Types of Trucks and Their Characteristics

Image source: https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/3-34-343/appb-1.jpg

There are different types of trucks that are used for a variety of purposes. Some trucks are mainly used in farming and agriculture, while other vehicles of this type are used for construction purposes only. There are also such trucks that can be considered universal and, thus, they may be used for a broad range of purposes. These vehicles come with various characteristics and its crucial to define what exactly you need long before you actually start shopping for a truck. It goes without saying that you can use any of these trucks to transport heavy materials or perform other complicated tasks, but each of them still comes with specific capabilities that differ them from each other and may seriously affect your choice. Lets have a look at two popular truck classifications you can use in your search.

Choice of Trucks Based on Their Size

The size of a truck matters a lot for all those customers, who are in the market for this vehicle. As of today, the prevailing amount of trucks are subdivided into three major categories:

Compact

Compact trucks are the most popular nowadays. They can be used for a wide array of purposes and resemble standard pickup trucks with a common cab and a frame that outlines the structure of a car. Compact trucks generally come with small engines, which use gasoline. These vehicles can be used both to transport passengers and cargoes. The choice should depend upon your personal needs and goals as these trucks differ in capacity, which eventually affects their use. As of today, the most widely known compact trucks are Chevy S10, Ford Ranger, Mazda B Series and GMC Sonoma, but you can also have a look at other manufacturers, if needed.

Mid-Size

Mid-size trucks are currently very popular in the US as they are widely used for transportation purposes. They enjoy popularity not only due to their construction, but also due to their convenience and capacity. In many cases, they enjoy even greater popularity than compact trucks. The growing demand for these trucks has triggered the need to manufacture diverse styles and configurations of mid-size truck cabs. Some of the most popular vehicles of this class are Honda Ridgeline, Chevrolet Colorado, Dodge Dakota, Toyota Tacoma, GMC Canyon, Nissan Frontier.

Full-Size

Full-size trucks are the largest vehicles of this type, which are mostly used for transporting heavy loads, building and construction purposes, farming and agricultural needs. A standard full-size truck can carry and transport around 450 kilos of cargoes and other materials at a time, while the largest models can transport around 7 times more kilos. These trucks have powerful diesel engines and come with double rear tires. These vehicles appeared in the market around 30-40 years ago and their amount is rapidly increasing with every passing year as well as demand for them. The most well-known full-size trucks are as follows: GMC Sierra, Chevrolet Silverado, Nissan Titan, Ford F-Series etc.

Apart from classifying trucks with regard to their size, experts also recommend subdividing them into groups based on their use. Thus, we can single out the following groups of trucks based upon this parameter. These include:

Semi-Trailer Trucks. These are the most common truck types, which are predominantly used to transport goods. Their capacity may reach up to 24000 kilos, which notably extends the spheres of application of these vehicles.
Tail-Lift Trucks. These are heavy-duty trucks, which come with durable lifting mechanisms. This allows loading and transporting different cargoes. These vehicles can transport from 500 and up to 2000 kilos.
Jumbo Trailer Trucks. Jumbo trailer trucks have almost the same capacity as semi-trailers, but they are somewhat bigger as they come with larger wheels and special G-shaped floor. Thus, the vehicle is more suitable for transporting voluminous goods, which can be loaded on it from different sides of a car.
Straight Trucks. Straight trucks are mainly used in logistics nowadays. They are also known as box trucks, cube vans or cube trucks. These vehicles carry goods on the same chassis with power units and cabs. In most cases, they are used to transport small items, which are not really heavy, such as home or office furniture, home items etc. Sometimes, they are used for freight delivery as well.
Truck Trailers. Truck trailers have more advantages over the vehicles mentioned above. The thing is that their construction and special characteristics allow loading and unloading goods much quicker and more efficiently as compared to the rest of the vehicles. On the other hand, though, these vehicles have a weak point, which also has to be taken into account when shopping for a truck. They dont work well for transporting long-length goods.

Whatever truck type you will go for, you should be very careful, when making your final choice. Take your time to explore the market and choose a reliable service like Truck1.co.uk to deal with. Mind that there are many untrusted services offering trucks for sale nowadays and its quite easy to come across them on the web. So, take your time to consider all the pros and cons of each service you find. Read customer reviews and think twice before making the decision.