Job Application Form

Hard requirements

• Valid UK driving licence (Category C / HGV) — max 3 penalty points, no serious traffic offences (no equivalence — legal requirement)
• Valid Driver CPC (Certificate of Professional Competence) — required by UK law for professional HGV driving (no equivalence)
• English language — strong spoken and written English (no equivalence)

Scoring (100 points + 10 bonus)

• HGV / transport experience — 30 points
  • 3+ years professional HGV (Cat C or CE) driving in distribution, collection, or tanker work: 30
  • 1–3 years HGV experience: 22
  • HGV licence held but experience duration unclear: 15
  • No HGV experience but 3+ years professional driving (Cat B vans, courier, postal): 10
  • No professional driving experience mentioned: 0
• Location vs. depot — 20 points
  • Points per zone from Country Configuration
  • Zone 2/3: check if a closer depot exists within the same company → mention as suggestion, never modify
  • Not mentioned: half score, "location unknown, verify"
• Customer orientation — 15 points
  • Demonstrable experience in hospitality, customer-facing delivery, or B2B service roles: 15
  • Some customer contact in previous roles (retail, reception, call centre): 10
  • No customer-facing experience mentioned: 0
• Work stability — 15 points
  • Average tenure 2+ years per employer, no unexplained gaps: 15
  • Average tenure 1–2 years or minor gaps with explanation: 10
  • Average tenure < 1 year or significant unexplained gaps: 3
  • Insufficient work history to assess: 5
• Physical work profile match — 10 points
  • Previous roles involving heavy manual labour (warehouse, construction, removals, tanker, industrial cleaning): 10
  • Some physical component in previous work: 6
  • Exclusively office/sedentary background: 2
  • Not assessable from CV: 4
• Route knowledge / local area — 10 points
  • CV shows extensive HGV work in the depot's region: 10
  • CV shows work in the wider surrounding area: 6
  • No local work history evident: 2
• Bonus: physically demanding work history — +5 points
  • CV explicitly shows roles such as construction, removals, warehouse, groundwork, industrial cleaning: +5
• Bonus: hospitality sector experience — +5 points
  • Previous employment in restaurants, catering, food service, or food industry: +5

Sanity-check: 30 + 20 + 15 + 15 + 10 + 10 = 100 ✓

Context & notes

This is an HGV role (Category C) — Driver CPC is legally required in the UK for professional driving of vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. The stricter penalty point threshold (max 3 vs. 6 for van drivers) reflects the higher responsibility. The role is physically identical to the van driver position (lifting full UCO barrels), so manual work background remains a strong retention indicator. Candidates stepping up from Cat B van driving with newly acquired Cat C should not be dismissed — assess their van driving tenure as relevant experience. Watch for candidates with frequent company changes in haulage, which may signal conduct or reliability issues.