Indeed is where most UK logistics companies start when a depot needs drivers, and for good reason: it is where many drivers already look, and posting is quick. It is also where many of them end up asking for an alternative, usually for the same three reasons. The applications pile up faster than anyone can read them, most of them do not hold the licence or the right to work the route needs, and the ones that look right do not answer the phone.
This guide compares the realistic alternatives for hiring delivery drivers in the UK, what each one charges for and what it leaves with you. None of them is best for everybody; the useful question is which part of the hiring process you want to stop doing yourself.
How Indeed charges, and why it matters
Indeed's UK pricing page sets out the model. Posting can be free, but "free postings may lose visibility over time". To keep a job in front of candidates you sponsor it, and sponsored jobs are charged per job seeker interaction, such as a click or a started application, billed monthly or when your spending reaches £500.
That model is efficient at one thing: putting your advert in front of a lot of people. What it charges for is attention. It does not know whether the person who clicked holds a category B licence, lives within reach of your depot, or has the right to work in the UK, and it does not charge less when they do not.
For a delivery operation the cost of an Indeed hire is therefore two numbers: what you paid Indeed, and the hours your team spent turning a stack of applications into one driver who started. The second is usually the larger.
The alternatives, side by side
| Option | What you pay for | Who screens and checks | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indeed, sponsored | clicks or started applications | you | you need volume and have the team to sift it |
| Reed, Totaljobs, CV-Library | adverts, plus optional CV database access | you | you want a second audience, or to search CVs yourself |
| Find a job (DWP) | nothing | you | you want a free channel alongside a paid one |
| Driver recruitment agencies | a fee per placement, or a margin on hours worked | the agency, then you | you need temporary cover fast |
| Referrals from your own drivers | a referral bonus, if you pay one | you, but on better candidates | you already have drivers who stay |
| A vetted driver marketplace | an intro call with a hire-ready driver | the platform, before you meet them | the sifting and the no-shows are the problem |
Reed, Totaljobs and CV-Library
The other large UK job boards work on a similar principle with different pricing. Each sells job adverts, with an entry price published on its own recruiter pages, and each offers access to a CV database you can search yourself. Reed also sells pay-per-application campaigns alongside single adverts.
They reach audiences that overlap with Indeed's but are not identical, so a second board can widen the pool for a hard-to-fill depot. What they do not change is the work after the application lands. The screening, the calling, the document collection and the checks stay with you.
Find a job
The Department for Work and Pensions runs Find a job, where employers advertise vacancies for free and reach jobseekers working with Jobcentre Plus. It costs nothing and is worth running alongside any paid channel. The trade-off is the same as any board: no screening, and the applicants are as ready or as unready as they are anywhere else.
Driver recruitment agencies
Agencies either place a driver on your payroll for a fee or supply one on their own books for a margin on every hour worked. They are the fastest way to cover a route next week, and the agency does the first round of checks. The costs are the margin on temporary drivers, which never goes away while the driver works through the agency, and a relationship with the driver that belongs partly to the agency rather than to you.
Referrals
Drivers who were referred by a colleague tend to know what the job involves before they start, and a driver who knew what they were signing up for is less likely to leave in the first month. A referral bonus, paid once the new driver has been with you for a set period, is usually the cheapest source of good drivers a depot has. It does not scale beyond the size of your existing team.
A vetted driver marketplace
The last option changes what you buy. Instead of paying for attention and doing the filtering yourself, you pay for an intro call with a hire-ready driver: someone who already meets the role's requirements and has been checked before you meet them.
That is how Service Club ® works, through Service Club Jobs. We find drivers in the cities you operate in, collect and check their documents against the licence, the right to work and the vehicle your routes need, and book the ones who qualify onto an intro call with you. Each intro call with a hire-ready driver is paid upfront, the platform fee is waived during Q4 2026, and if a driver does not turn up, we introduce someone else at no extra cost. The interview, the offer and the hiring decision stay with you. The Service Club Jobs page sets out the model and the pricing.
What stays with you, whichever you choose
Moving away from Indeed does not move the legal duties. Two of them sit with the business that engages the driver, whatever channel found them.
Right to work. The check is yours, and the penalties are yours: up to £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach and up to £60,000 for a repeat within three years. From 1 October 2026 the scheme also reaches self-employed couriers and sub-contractors, which our guide to right to work checks for self-employed couriers covers in detail. A marketplace that collects and verifies the documents shortens the work, but the obligation stays in your name.
The licence. A DVLA check code shows the categories a driver holds, their penalty points and any disqualification, and it takes seconds once the driver has generated it. Your insurer will want it done.
Beyond those, the parts that decide whether a driver stays are yours too: the induction, the first rounds, the first payslip. Our guide to recruiting delivery drivers covers the whole process from the vacancy to the first month.
How to choose
Work out where your hires are lost. Take your last ten vacancies and count, for each one, the applications received, the candidates who met the requirements, the ones who turned up to speak to you, and the ones who started.
- If the first number is low, you have a reach problem. Add a second board and Find a job.
- If the gap is between applications and hire-ready drivers, you have a screening problem, and more applicants make it worse.
- If the gap is between hire-ready drivers and the ones who turn up, you have an engagement problem, and it is the one that costs the most team time per hire.
The recruitment funnel post goes stage by stage through why drivers drop out between applying and starting.
Frequently asked questions
Is Indeed free for employers in the UK?
Posting a job on Indeed can be free, but Indeed's own pricing page says free postings may lose visibility over time. Sponsored jobs are charged per job seeker interaction, such as a click or a started application, and billed monthly or when spending reaches £500, whichever comes first.
What is the best alternative to Indeed for hiring drivers?
It depends on where your hiring breaks. If you need more applicants, another job board or the free Find a job service widens the pool. If the problem is that most applicants never qualify or never turn up, a service that checks drivers before you meet them fixes more than a second board does.
Are there free alternatives to Indeed in the UK?
Yes. The Department for Work and Pensions runs Find a job, where employers can advertise vacancies for free and reach jobseekers working with Jobcentre Plus. Referrals from your existing drivers cost only whatever bonus you choose to pay.
Does a job board check a driver's licence or right to work?
No. A job board passes you the application, and the checks stay with you. The right to work check is a legal duty of the business that engages the driver, with civil penalties of up to £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach, and the DVLA licence check is yours to run as well.
Why do so many driver applicants from job boards never show up?
Because applying costs a candidate one click, so a single advert collects people who are applying to many jobs at once, who lack the licence or the vehicle the route needs, or who have already taken another offer by the time you call. The volume is real; the intent behind much of it is not.
Count where your last ten hires were lost
The right alternative to Indeed is the one that removes the stage where your hires disappear. If that stage is the sifting and the no-shows, get in touch with the roles, the cities and the volume, and we will tell you who we can put in front of you and how fast.