The Different Types Of Commercial Trucks

Businesses all across various industries use different types of vehicles for their operations. One vehicle that you see most doing business errands are trucks.

They’re the ever-reliable partners of numerous businesses for conducting essential operational procedures.

Trucks are motor vehicles designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, and perform different utility functions.

Trucks differ in size, power, and configuration. It’s up to you to choose which one your business needs, depending on what you require from one.

It’s a vehicle specifically engineered for commercial purposes, and moving heavy loads is what they’re used for.

If you need one or want to form a fleet, there are various types that you can choose from depending on your business needs. Start learning each of them in this article that discusses the different types of commercial trucks.

Semi-trailer

A semi-trailer is a common truck used by many businesses in different industries. It’s a combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry different kinds of cargo or freight.

The tractor carries most of the trailer’s weight and is attached with a fifth-wheel coupling called a hitch.

There are four styles of semi-trailers used commercially, namely flat roof sleeper, mid-roof sleeper, raised roof sleeper, and day cab.

The first three all have a compartment attached to the cabin where the driver can sleep in, while a day cab doesn’t have one because it’s designed for short trips on the same day. The first three vary in roof shape and headspace, with the raised roof having the most.

Truck bus

A truck bus is also called a combination bus or a shift bus. It’s a truck built to carry passengers, hence the “passenger container” it has.

There are several alternative combination buses, such as a bus with a large open or closed cargo area known as a bruck.

Truck buses are mainly used to travel short distances due to the minimal comfort it provides to its passengers.

State-owned companies mostly utilize them to transport employees for traveling short routes. They also have their truck bus tires they use for optimal driving.

Flatbed

A flatbed truck has a flat-level bed without sides or a roof. This design allows for quick loading and unloading of goods.

The cargo usually loaded on these trucks isn’t vulnerable to rain and loads requiring more space than what’s available in closed body trucks.

Its bed is solid and is usually made of wooden planks. It also has low sides as a means to retain the load.

These low sides may be hinged down for loading the cargo. Aside from low sides, other flatbeds have steel upright pillars that may also be removed to retain load.

Box

A box truck is a chassis cab truck with an enclosed cubed-shaped cargo area. Most box trucks have a separate cabin from the cargo area, while others have a rear door between the two areas. These trucks are typically 10 to 26 feet in length and weigh up to 33,000 lbs.

Companies mostly use them to transport goods such as home appliances and furniture. They load these goods through the rear door of the cargo area, which is similar to a garage door for most designs.

Car carrier trailer

Mostly, you’ll see car carrier trailers on highways driving several vehicles. It has two variations which are an enclosed single-decker and the open double-decker carrier. It has multiple spaces to accommodate and hold cars in place during long travel.

Car carrier trailers are mostly used to ship cars from manufacturers to dealerships. These trucks don’t have loaders, so they rely on the vehicles to load on their power.

Dump truck

Construction companies mostly use dump trucks for taking “dumps” of supplies. A typical dump truck is equipped with an open-box bed where cargo is loaded. The open-box bed is hinged at the rear and equipped with hydraulic rams.

The hydraulic rams lift the front of the box bed to dump the materials it carries on the delivery location. Dump trucks commonly carry materials such as sand, gravel, and demolition waste.

Tow truck

Tow trucks are recovery vehicles used to move indisposed motor vehicles. This includes moving vehicles involved in an accident or returning one into a drivable surface. Common styles of tow trucks include the boom, wheel-lift, and integrated.

Boom tow trucks use an adjustable boom with a winch to recover vehicles from any place they can’t be reached safely by backing up.

The wheel-lift uses a large metal yoke that can fit under the front or rear wheels to tow them. The integrated tow truck is equipped with a boom and a wheel-lift commonly used to move illegally parked vehicles.

Other tow truck variations are rooted in other commercial trucks: the flatbed and lift flatbed. Flatbed tow trucks have their entire backs fitted with a bed that can be hydraulically inclined and slid back to the ground level.

This design allows vehicles to be placed on it using their own power. On the other hand, a lift flatbed uses a wheel-lift frame for lifting vehicles vertically to be loaded on the bed.

Heavy hauler

A heavy hauler is a large transporter truck used to carry and move oversized loads that are normally too large to permit regular road travel.

These huge trailers typically transport cargo only allowed for road travel with a special permit. They usually consist of a heavy tractor unit and a lowboy flatbed trailer with multiple axles.

Some heavy haulers will have trailers with independently steerable wheels, while you may see several others towed by one or more tractor units on a train. These design combinations optimize a heavy hauler to travel with the heaviest of loads.

Conclusion

Now that you know these different types of trucks, you can decide which one can help your business. Your business will benefit from them as you continue to make improvements in your operations.

Each truck has special capabilities that could turn your business around and become your best asset, so choose wisely by using the information you just learned in this article.

Author’s Bio: Frank is an energetic salesman. On his free days, he spends his time writing and reading about quality tires and vehicular parts.

He says it’s because of his love for cars ever since he was a kid when his dad started teaching him about automotive parts.