Lorry Truck Era:

A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport goods,carry specialized payloads, or perform other utility tasks.Trucks vary widely in size, power and configuration, but the vast majority are body-on-frame construction with the cab separate from the vehicle's payload section.Smaller varieties may mechanically resemble certain cars.Commercial trucks can be very large and powerful, and can be configured to mount specialized equipment such as garbage trucks, fire trucks, concrete mixers, and suction excavators.In American English,a commercial vehicle without a trailer or other articulation is formally a "straight truck", while a commercial vehicle specifically designed to tow a trailer is not a truck but a "tractor".Most trucks in use today are still powered by diesel engines, although small and medium-sized trucks with gasoline engines exist in the United States,Canada, and Mexico. The market share of electric trucks is growing rapidly and is expected to reach 7% globally by 2027, with electric power already dominating the largest and smallest trucks.In the European Union, vehicles with a gross weight of up to 3.5 tons (3.4 long tons; 3.9 short tons) are called light commercial vehicles, and those that exceed are called large goods vehicles.

Steam wagons 

Trucks and cars share a common ancestor: the steam-powered Fadie Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built in 1769.However, steam locomotives were not common until the mid-19th century.Roads at the time were built for horse-drawn carriages, confining these vehicles to a short distance, usually from the factory to the nearest railway station.The first semi-trailer appeared in 1881, [citation needed] pulled by a steam tractor manufactured by De Dion-Bouton. Steam-powered vans were sold in France and the United States until the eve of World War I, and in Great Britain in 1935, when changes in road tax rules made them uneconomical compared to newer diesel trucks.

Internal combustion

In 1895, Karl Benz designed and built the first truck with an internal combustion engine. Later that year, Netphener converted some of Benz's trucks into buses. A year later, in 1896, Gottlieb Daimler built another truck with an internal combustion engine, the Daimler Motor Lastwagen.Other companies such as Peugeot, Renault and Büssing also built their own versions. America's first truck was built by Autocar in 1899 with a 5 or 8 hp (4 or 6 kW) engine.Trucks of that era mostly used twin-cylinder engines and had a load capacity of 1.5 to 2 tons (3,300 to 4,400 lb). After World War I, several advances were made: electric starters, and 4, 6 and 8 cylinder engines.

Diesel engines

Although it was invented in 1897, it didn't appear in mass-produced trucks until 1923, when Mercedes introduced the diesel engine.Diesel engines did not become commonplace in European trucks until the 1930s. In the United States,Autocar introduced diesel engines for heavy-duty applications in the mid-1930s.The demand was so great that Autocar introduced the "DC" model (conventional diesel engine) in 1939. However, diesel engines have been widely accepted in the US for much longer: gasoline engines were still used in heavy trucks in the 1970s.

Electric Motors

Electric trucks predate internal combustion trucks and have been available since the mid-1800s. In the 1920s, Autocar Trucks was the first of the major truck manufacturers to offer a range of electric vehicles for sale.Use in urban delivery roles as well as professional work vehicles like forklifts and pushback tugs. The higher energy density of liquid fuels soon led to the decline of electric trucks, first gasoline engines and then diesel and CNG fueled engines, until battery technology advanced in the 2000s, when new chemistries and higher output extended the range of electric power Promote more applications for trucks. Today,manufacturers are electrifying all trucks ahead of national regulatory requirements, with long-range trucks being the most challenging.

International variance

In the U.S., Canada, and the Philippines, "truck" is typically used for commercial vehicles that are larger than the average passenger car, but also includes large SUVs, pickups, and other vehicles with an open cargo bed.In Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the term "truck" is used primarily for larger vehicles.In Australia and New Zealand, a pickup truck is often called a ute (short for "utility" vehicle),while in South Africa it is called a bakkie (Afrikaans: "small open container").In the UK, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Ireland, and Hong Kong, lorry is used in place of truck, but only for medium and heavy duty, while truck is used almost exclusively to refer to pickups.

Types by size

Ultra light

Often produced as a variation of a golf cart, with an internal combustion engine or battery electric drive, these are often used for off-highway use on estates, golf courses and parks. While unsuitable for highway use, certain variants may be licensed as low-speed vehicles for street operation, often as body variants for nearby electric vehicles.Some manufacturers produce specialized chassis for such vehicles, and Zap Motors sells a version of its Xebra electric three-wheeler.

Very light

Many mini trucks, popular in Europe and Asia, are factory redesigned light-duty vehicles, often with monocoque bodies.Professional designs with a solid frame,such as the Italian Piaggio shown here, are based on Japanese designs (in this case Daihatsu) and are popular for use in "old town" areas of European cities, where the alleys are often very narrow .Regardless of the name, these small trucks have a wide range of uses.In Japan, they are regulated under the Kei Motor Law, which allows owners to buy smaller, less powerful vehicles (currently, engine displacement is limited to 660 cc) for a tax break.These vehicles are used as road utility vehicles in Japan.These Japanese-built on-road mini-trucks are competing with off-road ATVs in the United States,and import regulations require them to have 25 mph (40 km/h) speed limiters because they are classified as low-speed vehicles.These vehicles have found use

In construction, large campuses (government, university and industry), agriculture, ranching, amusement parks and golf cart replacements.