Trucks in the context of "Railways"

⭐ In the context of railways, the ability to carry heavier loads than trucks is primarily attributed to…

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Trucks

A truck (North American and Australian English) or lorry (British English) is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction, with a cabin that is independent of the payload portion of the vehicle. Smaller varieties may be mechanically similar to some automobiles. Commercial trucks can be very large and powerful and may be configured to be mounted with specialized equipment, such as in the case of refuse 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 one designed specifically to pull a trailer is not a truck but a "tractor".

The majority of trucks currently in use are powered by diesel engines, although small- to medium-size trucks with gasoline engines exist in North America. Electrically powered trucks are more popular in China and Europe than elsewhere. In the European Union, vehicles with a gross combination mass of up to 3.5 t (3.4 long tons; 3.9 short tons) are defined as light commercial vehicles, and those over as large goods vehicles.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
In this Dossier

Trucks in the context of Rail transport

Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running on tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road transport. It is used for about 8% of passenger and freight transport globally, thanks to its energy efficiency and potentially high speed. Also, the track spreads the weight of the train which means larger amounts can be carried than with trucks on roads.

Rolling stock on rails generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, allowing rail cars to be coupled into longer trains. Power is usually provided by diesel or electric locomotives. While railway transport is capital-intensive and less flexible than road transport, it can carry heavy loads of passengers and cargo with greater energy efficiency and safety.

↑ Return to Menu

Trucks in the context of Driver's license

A driver's license, driving licence, or driving permit is a legal authorization, or a document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public road. Such licenses are often plastic and the size of a credit card, and frequently used as an identity card.

In most international agreements, the wording "driving permit" is used, for instance in the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. Different regions use variations of the terms driver/driver's/driving permit/license/licence – see sections below for the term used in each region.

↑ Return to Menu

Trucks in the context of Twenty-foot equivalent units

The twenty-foot equivalent unit (abbreviated TEU or teu) is a general unit of cargo capacity, often used for container ships and container ports. It is based on the volume of a 20-foot-long (6.1 m) intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box that can be easily transferred between different modes of transportation, such as ships, trains, and trucks.

↑ Return to Menu