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NPORS Lorry Mounted Lift Truck Training (N004)
A lorry mounted forklift travels on the back of the wagon, comes off at the kerb and puts a pack of blocks over a garden wall on ground nobody has prepared. The NPORS N004 is the ticket for it. It covers the machine, and it covers the two parts of the job that hurt people: mounting and demounting, and working at the roadside on your own.
Why candidates choose Acadame
What makes our N004 Lorry Mounted Lift Truck different
About this course
The NPORS N004 Lorry Mounted Lift Truck category covers the truck mounted forklift carried on the rear of a rigid or a trailer and demounted at the point of delivery. Three wheel and four wheel versions, usually rough terrain capable, used to deliver bricks, blocks, timber, plasterboard, palletised feed, roofing and anything else that lands at a kerb, a farm gate or a site entrance rather than a loading bay. On most deliveries the driver is the operator, and there is nobody else there.
A lorry mounted truck is a rider operated lift truck, so operator training sits under the Approved Code of Practice L117, Rider operated lift trucks: operator training and safe use. L117 describes three elements: basic training, specific job training covering the actual truck and the place it works, and familiarisation on the job under supervision, after which the employer authorises the operator. Because the workplace changes at every drop, the specific job element for this category has to cover how a delivery is assessed rather than one fixed layout, and that is how we teach it.
Two things dominate the course. The first is mounting and demounting: the frame, the pins and couplings, the sequence, the checks before the lorry moves off and what happens if a machine is not properly secured on the road. The second is the delivery itself. Ground bearing capacity on a verge or a new driveway, camber and cross fall, service covers and cellar lights, overhead lines, traffic and pedestrians passing within a metre of the forks, and the decision to refuse a drop that cannot be done safely. Where the machine travels on the public highway, road registration, lighting and the driver's licence position all apply, and the theory covers them.
- The legal frame: the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, PUWER 1998 and the L117 Approved Code of Practice, and what authorisation by the employer means
- Mounting and demounting from the carrier vehicle, the frame, pins and couplings, and the checks before the vehicle moves
- Stability, the load centre and reading the data plate, including how capacity changes on a slope
- Assessing a delivery point: ground conditions, camber, covers, overheads, traffic and pedestrians
- Offloading and placing loads over obstacles, and knowing when a delivery must be refused
- Pre use checks, defect reporting and thorough examination records
- Road use: registration, lighting and the rules that apply when the machine travels on the public highway rather than across it
How completing this course helps you
- The NPORS N004 Lorry Mounted Lift Truck category on the operator's NPORS record
- An NPORS Red Trained Operator card, a Blue Competent Operator card with the relevant NVQ, or a traditional NPORS card for haulage and delivery work
- Drivers who secure the machine properly every time rather than when they remember
- Drivers who can justify refusing an unsafe delivery, and a record of why they did
Who should attend?
Builders merchants, timber and roofing merchants, block and brick manufacturers, agricultural suppliers, plasterboard and insulation distributors and general haulage. It suits new delivery drivers taking on a mounted machine, experienced drivers who have never been formally trained, and cardholders coming up for renewal. Drivers usually also need the vehicle licence for the carrier itself, which is separate from this category. If the machine is a rough terrain masted truck kept on site rather than carried on a lorry, that is the N009 Rough Terrain Lift Truck.
Entry requirements. You should be above minimum school leaving age, which is what HSE set for lift truck operators outside ports, and in practice this is a job for licensed drivers so eighteen or older is the norm. You need to be fit enough to climb on and off the vehicle repeatedly, with eyesight and hearing adequate for roadside work, and able to follow spoken and written English well enough for the theory test, with reading support available on request. No prior lift truck card is needed for the novice route. Where deliveries go onto construction sites and the CSCS logo version of the card is needed, a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years is required, which we can book. Tell us at enquiry what make of truck and mounting frame you run and what the typical delivery looks like.
Ready to take the next step?
Choose a delivery option, compare dates and book with confidence, or ask MB and get an answer straight away.
Course content
What you will cover
Classroom on the law, stability, mounting and delivery assessment, then practical demounting, offloading and remounting, finishing with the NPORS theory and practical test.
The law, the machine and the delivery
- The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and PUWER 1998 duties on employer and operator
- The L117 Approved Code of Practice: basic training, specific job training, familiarisation and authorisation
- Truck types, mounting systems, controls and the safety devices fitted
- Stability, the load centre, the data plate and the effect of slope and soft ground
- Securing the machine to the carrier vehicle and the consequences of getting it wrong on the road
- Assessing the delivery point: ground, camber, covers, overheads, traffic and pedestrians
- Refusing a delivery, recording the reason and reporting it
- Road use: registration, lighting and what applies when the machine uses the public highway
- Pre use checks, defect reporting, thorough examination and inspection records
Operating the truck
- Pre use inspection and reporting on the actual truck and the mounting frame
- Demounting from the carrier vehicle in a controlled sequence
- Manoeuvring on hard standing, on a gradient and on soft or uneven ground
- Picking up, transporting and placing palletised loads, including over an obstacle
- Working at a simulated kerbside with traffic and pedestrian routes to manage
- Remounting and securing the machine, and the final checks before the vehicle moves
- Parking, shutting down and end of shift checks
Method of assessment
How the N004 lorry mounted lift truck test works
NPORS assess the category with a theory test and a practical test on the truck. Both run with us, because Acadame is an NPORS test centre as well as a training provider, and the pass goes onto the operator's record without a second booking.
1. Enquiry and group
Tell us how many drivers you have and what each one has already done. NPORS allow three candidates with one instructor and one truck on the training routes and four on the experienced worker test. We quote per group, because the length follows the numbers.
2. Pre course check
We confirm the route each driver needs, check any existing cards, check whether the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test is needed and is in date, look at the truck, the mounting frame and the thorough examination record, and take the details NPORS need.
3. Training
Classroom on the law, stability and delivery assessment, then practical demounting, offloading and remounting on your own vehicle where possible.
4. Theory test
The NPORS theory test covering legislation, truck knowledge, stability, mounting and securing, delivery assessment and road use.
5. Practical test
You carry out pre use checks, demount, manoeuvre, place loads, remount and secure the machine, assessed against the NPORS test specification for the category.
6. Registration and card
We register the pass with NPORS and the N004 category goes on the card, as a CSCS logo card for site deliveries with a valid CITB test, or a traditional NPORS card for merchant and haulage work.
After the course
The delivery is the workplace, and it changes every time
L117 expects specific job training on the truck and the place it works, and for a delivery driver the place changes hourly. That makes the employer's part of the job harder rather than optional. What works is a clear delivery assessment the driver can apply at the kerb, a stated right to refuse, and a route by which a refusal gets recorded rather than argued about on the phone. We cover all three and leave you the summary.
There is no legal interval for refresher training. HSE say there is no specific requirement to retrain after set intervals, but that operators need reassessing from time to time, and three to five years is the usual practice. Reassess sooner after an incident, a change of truck or mounting system, or a long absence. Where the driver also enters construction sites, the CSCS logo version of the card needs a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years, which we book for you.
- A written record of what specific job training and familiarisation still sits with the employer
- N120 Plant Loader Securer for drivers who also load and secure plant on a trailer
- N403 Vehicle Marshal where deliveries are received into a yard or a compound
- CITB Health, Safety and Environment test booked with us for the CSCS logo version of the card
Build your course
Who is coming, and how many
We do not run these to a timetable. The course is built around your people: how experienced they are and how many of them there are, which is what sets the length and the cost. Pick the mix and we will come back with a date and a price.
The course builder needs JavaScript. Without it, tell us how many people and what experience they have and we will price it up.
N004 Lorry Mounted Lift Truck FAQs
Moffett is a make of truck mounted forklift rather than a category. The NPORS category for any lorry mounted lift truck is the N004, whichever make you run. The specific job training is where the make and the mounting system matter, which is why we prefer to train on your own vehicle.
For the carrier vehicle, yes: the driver needs the correct licence category for the lorry or the trailer combination, and that is separate from this card. If the mounted truck itself travels on the public highway rather than simply crossing it, road registration, tax, lighting and licence requirements also apply to the machine, and the theory covers what to check.
Five days for a novice on the NPORS test sheet, one day for a refresher, and one to two days for an experienced worker test. NPORS also publish a three day basic timetable for drivers with some experience but not enough to go straight to test. We ask what each driver has actually done before quoting.
Yes, and they should where the ground, the camber, the traffic or the overheads mean the drop cannot be done safely. The course teaches how to assess it and how to record the refusal, because a refusal that is not written down turns into an argument. The employer needs to back that up in writing.
Two things. Machines that are not properly secured on the mounting frame, which become a problem at road speed, and overturns at the delivery point on soft ground, a camber or a collapsed cover. Both are in the practical, and both get more time than driving in a straight line.
In practice yes. Most principal contractors ask for a CSCS logo card at the gate, which for an NPORS holder means a valid CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years. For merchant and agricultural delivery work that never enters a site, the traditional NPORS card is normally enough.
There is no legal interval. HSE say operators need reassessing from time to time rather than at a fixed period, and three to five years is the common practice. Reassess sooner after an incident, a change of truck or mounting system, or a spell away from the machine.
Yes, and it is the better option because the mounting frame and the vehicle are the part of the job that matters most. We need an area we can work in, a loaded pallet or two, and a truck with a current thorough examination. There are no scheduled dates, so we fit around your delivery schedule.
NPORS courses are priced per course, not per person. What you are paying for is the instructor, the registered tester and the machine time, so the figure turns on four things: the category, which route your operators need (novice, experienced, conversion or refresher), how many people are coming, and whether we run it on your site or at one of ours. It is also why a squad works out considerably cheaper per head than sending operators out one at a time. Use the course builder on this page: tell it who is coming and it works out how many days the course takes and how many times it has to run, which is what the price is built from. Then ask us and you will get a figure for that exact group rather than a list price with conditions attached.
We run NPORS courses across the UK rather than out of one fixed centre, and for most categories the better answer is that we come to you: your operators are assessed on the machine they will be using anyway, nobody loses a day travelling, and for a group it costs less. If you would rather come to us, we have centres at Trent House in Stoke, Pride Park in Derby, Europa House in Manchester and Kingsway House in Liverpool. Tell us where the work is and we will say honestly which way round makes more sense.
There is no fixed timetable to wait for. NPORS courses here are run to order, which means the dates are built around your programme rather than ours, and a single operator or a full squad can normally be booked in within a couple of weeks. If you have a card about to expire or a start date to hit, say so when you enquire and we will work to it.
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