Driving tests

Pedestrian safety on construction sites with excavators and loaders: alert and exclusion zones

Excavators and loaders are large machines with blind spots that make it dangerous for pedestrians when they are working in the same area. Loaders and wheeled excavators are capable of moving quickly, so it’s important that everyone on the worksite

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Can you use your private car, ute or van for work?

A vehicle that you use for business purposes doesn’t have to be owned by the business. It doesn’t even have to be owned by you (although, that would mean that you can’t personally claim any expenses on that vehicle that

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Can an excavator work in flooding or underwater?

Excavators typically have their engine above the counterweight. This is almost always a diesel-powered engine. To burn the fuel, the engine needs to take in air as well as have a way of venting exhaust fumes.  Excavators are commonly used

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Is crossing your hands while steering a bad technique?

Preferred hand position when driving in a straight line or reversing When driving forwards, the preferred position for your hands is at the quarter-to-three position with each hand either side of the steering wheel. Some wheels make this easy to

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So you’ve had twins or triplets! What car should you buy?

Maybe you got 100% more baby than you bargained for. Maybe 200%. With any new child, you’re most likely going to have to say goodbye to your dreams of owning a two-seater sports car (at least, temporarily), but with two

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Who can legally tow your vehicle, or ask for it to be towed?

If you return and your vehicle is no longer there, it will either have been towed or stolen. If there’s no indication of theft (e.g. broken glass), look around for signage for clues, such as clearway, private parking, yellow lines

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Are you allowed to park on the footpath?

Narrow streets and a lack of off-street parking are often causes of people parking on the footpath, so that they don’t get their wing mirrors clipped by other motorists. Unless there’s a dashed yellow line prohibiting parking, people are usually

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Is reverse parking safer than parking forwards?

There are three types of parking: Bay parking Parallel parking Angle parking Bay parking Bay parking is perpendicular (at 90 degrees) to a kerb or structure (e.g. a building). In this case, it is safest to reverse in: When reversing

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What is a skeletal trailer and how do you load them?

A skeletal trailer is a lightweight semitrailer most commonly used for transporting one or two shipping containers. Shipping containers are intermodal – they can be loaded onto a ship, unloaded using a crane, moved using a forklift, empty container handler,

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What’s a sleeper cab and how should truck drivers use them?

Trucks have either a day cab, rest cab or sleeper cab. A day cab has one compartment which contains the driver and passenger seats with nothing behind them (or perhaps just a small space for personal belongings). Day cabs almost

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What size forklift do you need to lift a shipping container?

Shipping containers are usually lifted or moved by one of six vehicles: Empty container handler Loaded container handler (a heavier version of the empty container handler) Reach stacker Crane Straddle carrier Sideloader Forklift The first five usually lift from the

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Is a vehicle a place of work by law?

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, a vehicle is considered as a place of work. Vehicles include roadgoing vehicles as well as off-road vehicles such as LUVs, forklifts and farm equipment. Statistics for incidents and accidents involving

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What is a tanker truck?

Tanker trucks are a convenient way to move around bulk liquids, gases and powders. Sizes are variable, from small fuel trucks and biohazard waste trucks up to large b-trains and semitrailers. The tank can either be attached to the truck

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What is a limited licence and how do I get one?

A limited licence, sometimes called a ‘work licence’ gives you the right to drive under certain conditions, even if you have been suspended or disqualified from driving. You will have to present your case to a judge and convince them

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Does your forklift need warning beacons and reversing alarms?

Are warning lights, alarms and other safety devices legally required to operate a forklift? There are thousands of forklifts still in operation that were purchased over 30 years ago. These are perfectly good forklifts operating in all kinds of capacities.

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What’s the difference between driver licence suspension and disqualification?

A suspension happens to your licence – the licence becomes temporarily invalid, therefore you can’t use it to drive. A disqualification happens to the driver – the driver becomes unable to drive or hold a licence, whether they have a

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Can you drift or do burnouts on the road if you remain in control?

The Land Transport Act 1998 36A describes a number of antisocial vehicle-related activities which attract fines or other penalties. It doesn’t matter how skilled you are behind the wheel – you could be an ex-F1 driver and still be prosecuted.

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Hydraulic system checks on forklifts, loaders, excavators and other machinery

What do hydraulic systems do? Hydraulic systems are used to raise, lower, turn, contract, expand, turn and otherwise move attachments and parts of many different types of equipment such as forklifts, backhoes, excavators, loaders and truck loader cranes. When an

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Is it difficult to drive on the other side of the road?

It’ll be a mental challenge for you when you first get in a car and drive on the other side of the road, but your brain will adapt quickly. There are just a few pitfalls you need to be aware

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How can you unload or load a truck without a forklift?

A forklift is usually the best way to unload palletised freight from a truck, but if you don’t have a forklift, what can you use? Manual pallet jack Cheap, durable, but a bit dangerous if you’re on a slope. A

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