HGV mechanic
Service and repair lorries, trailers, buses and coaches - big machines, big responsibility and some of the best pay in motor trades.
- Salary£26,000 – £55,000
- Hours40 to 50 hours a week; days, nights or weekends on a rota
- Working for yourselfUsually employed
What the job is like
HGV mechanics - officially heavy vehicle technicians - keep lorries, trailers, transporters, forklifts, buses and coaches on the road. You'll carry out scheduled servicing, diagnose mechanical, electrical and hydraulic faults, prepare vehicles for their annual tests and sometimes head out to breakdowns.
If you like big engines and practical problem-solving, this is a well-paid corner of the motor industry. You can train through a Level 3 apprenticeship, and some employers will retrain experienced car mechanics to work on heavy vehicles.
What you'll do
- Carry out scheduled servicing and maintenance
- Go out to breakdowns to make roadside repairs
- Diagnose and fix faults in mechanical, electrical and hydraulic systems
- Strip down, repair and rebuild components
- Prepare vehicles for MOT inspections
- Order spare parts from suppliers
- Make quality checks before vehicles go back to customers
- Keep records for every job
Where you'll work
- Workshop or studio
- Indoors
- Outdoors
- In a team
- On your own
Skills and hobbies that help
Weighted by how much they matter in this job, from the official job profile's skills and tasks. Tap one to see other careers that use it.
Key skills
Used a lot
Handy to have
Hobbies that give you a head start
How to become an HGV mechanic
Apprenticeship
Heavy vehicle service and maintenance technician (Level 3, typically around 36 months) or Bus and coach engineering technician (Level 3, typically around 36 months) - around 3 years. A Level 2 Bus, coach and heavy goods vehicle service and maintenance technician standard (around 24 months) was approved for delivery from August 2026.
College
Heavy vehicle maintenance, or heavy vehicle maintenance and repair technology courses.
Direct application
Possible with heavy vehicle experience (lorries, construction or agricultural machinery, or passenger vehicles). Some employers retrain car and van mechanics.
Other ways in
You can train as a vehicle service engineer in the Army or RAF.
Qualifications, licences and cards
- An HGV driving licence is needed for some jobs
- Optional Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) membership for professional development
Where it can lead
- Senior service engineer
- Workshop manager
- Dealer principal running a service and repair business
- Work for hauliers, airports, bus and coach firms or fleet operators
Good to know
- Workshops can be noisy, dirty and physically demanding.
- The National Careers Service figure for experienced heavy vehicle technicians (£55,000) is higher than its figures for experienced car, motorcycle or cycle mechanics.
Courses and training
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Apprenticeship search
Find an apprenticeship – GOV.UK
The official GOV.UK service for searching and applying for apprenticeship vacancies in England.
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Course search
Find a course – National Careers Service
The National Careers Service search for college and training provider courses in England, including Skills Bootcamps.
Official information
Sources
We checked these pages in September 2026. Rules, pay and courses change, so always confirm with the official source.
- National Careers Service: Heavy vehicle technician job profile nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/heavy-vehicle-technician
- Skills England apprenticeship standard: Heavy vehicle service and maintenance technician skillsengland.education.gov.uk/apprenticeships/st0068-v1-5
- Skills England apprenticeship standard: Bus and coach engineering technician skillsengland.education.gov.uk/apprenticeships/st0067-v1-2
- Skills England apprenticeship standard: Bus, coach and heavy goods vehicle service and maintenance technician skillsengland.education.gov.uk/apprenticeships/st1422-v2-0