Forklift Driver Agency in Cambridge
Counterbalance, reach and VNA forklift drivers, with the accreditation checked before the shift, supplied to operators in Cambridge and the East of England as temporary cover.
How we work with Cambridge operators
Cambridge draws on a labour market with genuine container and customs experience in it, which is worth something — and which every operator along the corridor is competing for at the same time.
The freight geography around Cambridge runs on the A14, M11, A12, A11, A47 and A1(M), the Port of Felixstowe with its North, Central and South rail terminals, Harwich International and the airfreight operations at London Stansted. Operators draw on Gateway 14 at Stowmarket and Suffolk Park at Bury St Edmunds, both on the A14 and the employers booking temporary staff here are typically e-commerce and retail fulfilment sites along the A1 and M11.
Poultry, brassica and root-crop processing run to hard seasonal windows, so goods-in, yard and chilled picking work appears in blocks measured in weeks.
How cover for Cambridge works: you send the seat, the dates and the shift times. We source against that requirement from a national pool, complete the licence and right-to-work checks, then confirm a named worker who travels to your site.
Staff we cover
Warehouse forklift work is rostered in blocks rather than days. Continental and four-on-four-off patterns mean cover is a set of shifts, not a shift and a block that is only half covered leaves the rest of the team carrying it. Notice is worth more on this seat than on almost any other.
Most serious lift truck injuries involve somebody on foot. A new operator does not know where the pedestrian gate is, which corner is blind, where the goods-in team cut across the yard or which aisle the pickers work in the afternoon. That is a site induction and it cannot be inherited from a certificate, however good the certificate is.
The shift picture
Early starts in the packhouses and cold stores, typically from 04:00, with the day ending when the order is out rather than when the clock says.
Warehouse forklift work runs on fixed shift blocks — usually mornings, afternoons and nights on rotation, with 4-on-4-off common on larger sites.
Health and Safety Executive guidance splits lift truck training into three stages: basic training, specific job training and familiarisation on the actual truck and the actual site. An accredited certificate evidences the first. The second and third happen on your site, on your trucks and inside your traffic routes. They take real time on a first shift rather than a signature.
Licence and right-to-work checks
Vetted first, booked second — This is the gate a worker passes before they are offered your booking. Failing any line of it stops the confirmation.
- Forklift certificate from an accredited body — RTITB, ITSSAR, AITT or equivalent — with the truck category checked against the work.
- Certificate currency confirmed and re-checked.
- Right to work verified from original documents.
- References taken before a first shift.
What drivers are paid
Night and twilight blocks carry their own uplift and it is agreed as part of the booking, not negotiated on the first morning. On continental patterns the whole block is confirmed at one rate, so that a four-on-four-off rota does not produce four different figures on a single timesheet.
Under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, a worker reaches parity on pay and basic conditions after 12 weeks in the same role. Breaks in service affect the count, which is exactly why it needs tracking rather than estimating.
Shifts available
Real assignments only. If there is nothing listed, nothing is live for this role at the moment. Register with your licence details and availability and we will contact you when that changes.
Worth knowing
How quickly can you cover a forklift driver shift in Cambridge?
Next day is what we work to as standard. Same day happens when a suitable worker is free and the site is reachable and we will say which of those two you are getting rather than leaving you to find out at the gate.
What do you check before a forklift driver starts work in Cambridge?
Forklift certificate from an accredited body — RTITB, ITSSAR, AITT or equivalent — with the truck category checked against the work. Certificate currency confirmed and re-checked. Right to work verified from original documents. References taken before a first shift. The check happens before confirmation and the record is auditable. If your own compliance team wants to see it, they can, which is the point of keeping it digitally rather than in a drawer.
How does invoicing work for temporary staff in Cambridge?
One weekly invoice covering every approved shift, with the assignment reference on each line. The provenance matters more than the format: you should be able to trace any figure back to a specific person on a specific day.
More from us
Other cover we supply in Cambridge
Forklift cover elsewhere in East of England
Tell us who you need
Give us the class, the count, the dates and the shift. We confirm what we can cover and say plainly when we cannot.