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NPORS Pivot Steer Lift Truck Training (N013)
A pivot steer truck bends in the middle so it can unload a lorry outside and then put the same pallet into a narrow aisle without a second machine. That flexibility is also what makes it feel strange to a counterbalance driver. The NPORS N013 is the ticket for it, run on your own truck in your own aisles.
Why candidates choose Acadame
What makes our N013 Pivot Steer Lift Truck different
About this course
The NPORS N013 Pivot Steer Lift Truck category covers the articulated narrow aisle truck: a machine whose front section swings so the forks can face the racking without the whole truck turning. It works a narrow aisle like a dedicated warehouse truck, but it also drives outside, unloads a lorry and stacks in the yard, which is the reason most operators end up on one. Manufacturers market them under several names, but the NPORS category is the same.
A pivot steer 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 sets out three elements: basic training, specific job training on the actual truck and the place it works, and familiarisation on the job under supervision, after which the employer authorises the operator. Because this truck deliberately crosses between the yard and the aisle, the specific job element has to cover both environments, and that is how we teach it.
The training itself concentrates on what an operator from another truck will get wrong. The articulated front changes where the stability is, particularly laden at height with the front end swung. The sight lines are different again from a counterbalance or a reach truck. The transition from a yard surface to a warehouse floor is a real moment, because tyres pick up water and grit and the truck is about to work within centimetres of a rack leg. And because these trucks often stack to a height a counterbalance truck could not, blind placement, mast deflection and racking damage all need covering properly.
- 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
- How articulation works, what it does to stability and how the truck behaves laden and unladen
- Reading the data plate and capacity chart, including residual capacity at height
- Aisle discipline: entry and exit, clearances, pedestrians and rack end protection
- Stacking and destacking at high level, including blind placement and mast deflection
- Working outside: loading and unloading vehicles, yard surfaces, gradients and weather
- The transition between yard and warehouse and what it does to grip
- Pre use checks, defect reporting, battery charging and thorough examination records
How completing this course helps you
- The NPORS N013 Pivot Steer Lift Truck category on the operator's NPORS record
- A traditional NPORS card for warehouse work, or a Red Trained Operator or Blue Competent Operator card carrying the CSCS logo where the operator also works on construction sites
- Operators who can work the aisle and the yard on the same machine without treating them the same
- A clear handover to the employer on the specific job training, familiarisation and written authorisation that L117 still expects
Who should attend?
Warehousing, distribution, manufacturing stores, builders and plumbers merchants, food and drink, and any operation that wants one truck to unload the wagon and put the pallet away. It suits operators new to articulated trucks, counterbalance and reach truck drivers moving onto one, and cardholders coming up for renewal. A counterbalance or reach truck card does not cover a pivot steer truck. If the machine is guided by wire or rail and rotates its forks on a turret, that is the N007 Narrow Aisle Lift Truck instead.
Entry requirements. You should be above minimum school leaving age, which is what HSE set for lift truck operators outside ports, and most employers set eighteen. You need to be fit enough to work a shift in the seat, able to look up and behind comfortably, with eyesight and hearing adequate for the work, and able to follow spoken and written English well enough for the theory test, with reading support available on request. No prior card is needed for the novice route. Where 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 truck you run, your aisle width, your top beam height and whether the truck also works outside.
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 and articulation, then practical operation in the aisle and the yard, finishing with the NPORS theory and practical test.
The law, the truck and stability
- 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
- Articulated truck design, the pivot, controls and safety devices
- Stability with the front end straight and swung, laden and unladen, at ground level and at height
- The data plate, the capacity chart and residual capacity at top beam
- Aisle layouts, clearances, rack end protection and reporting a strike
- Working outside: vehicle loading, gradients, yard surfaces and weather
- Pre use checks, defect reporting, battery charging and changing, and thorough examination records
Operating the truck
- Pre use inspection and reporting on the actual truck
- Manoeuvring with articulation in open space until the steering feels natural
- Entering and leaving an aisle cleanly with correct clearances
- Stacking and destacking at low, medium and top beam height
- Blind placement and working with height selection aids where fitted
- Loading and unloading a vehicle outside, and moving between yard and warehouse
- Working on a gradient and on a wet or contaminated surface
- Parking, charging, shutting down and end of shift checks
Method of assessment
How the N013 pivot steer 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 operators 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 operator needs, check any existing cards, look at the truck and its thorough examination record, agree which aisles and yard areas we can use, and take the details NPORS need.
3. Training
Classroom on the law, stability and articulation, then practical operation in your own aisles and your own yard.
4. Theory test
The NPORS theory test covering legislation, truck knowledge, stability, capacity at height, racking and yard safety.
5. Practical test
You carry out pre use checks, work an aisle, stack and destack at height, load or unload outside and shut down, assessed against the NPORS test specification for the category.
6. Registration and card
We register the pass with NPORS and the N013 category goes on the card, as a traditional NPORS card for warehouse work or a CSCS logo card where the operator also works on construction sites.
After the course
One machine, two workplaces
The selling point of a pivot steer truck is that it does the yard job and the aisle job, and the training has to reflect that. L117 expects specific job training on the actual truck and the place it works, which for this category means both places: the loading area outside and the racked aisle inside. The employer still owes familiarisation under supervision and a written authorisation, and we leave you a plain summary of what is outstanding.
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 a racking strike, a near miss, a change of truck or a change of layout. Racking damage is worth its own mention: a struck frame that nobody reports is how a collapse starts, and narrow aisle strikes are easy to hide.
- A written record of what specific job training and familiarisation still sits with the employer
- N036 FLT Supervisor Awareness for the person who authorises and monitors operators
- N003 Reach Lift Truck where the same operators also run a reach truck
- N704 Manual Handling for warehouse staff working alongside the trucks
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.
N013 Pivot Steer Lift Truck FAQs
No. It is a separate NPORS category because the machine articulates, which changes the stability, the sight lines and the way it is steered. Existing truck experience usually shortens the route rather than removing the need for the category, which is what the experienced worker test is for.
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 operators with some experience. We ask what each operator has actually done before we quote.
Manufacturers use several trade names for articulated narrow aisle trucks, and they all sit under the NPORS N013 Pivot Steer Lift Truck category. It is different from the N007 Narrow Aisle Lift Truck, which is a guided turret or swing mast machine. Tell us your make and model and we will confirm the right category before you book.
That is usually why it was bought. The training covers both, because the yard and the aisle are different workplaces with different hazards, and the transition between them is a genuine risk point as tyres pick up water and grit before the truck goes back into a narrow aisle.
Only where the operator works on construction sites, which needs a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years. For warehouse and merchant work the traditional NPORS card covers the same category to the same standard.
It depends entirely on the machine, and the point of the course is that the operator works from the capacity chart for the truck in front of them rather than from what the last one did. Residual capacity falls as the mast rises, and that is covered in both the theory and the practical.
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 common practice. We would reassess sooner after a racking strike, a near miss, a change of truck or a change of warehouse layout.
Yes. We work around your shifts, including evenings and weekends, and can use a quieter aisle and a corner of the yard rather than shutting anything down. We need a truck with a current thorough examination, pallets to work with and space to assess properly.
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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