Reversing

1) Causing a motor vehicle to travel backwards - illegal if distance reversed is greater than necessary for safety or reasonable convenience of the occupants or other traffic (except road rollers).

Reverse logistics

1) Distribution terminology for collecting returns (eg surplus, damaged or recalled goods) and bringing them back to the depot/ warehouse and integrating them back into the system (ie for scrap, repair or replacement, etc).

Revenue

1) A word that means income. In the transport context, it is income from passenger fares, on-vehicle advertising, haulage and shipping rates, the sales of airline tickets, etc.

Return on capital

1) Term meaning the financial benefit (ie return) gained from the use of capital (eg the return from an investment in a business). Usually calculated by dividing the net profit by the capital invested (eg £10,000 net profit on £100,000 investment means a 10 per cent return on capital).

Retro reflex reflector

1) Vehicle reflector facing to the rear or side which reflects light back from whence it came. Such reflectors are required by law to indicate the presence and width of a vehicle when seen from the rear.

Retarder

1) Device on vehicle to help reduce its speed by means other than conventional wheel brakes (eg as with 'Jake Brake' which operates on engine overrun to produce compression effect).