We love trucks. They come in all shapes and sizes and every single truck has a specific function designed to make our lives easier and improve efficiency.
Unfortunately, some people wouldn’t know the difference between a flatbed truck and a second-hand crane truck if it smacked them in the face. To them a truck is just a truck, despite each one having its own unique selling point. It’s like describing Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and the marathon man Mo Farah as runners. Sure, they both run, but both have distinctive qualities. One has an amazing burst of acceleration over a short distance, while the other will run until the cows come home.
The purpose of this blog is to highlight the various types of trucks and truck makes and models on the UK’s roads and what industries they have been designed for.
The first truck we will look at is the humble flatbed truck. Flatbed trucks are commonly used to carry loads. Whether you are looking at transporting vehicles, machinery or heavy metal sheets, a flatbed lorry is ideal when it comes to carrying materials that do not need to be shielded from the elements of the British weather.
We then turn our attention to the dropside truck. Similar to a flatbed in that the body is completely flat, a dropside lorry comes with fold down gates that allow forklifts easy access to load and remove goods safely. Dropside lorries, also referred to as scaffold lorries, are popular in the construction industry, particularly when carrying tubes, bricks or paving slabs.
Then we have our types of construction trucks, starting with the faithful tipper truck. A tipper is the vehicle of choice when it comes to transporting aggregate, soil, crushed rock and other bulky materials. As its name suggests, the tipper truck allows users to empty its contents by tipping it from the vehicle in a highly efficient way.
Crane trucks are next on the list and they enable drivers to self-load and unload materials from their vehicle. Predominately used by people in the construction industry, crane trucks are commonly used in the delivery of bricks and blocks.
We then have the box vans and curtainsiders, which are reliable and spacious vehicles that are widely used for multi-drop purposes. Box vans are commonly used for carrying food or valuable goods, while curtainsiders can transport a variety of goods, are easy to maintain and repair and help keep preying eyes off your load.
But if you are looking to transport a wheeled or tracked vehicle then a beavertail is what you need. Designed to let its ramps fold down to the ground, beavertails are perfect for moving vehicles around the country.
And last, but by no means least, we have skip loaders, which simply do the jobs we hate . . . they take out the rubbish! Skip loaders are always in demand as they are the perfect vehicle to collect and deliver skips and they come in a range of makes and sizes.
So, there you have it. There’s a brief explanation of the types of trucks on our nation’s roads and what they are used for. Not only will this information educate you, it can also be used to help you entertain youngsters on long road trips. Simply shout £1 for the first person to spot a box van and your offspring will soon forget about their tablets and keep their eyes firmly on the road, desperate to be £1 richer.
If you are looking to expand your fleet, Cromwell Trucks sells a wide range of used trucks at our base in the West Midlands. For more information call 01922 455727 or email [email protected] today.
