Vehicle marshal · traffic banksman
Vehicle Marshal Training
Vehicle marshal training prepares the person on the ground who guides reversing lorries, dumpers, telehandlers and other plant around a site. A vehicle marshal, often called a traffic banksman, controls the space behind and around a moving vehicle, keeps pedestrians out of it, and gives the driver clear signals so the manoeuvre finishes where it should, with nobody in the way.
Logan Plant Training delivers vehicle marshal training on your own site, using your gates, haul roads, loading areas and the vehicles that actually move there. We work from our Aboyne base across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and North-East Scotland.
What does a vehicle marshal do?
Reversing vehicles are behind a large share of workplace transport accidents, because the driver's view behind the vehicle is limited even with mirrors and cameras. The HSE's guidance on workplace transport says reversing should be designed out where possible, and where it cannot be, a trained person can be used to guide the vehicle. That person is the vehicle marshal.
The role is not simply waving a vehicle back. A marshal decides where to stand so the driver can see them at all times, checks the reversing area is clear before the move starts, stops the vehicle if anyone enters the danger zone, and keeps the manoeuvre within the space agreed in the site traffic plan.
What vehicle marshal training covers
The course mixes short classroom sessions with practical marshalling on your site. Candidates spend most of the time guiding real vehicles under the instructor's eye.
- Why reversing is high-risk and how blind spots differ between lorries and plant
- Standard hand signals and agreeing signals with drivers before a move
- Where to stand: staying visible to the driver and outside the vehicle's path
- Setting and holding exclusion zones and keeping pedestrians clear
- Stopping a manoeuvre safely, and what to do if contact with the driver is lost
- Working with the site traffic management plan, gates and one-way systems
- Radios and hi-vis, and their limits in noisy or low-light conditions
Vehicle marshal, banksman or slinger signaller?
Sites use the word banksman for several different jobs. A vehicle marshal guides moving vehicles and plant; a slinger signaller attaches loads and directs a crane or lifting machine during a lift. The skills overlap in signalling and positioning, but they are not the same role, and a lifting operation needs a trained slinger signaller.
If the same people do both on your site, vehicle marshal training can sit alongside our banksman and slinger signaller training on one visit. Supervisors who write the traffic plans that marshals work to are better served by managing mobile plant training.
Training on your own site
Marshalling is about a particular place: where the gate is, where the pedestrian route crosses the haul road, how much room there is behind the loading bay. Training on your own site lets candidates practise on those exact spots, with the lorries, dumpers or telehandlers they will be guiding.
Tell us how many people need training, what vehicles move on site and how your traffic routes are laid out. Call Chris on 07867 933 018 or use the enquiry form below.
Vehicle Marshal Training questions
- What is vehicle marshal training?
- Training for the person who guides reversing vehicles and mobile plant on site, covering signals, positioning, exclusion zones and keeping pedestrians clear.
- Is a vehicle marshal the same as a banksman?
- A vehicle marshal is often called a traffic banksman. It is a different role from a slinger signaller, who directs lifting operations.
- Who needs vehicle marshal training?
- Anyone asked to guide vehicles: banksmen, gatemen, yard and loading-bay staff, and groundworkers working near reversing plant.
- Can vehicle marshal training run with other courses?
- Yes. It can be combined with banksman and slinger signaller training, or with managing mobile plant training for supervisors, on the same visit.
Related training
Need this training for you or your team?
Tell us what you need using the form, or call Chris on 07867 933 018.