Lorry and bus reversing exercise

What the exercise is

You start with the front of the vehicle level with the A cones. Marker B is behind you and the bay is behind you on the left. You reverse in an S, keeping marker B on your offside, straighten up into the bay and stop with the extreme rear of the vehicle inside the yellow stopping area at the end. On an articulated lorry that means the back of the trailer, not the back of the cab.

How the yard is sized

The reversing area is laid out from the vehicle rather than in fixed metres. In the simulator the bay is one and a half times the vehicle's width, marker B is two vehicle lengths behind the start line, the bay begins one length after B, and the stopping area is 90 cm deep. For a 10 m rigid lorry that is a 3.75 m wide bay whose mouth is 30 m behind the start; for a 16.8 m artic the same drawing puts it 50 m back.

An artic reverses the other way

Reversing an articulated lorry, the trailer turns the opposite way to the steering: steer right and the back of the trailer starts to swing left. The simulator models the trailer pivoting on the kingpin, so the small, early inputs that work in a real yard are the ones that work here, and if the angle between cab and trailer keeps growing, it is marked as a jackknife.

What is marked here

Touching a cone, crossing the boundary line and finishing with the rear outside the yellow area are serious faults. More than two shunts (pulling forward to correct) is recorded as a fault, and so is reversing faster than walking pace or moving before you have looked all round. Your mirrors are rendered live, sized and placed for each vehicle.

How you practise it here

Watch drives it for you with the commentary running, so you see the whole thing once before you touch anything. Guided puts the reference points on screen and stops you the moment you drift. Test says nothing and marks you in the words the examiner uses. Three clean Test runs in a row counts as learned, and it comes back two days, a week and three weeks later so it is still there on the day.

Step by step

These are the words the simulator says to you, in order, the same commentary you would get from the passenger seat.

1. 1The front of the lorry is level with the A cones. Marker B is straight behind you and the bay is behind you on the left. You will reverse in an S, keeping B on your right.
2. 2Reverse gear. You cannot see directly behind a lorry, so check both mirrors and all round before you move.
3. 3Steer left so the back swings out to the left of marker B. Crawl: the back moves further than the front.
4. 4Marker B passes on your right. Keep it clear of the offside and watch the front swing out.
5. 5Take the lock off so the back comes into line with the bay. Keep both sides of the bay even in the mirrors.
6. 6Slow right down. Stop with the very back of the vehicle inside the yellow area: it is only 90 cm deep.
7. 7The rear is in the stopping area. Stop here and tap Finished.

Common questions