beacons on, exit on the safe side, get behind the barrier, then call it in.
• Any prohibition, fixed penalty or paperwork from a stop: hand it to the office the same day.