|
Truck Types
In the world of trucks, there are a very wide-variety of trucks and different variations of trucks and trailers. The three main classifications for road truck by weight are light trucks, medium trucks, and heavy trucks. Above this there are specialised very heavy trucks and transporters such as heavy haulers for moving oversized loads, and off-road heavy trucks used in construction and mining which are too large for highway use without escorts and special permits.
- Canopy express
- A Canopy express is a light-duty cargo van based on the chassis of Panel truck's. Canopy express vehicles have open display areas behind the driver's seat commonly used for peddling vegetables and fruit, but also used for other kinds of deliveries that require easy access such as newspapers and radio equipment. Canopy Express trucks evolved as a more stylized version of standard Pickup trucks that contained open canopies installed over the pickup bed. They were built by Dodge, General Motors, and International Harvester as well as other manufacturers. Ford Canpoy Express trucks were merley aftermarket conversions of their existing panel trucks. As the United States became more suburbanized after World War 2, sales of canopy express vehicles declined. GM offered the last of them in 1955.
- Pickup Truck
- A pickup truck or ute is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area. In North America, the word pickup generally refers to a small or medium sized truck. This light commercial vehicle features: a separate cabin or/and rear load area or compartment (separate cargo bed). Instead of a well-type bed (short rigid sides) with an opening rear gate, some pickups have a flat tray back (a.k.a. flatbed). Others may have a specialty body mounted behind the cabin. Three North American vehicles, the Chevrolet El Camino, Pontiac G8 (also available as a 4-door sedan), and Ford Ranchero are not technically trucks[citation needed]. This is because the have a spot welded sheet steel monocoque (unit-body) chassis in the same style as modern passenger cars. Trucks on the other hand usually have a heavy 'C' section rail chassis with a fully floating cab and separate cargo section[citation needed]. The sheet steel in both of these sections is not a stressed member. A combination of the two styles, monocoque cab and engine bay welded to a 'c' section chassis rear is offered in Australia. It is known as the 'one tonner' because it is rated to carry some 250 kg (551 lb) more than the all monocoque style. A vehicle like the Holden Ute and FPV Pursuit, colloquially called a ute or utility (from "Coupe utility"), in Australia and New Zealand, is known in South Africa as a bakkie (pronounced "bucky"), in Egypt as "half truck", and in Israel as a tender. Panel vans, popular in Australia during the 1970s, were based on ute chassis; known in Egypt as "box". The design details of such vehicles vary significantly, and different nationalities seem to specialise in different styles and sizes of vehicles. For instance, North American pickups come in full-size (large, heavy vehicles often with V8 or six-cylinder engines), mid-size, and compact (smaller trucks generally equipped with inline 4 engines).
- Panel Truck
- A panel truck is a windowless cargo van built on a truck chassis. Similar in function to its smaller cousin, the sedan delivery; which is a station wagon with no backseat, and no side windows aft of the front doors. Both types of vehicles are frequently used for delivery of flowers, retail bakery products, diapers, laundry, and other consumer conveniences. Panel trucks are often used by construction and maintenance contractors and were sometimes configured for ambulance and hearse roles. Other variations include Canopy express models, which have open display areas behind the driver's seat primarily used by farmers for selling fruits and vegetables. The Chevrolet Suburban and GMC Yukon, as well as the International Harvester Travelall were passenger versions of these trucks. In modern times minivans have been adapted to some of these functions.
- Tow Truck
- A tow truck (also called a wrecker, a breakdown truck, recovery truck or a breakdown lorry), is a vehicle used to transport disabled motor vehicles to another location (generally a repair garage), or to recover vehicles which are no longer on a drivable surface. Towing services are generally provided by an emergency road service operator. Vehicles are often towed in the case of breakdowns or collisions, or may be impounded for parking violations, driving under the influence, and other offenses.
- Box Truck
- A box truck, also known as a cube truck, cube van, bob truck, or box van, is a truck with a cube-shaped cargo area. They usually range in size from 14 feet to 24 feet in length, with smaller or larger ones existing but being rare in North America. They usually have a garage-like rear door that rolls up. On some box trucks, the cargo area is accessible from the cabin via a small door. Box trucks are usually used by companies that need to haul appliances or furniture. They are also used as moving trucks which can be rented from companies such as U-Haul or Ryder. In North America, Ford and Chevrolet/GMC are the most common chassis manufacturers to which various producers attach the box cargo holds. A box truck is sometimes mistakenly called a cargo van. A cargo van is a regular full size van, such as a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter or a Ford E-Series, without rear seats and usually without side windows in the cargo area.
- Van
- A van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people. It is usually a rather box-shaped vehicle on four wheels, about the same width and length as a large automobile, but taller and usually higher off the ground, also referred to as a Light Commercial Vehicle or LCV. However, in North America, the term may be used to refer to any truck with a rigid cargo body fixed to the cab, even up to large sizes. In the UK usage, it can be either specially designed or based on a saloon/sedan car, the latter type often including derivatives with open backs (such as pick-up trucks). There are vans in all shapes and sizes, ranging from the classic van version of the tiny Mini to the five metre long (LWB) variants of the Mercedes Sprinter van. Vehicles larger than this are classified as trucks (or lorries in British English).
- Flatbed Truck
- A flatbed truck is a type of truck which can be either articulated or rigid. It has an entirely flat, level body with absolutely no sides or roof. This allows for quick and easy loading of goods, and consequently they are used to transport heavy loads that are not delicate or vulnerable to precipitation, such as construction equipment, and also for abnormal loads that require more space than is available on a closed body.
- Fire Truck
- A fire apparatus, fire engine, fire truck, or fire appliance is a vehicle designed to assist in fighting fires, by transporting firefighters to the scene, and providing them with access, water or other equipment. In some areas, the terms fire engine and fire truck represent different types of fire fighting apparatus.
- Conventional with and without sleeper
- A semi-trailer truck or tractor-trailer (colloquially known as a transfer truck, 18-wheeler, semi, Diesel, Mack truck (although this is actually just one brand of truck maker), or big rig in the U.S., and transport in Canada; as a semi in Australia or New Zealand; and as an articulated lorry (artic) in the UK and Ireland) is an articulated truck or lorry consisting of a towing engine (tractor in the U.S., prime mover in Australia, and truck in the UK, Canada and New Zealand), and a semi-trailer (plus possible additional trailers) that carries the freight. When you hear that a truck has a sleeper it means that the cabin has an extended space (usually mesaured in inches in length) where you can find a bed, table, TV, etc. Trucks without sleepers only contain a cabin with a driver's seat and passenger seat. Trucks with sleepers are usually much more preferred due to the fact that many truckers spend a lot of time on the road and a sleeper allows the trucker to rest inside of the truck without having to spend additional money for a hotel. Sleepers sometimes caontain many useful amenities like TV, a computer, and even a small kitchen appliance to make or heat food.
- Dump Truck
- A dump truck or production truck is a truck used for transporting loose material (such as sand, gravel, or dirt) for construction. A typical dump truck is equipped with a hydraulically operated open-box bed hinged at the rear, the front of which can be lifted up to allow the contents to be deposited on the ground behind the truck at the site of delivery. In the UK the term applies to off-road construction plant only, and the road vehicle is known as a tipper.
|
