The majority of drivers break the speed limit. Mostly it’s deliberate, sometimes it’s accidental. Almost always, it’s not required, but very occasionally it’s to get a driver out of danger (e.g. a misjudged overtaking manoeuvre). While over 80% of drivers…
When you’re choosing a truck loader crane you have a choice of a telescopic boom crane or a knuckle boom crane. Telescopic boom cranes (also called straight boom cranes) have a cable and hook attached to a winch, while the…
Drivers have areas around their vehicle that they cannot see in the mirrors or by turning to look. These are called blind spots. Modern vehicles have fewer blind spots due to better mirror placement, cameras and bigger windows, but there…
In a car with a petrol or diesel engine, the battery has a life of around 5-6 years, assuming it’s being used reasonably regularly, but there are ways in which you can reduce this, one of them being letting your…
A dangerous goods placard is a diamond-shaped warning sign or label displayed on a truck, trailer, portable tank or container that either conveys information about the specific hazards and risks of the goods carried, or is a generic warning that…
Trucks are often classified in according to the class of licence required to drive them. A class 2 truck can have gross laden weight of 18000kg, a class 4 truck is 18000kg and over without a trailer and a class…
Minimum ages for driving a forklift vary by the type of forklift qualification required. This section is for New Zealand, see the end of the article for other countries. Driving a forklift on a road with a gross laden weight under…
A full trailer, sometimes called a pull trailer, is a heavy trailer which has at least one axle at each end of the trailer and is pulled using a drawbar. The front axle pivots to allow steering. Contrast this with…
The most common type of Roadranger gearbox has 18 forward speeds and 4 reverse speeds. However, older trucks might have 9, 13 or 15 forward speeds and you can identify them by the style of the gearstick. Roadranger ‘boxes are…
The cab is your work area, so it needs to be safe and comfortable. A comfortable cab helps the driver avoid fatigue. Getting in the truck To assist the driver getting in safely, especially where the floor level of the…
A Roadranger gearbox is a non-synchonised or ‘crash’ gearbox found on larger American and Asian trucks (although more and more of these trucks are coming with automated manual transmissions or AMT). The most common configuration is 18-speed, but you will…
Roof racks are useful to carry long items that won’t fit in your car, van or ute. They can be used for infrequently needed items such as sporting equipment, instead of buying a much larger vehicle. When we learn to…
Utes, also called pick-up trucks and utility vehicles, are the vehicle of choice for tradespeople and farmers, plus people who get out into the rugged wilderness as either part of their job or for their hobbies. From single-cab to double-cab,…
Spotters are used in the transport and construction industry when it’s difficult to manoeuvre a vehicle or an object. Examples include: Reversing or coupling a heavy vehicle (e.g. semitrailer or truck and trailer) Manoeuvring a forklift with a large load…
Your family car probably weighs around 2000kg all up with you, a passenger and its fuel. It has four wheels in contact with the road – small rubber patches, no bigger than the size of a CD case (remember those?).…
Roadworks are areas of the road where either the road is being repaired, part of the road’s shoulder or road furniture is being repaired (e.g. barriers), or works are occurring on services such as water or power. They are usually…
As more and more safety compliance responsibility is heaped on companies, some are finding it difficult to achieve dangerous goods compliance when they are using forklifts with LPG cylinders. Cylinders attached to a forklift are not counted as being in…
Forklifts are not designed for towing, but there are three common scenarios where a forklift might be used to move vehicles using an attachment. Because attachments are custom engineered for specific purposes they can be designed to enable forklifts to…
What’s different between driving an electric truck and a diesel truck? The majority of drivers would struggle to get an electric truck started without some kind of introduction, so let’s go over the basics. The first step is to disable…
Overtaking or passing means getting by a vehicle ahead of you that is either travelling slower or has stopped. The reasons for not overtaking are different for different types of road. Single-lane unmarked road This is a narrow road without…
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