Hiab is a brand name that swallowed a whole category — like Hoover or Biro. The equipment is a lorry loader crane, and the ticket to operate one is among the most useful things a rigid driver can add, because it turns you from someone who delivers a load into someone who can place it.
A lorry loader is a hydraulic crane mounted on the vehicle, used to lift its own load on and off — bricks, blocks, steel, plant, containers, timber. Hiab is one manufacturer among several, but the name is used generically across the industry and in job adverts.
It is not a driving licence category. You need the vocational licence for the vehicle, and the loader ticket sits alongside it.
ALLMI is the specialist body for lorry loaders and is the accreditation most operators name first. NPORS and CPCS also cover lorry loader operation and are widely accepted, particularly on construction sites.
Which one matters depends on where you will work: construction sites often specify CPCS or NPORS because of site card schemes, while haulage and builders’ merchants more often name ALLMI.
A slinger-signaller or banksman ticket qualifies the person on the ground who attaches the load and directs the lift. The lorry loader ticket qualifies the person operating the crane.
On plenty of jobs one driver does both, which is why the two tickets are often taken together and why job adverts list them in the same breath.
A Class 2 driver with a lorry loader ticket is a materially different hire from one without. Builders’ merchants, steel stockholders, plant movers and utilities all need loads placed accurately rather than tipped at the kerb.
It also tends to mean better work: fewer drops, more skill, and a job an agency cannot fill at short notice with anyone who happens to be available.
Lorry loader training is delivered by specialist accredited centres rather than by us. What we do is the licence underneath it — Class 2 or Class 1 — and we can tell you which ticket the employers in our network are actually asking for, which is usually a shorter answer than a search suggests.
There is no DVLA licence for it. A Hiab, or lorry loader, ticket is a certificate from an accrediting body such as ALLMI, NPORS or CPCS, held alongside your vocational driving licence.
ALLMI is the specialist body most named in haulage. Construction sites often ask for CPCS or NPORS because of site card schemes. It depends where you will be working.
Yes — you need the vocational licence for the vehicle the crane is mounted on, usually Class 2. The loader ticket is an add-on.
The loader ticket covers operating the crane. Slinger-signaller covers attaching the load and directing the lift from the ground. Many drivers hold both.
A novice course typically runs over several days, with shorter experienced-operator and refresher routes. Duration varies by accrediting body and your prior experience.
A lorry loader ticket is worth far more on top of a Class 2 than on its own. Call 01634 907 229 and we will get the licence sorted, then point you at the right accreditation.
See the Class 2 course · Transparent course pricing · Funding and payment plans · Find your nearest centre · Call 01634 907 229
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