Delivery operatives: pay and what the work involves

Occupation 9253 · Elementary occupations

Delivery operatives

Delivery operatives load and unload goods from removal vans and delivery vehicles, convey household and office furniture, goods, equipment or other items, accompany drivers of road vehicles, and perform other elementary goods handling tasks.

How people enter it

There are no formal academic entry requirements. Training is typically provided off or on-the-job.

What the work involves

loads and unloads goods from removal vans or delivery vehicles either by hand or using trolleys and lift trucks
takes receipt of goods from customers and maintains and accurate record of deliveries
dismantles and packages items for transport if necessary
accompanies driver on journey and assists with manoeuvres and to load and unload vehicle

Also called

Driver’s mate · Delivery assistant · Furniture remover · Porter

What it pays

Measure	Hours	Basis	Period	Value	Source
9253 : Delivery operatives	None	None	2026-03	19,300.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
9253 : Delivery operatives	None	None	2026-03	20,000.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
9253 : Delivery operatives	None	None	2026-03	21,400.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
9253 : Delivery operatives	None	None	2026-03	—	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020) Not published: Estimate is less than 500
9253 : Delivery operatives	None	None	2026-03	1,400.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
9253 : Delivery operatives	None	None	2026-03	21,800.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
9253 : Delivery operatives	None	None	2026-03	700.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Region	Measure	Hours	Value	Period
East	9253 : Delivery operatives	None	3,500.00	2026-03
East Midlands	9253 : Delivery operatives	None	withheld	2026-03
London	9253 : Delivery operatives	None	3,900.00	2026-03
North East	9253 : Delivery operatives	None	1,100.00	2026-03
North West	9253 : Delivery operatives	None	1,100.00	2026-03
Northern Ireland	9253 : Delivery operatives	None	withheld	2026-03
Scotland	9253 : Delivery operatives	None	1,400.00	2026-03
South East	9253 : Delivery operatives	None	3,000.00	2026-03
South West	9253 : Delivery operatives	None	1,400.00	2026-03
Wales	9253 : Delivery operatives	None	700.00	2026-03
West Midlands	9253 : Delivery operatives	None	2,600.00	2026-03
Yorkshire and The Humber	9253 : Delivery operatives	None	2,300.00	2026-03

Common questions

Does pay for delivery operatives vary by region?

ONS publishes regional pay for this occupation where the survey sample supports it — 10 of 12 cells on this page. The rest are withheld by ONS, and are shown as withheld with the reason, rather than left out.

Where do these pay figures come from?

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, published by the Office for National Statistics. Figures are shown exactly as ONS publishes them — we do not adjust, model or fill them in, and every number on this page carries the series and period it came from.

Classified alongside this

Elementary storage occupations n.e.c. · Elementary storage supervisors · Warehouse operatives