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Types of Trucks | List of 19 Different Types of Trucks and Classification

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Types of Trucks: Trucks play a pivotal role in transportation. Apart from carrying the load and traveling long distances, they are crucial in supporting the logistical infrastructure. Every day we come across different trucks passing by us on the roads and highways, making us wonder about the distance they travel and their destinations since they come across states. The logistics industry and shipping have dramatically benefited from trucks being their support system in making this industry capable and efficient in delivering goods on time; from small shipment items to large shipment containers, trucks have always been a part of providing logistical support. With this article, we will review the type of trucks that support the infrastructure.

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Why are Trucks More Popular Than Cars?

  • Higher overall value: Overall value of the truck is always higher than what you get for a car. Trucks are rigid, and for the price you pay, you get a vehicle that is robust and long-lasting too. Today, modern trucks have safety equipment, leather seats, larger wheels, spaciousseating, touch screen display, and are technically much improved. Ford is one company that sells almost half a million trucks every year. Thus, trucks areaffordable and profitable too. Profitable because the after sales price you get of a truck will be much higher than what you will get for your car.
  • The bigger, the better:the saying goes well when we are talking about trucks. The bigger the vehicle, the better it is to drive; it is more spacious and does not suffer mechanical issues as cars do. The gas mileage is relatively higher than cars, and you can cover longer distances using lesser fuel in less time. You can add a good amount of weight to a truck compared to a car; thus, trucks are always better than cars.
  • Higher Tax incentive: Tax incentives that you get when you buy a heavy vehicle are high compared to a car. For example, if you use a vehicle for 50% business use and it weighs more than 6000 pounds, then it can help you gain tax incentives.
  • Market rebates are great on the trucks. Trucks are available at good discounts that are profitable for the manufacturers and the buyers too.
  • Better off-roading capabilities of trucks are excellent as you get good ground clearance. They are easy to drive on any terrain: hills, mountains, rocky landscapes, water, and more. Sitting on a truck makes you look over the traffic. This is helpful to know how much time it will take to clear the traffic, how many cars are ahead of you, and more.

Classification of Trucks

Trucks are classified into –

  • Ultra-Light trucks
  • Medium-Duty Trucks
  • Heavy-Duty Trucks

Types of Trucks

Ultra-light Trucks

Among the trucks, the introduction of ultra-light trucks has benefited small scale sellers in providing their goods to people. Among the famous names are the Piaggio and Tata Ace, which are generally seen across India’s highways. These trucks are mostly seen with the milkman and grocers, who typically use the truck for travel and carrying the load.

Some ultra-light trucks are:

  • Light-Duty Trucks– Light Duty Trucks are often used in shifting light payloads, the amount of weight that trucks can carry. It is because of their cost that these trucks are more economical. The United States classifies light-duty trucks as trucks with the vehicle weight of 3860 kg.
  • Pickup trucks- Their size and payload makes it convenient to drive and transport load within the city and is even cost-efficient and easier to hire for customers who are primarily households and minor to medium firms as they are versatile in carrying payloads and have an open end which is convenient in carrying bicycles, bikes and even desert bikes.
  • Tractor Trucks- are used in farming and agricultural use for ploughing fields. These are very useful for those in the farming sector as the design allows it not to get stuck in wet areas during agricultural activities.
  • Forklifts- Forklifts are used where heavy payload requires mobility, mostly in warehouses and industries where the load has to be lifted and stacked.
  • Tow Trucks-Garages and car service providers use tow trucks. Vehicles such as cars and bikes need to be towed in a vehicle breakdown or accident leading to vehicle immobility.

The payload for Light Trucks – Light trucks can carry load somewhere between 850 kgs to 1.5 ton

Medium-Duty Trucks

Medium duty trucks are used for carrying payloads more than light-duty trucks and can be used for light-duty carriage, making them versatile.

Some of them mentioned here are:

  • Flatbed trucks– Flatbed trucks or flatbeds as they are referred to, and as their name suggests, they are trucks with a straight flatbed back with open sides enabling them to carry heavy payloads with an easy load and offload facility.
  • Fire trucks– The Fire Department uses fire trucks. These trucks are well equipped with sirens, fire extinguishing units, water cannons and ladders for prevention during the event of a fire.
  • Cutaway Chassis– These are truck bodies, also known as chassis, manufactured by leading companies such as Ford, General Motors, Tata, Ashok Leyland and Eicher etc. Here, the chassis or body is manufactured and delivered, which further develops or converted into Truck units and units such as School buses and Ambulances.
  • RVs Recreational Vehicles– These are trucks further developed and designed to provide a home on-road experience and comes with facilities such as a kitchen and bathroom and is equipped with air conditioners on board. It is generally used by celebrities and is often called a Vanity Van.
  • The payload for Medium-Duty Trucks-Medium trucks can carry a load somewhere between 1.5 tons to 15 tons.

Heavy-Duty Trucks

Heavy-duty trucks are used highly for commercial purposes. They have high utility for extensive work such as excavating or transporting large quantities of goods in broad sectors from real estate to retail. Some of these are,

  • Cement Mixer-These are used in real estate where the cement mixer truck is used to carry and mix the cement for large real estate projects.
  • Mobile Cranes-Mobile cranes range from 35-tonne models to a heavy-duty crane of 1,200 tons and are used for lifting and uploading weighty objects used mainly in the construction sector.
  • Dump truck- A dump truck or tipper, as it is called in the UK and India, is a truck equipped with a motorized open bed used to load and dump or “offload” large construction items such as sand and gravel.
  • Refrigerator truck- These trucks transport products that require refrigeration and storage at a specific desired temperature. The refrigerated truck is designed in such a way that it stores the items in frozen or child states. Temperature-sensitive products such as frozen meat, foods, fish and perishables, and industrial products and healthcare products such as medication and vaccination, are transported using refrigeration trucks.
  • Tanker trucks- Tanker trucks or tankers are used to transport gases, liquified gases such as petrol, diesel etc. A high amount of safety is to be assured in driving and transportation of tankers since they are loaded with hazardous gases and materials.
  • Garbage truck-These trucks are designed to collect and recycle waste generally used by the city municipalities. The truck comes equipped with a motorized garbage collector at the back. These trucks make pit stops at the municipal city trashcans, collect the trash, and then recycle it at the garbage recycling plant.
  • Car Transporter-These transport cars from car manufacturers across dealership networks where multiple cars are loaded in a single enclosed deck or open double deck form.
  • Livestock trucks are used to transport livestock from farms and are placed with a provision to be kept open at the back since it allows the livestock to breathe comfortably and allow daylight to them. This helps in transporting large animals in the livestock efficiently.
  • Lowboy trailer-A lowboy trailer is designed to accommodate the height of goods that surpass the legal height limit of goods transported in a flatbed trailer.
  • Container trucks are large trailers that carry enclosed containers and are essential for the logistics industry as they take shipping containers from one shipping dock to their respective destinations.
  • The payload for Heavy-Duty Trucks-Heavy-duty trucks can carry a load somewhere above 15 tons as they are designed for use in heavy industries.

Conclusion on Types of Trucks

Trucks have always contributed to the large economy sector, be it for the transport of goods or logistical support. With its advancements, we even have to understand the downsides of trucks where the light trucks are being more economical at the same time medium, and heavy trucks contribute to the air & sound pollution. The trucks have been used for the long haul, which is efficient in many ways. Still, at the same time, road infrastructure and traffic conditions impose a problem regularly where the size of trucks can cause congestion in traffic well and trucks to have more blind spots leading to the significant accident and accidental damage to public property. The depreciation on trucks is higher, and so is the maintenance cost, which may not be feasible for truck ownership by everyone.