Trucks overview

A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle for transportingrubber versions. Electric starters, power brakes, 4, 6,
goods. The word "truck" comes from the Greekand 8 cylinder engines, closed cabs, and electric
"trochos", meaning "wheel". In America, the biglighting followed. The first modern semi-trailer trucks
wheels of wagons were called trucks. When thealso appeared. Touring car builders such as Ford and
gasoline engine-driven trucks came into fashion, theseRenault entered the heavy truck market.
were called "motortrucks" and the Heavy GoodsDiesel engines
Vehicle (HGV)). The British term is, however, onlyAlthough it had been invented in 1890, the diesel
used for the medium and heavy types (see below),engine was not common in trucks in Europe until the
i.e. a van, a pickup or a SUV would never be1920s. In the United States, it took much longer for
regarded as a "lorry". Other languages havediesel engines be accepted: gasoline engines were still
loanwords based on these terms, such as the Malayin use on heavy trucks in the 1970s, while in Europe
lori and the Mexican Spanish troca (or pickup inthey had been completely replaced 20 years earlier.
northern Mexico).Legal issues
In Australia and New Zealand a small vehicle with anCommercial Trucks in the US pay higher road use
open back is called a ute (short for "utility vehicle")taxes on a State level than other road vehicles, and
and the word "truck" is reserved for larger vehicles.are subject to extensive regulation. Here are a few
Steam trucksreasons Commercial Trucks pay higher road use
Trucks and cars have a common ancestor: thetaxes: bigger and heavier than most other vehicles,
steam-powered "fardier" Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot builtand cause more wear and tear per hour on
in 1769. However, steam trucks were not commonroadways; and trucks and their drivers are on the
until the mid-1800s. The roads of the time, built forroad for more hours per day. UPS vehicles are called
horse and carriages, limited these vehicles to very'package cars' in the US, because that exempted
short hauls, usually from a factory to the nearestthem from certain tax-rates. Rules on use taxes
railway station. The first semi-trailer appeared in 1881,differ among jurisdictions.
towed by a De Dion steam tractor. Steam-poweredMost jurisdictions have rules for commercial vehicles,
trucks were sold in France and the United States untilregulating how many hours a driver may be on the
the eve of World War I, and the beginning of Worldclock, how much rest and sleep time is required (e.g.,
War II in the United Kingdom.11hrs on/10hrs off, and 34hrs off over every 7
Internal combustiondays), and many other rules. Violations are often
In 1895 Karl Benz designed and built the first truck insubject to significant penalties. Instruments to track
history using the internal combustion engine. Latereach driver's hours must often be fitted.
that year some of Benz's trucks were modified toTrucks are subject to noise emission requirements
become the first buses by the Netphener, the first(emanating from the U.S. Noise Control Act) in order
bus company in history. Three years later, in 1898,to protect the public from noise health effects, since
another internal combustion engine truck was built bytrucks contribute disproportionately to roadway noise
Gottlieb Daimler. Other companies, such as Peugeotdue to elevated stacks and intense tire and
and Renault, also built their own versions. Trucks ofaerodynamic noise characteristics.
the era mostly used two-cylinder engines and had aThe Bridge Law deals with the relation between the
carrying capacity of 1500 to 2000 kg. In 1904, 700gross weight of the truck and the amount of axles
heavy trucks were built in the United States, 1000 inand the spacing between axles wheel base the truck
1907, 6000 in 1910, and 25000 in 1914.has. Each State determines the minimum and
After World War I, several advances were made:maximum permissible weight per axle.
pneumatic tires replaced the previously common full