DREAM TRUCKS
In this day and age, truck makers realise that safety comes first – this has become their first priority. Truck makers have gone the extra mile to make sure truck owners and their employees are safe when driving behind the wheel.Advances in technology mean that truck manufacturers have been able to create machines which are not only fast and reliable, but which can cope with the most hostile of terrains remaining ultimately safe to drive. This effective and well-oiled machine that is the truck manufacturing sector of the automotive industry is well worth a closer look.
The World Is Changing Fast
Whether you are a produce or hi-tech goods supplier, global raw material distributor, a manufacturer of any sort or a factory owner in Naples, you will almost without doubt be reliant on the trucking industry. Your company may find itself in need of tipper trucks, curtain side, flat bed trucks, graders, diggers, tippers or perhaps even just the tractor unit on its own. Basically, without trucks, practically all global enterprise could grind to a halt. The demand for commercial trucking will not die as long as there are countries, companies and people who are striving to improve the surroundings and circumstances in which they live. In fact, the need for trucks has been growing consistently during the past decade. During the recession, demand fell for new truck orders due to obvious financial constraints, but the economy as a whole still relied on the use of trucks. This will always be the case. The growth of new markets within developing countries in Asia, Africa and South America has given truck manufacturers a great opportunity to expand their own share.
Different Size Types of Trucks Available
There are many different types of trucks and not everyone may be aware of just how many variations of truck the manufacturers have to offer, especially small or medium size business owners who rely on the global logistics market every bit as much as the international construction and mining companies do. Truck makers categorise trucks by their weight-carrying capacities. In the United States trucks are categorized into 8 weight classes, starting at Class 1 and moving through the scale to Class 8. An example just to put some perspective on this: a Dodge Ram 3500 would fall in a class 2 while the Ford F-350 falls under class 3. Likewise, a class four truck would be something like a GMC4500, for example, and a Ford F550 would come into the class five category. Trucks which are bigger than, say, a GM8500 or a Ford F750, would most likely fall into a class eight.
At the business end of the truck we have the tractor unit. The tractor unit houses the engine, gearbox, cab and it also pulls the trailer! The trailers are usually built for purpose and ordered separately from the tractor. As with trailers, there are many different types of tractor; each built for a specific purpose. Trailer manufacture is just as big an industry sector as that of the truck tractor itself. To give you an idea of the differences between types of truck the categories are as follows:
Light Duty Trucks – These trucks provide a lower capacity of storage. These types of truck perform basic utility functions and mostly transport everyday household goods a relatively small distance.They deliver the things we need to build, improve and furnish our homes. Imagine what would happen if these trucks did not exist and we did not have all these products that we probably take for granted available to us!
Main Models– These trucks are service trucks, dump trucks, flatbed trucks and the pickup trucks. These medium size model trucks are usually used for the lighter capacities of carrying and quickest way of transporting. Medium duty trucks have better carrying capacities than light trucks, and are used by most large companies for transporting goods between branches or depots. Some types of commercial trucks are: medium duty box trucks, bucket trucks, reefer trucks and rollback trucks. All types of company or business will in some capacity use this type of truck – these are the most frequently used commercial vehicles.
Large commercial trucksare also sometimes called articulated trucks, or Artics for short. They are called this because of their articulated design; the trailer can swivel on a hook, hinge or tow-bar. These are the big guys – the trucks that really just get on with the job. Growing up, I remember these as being called Mac trucks. This is actually the same as calling any vacuum cleaner a Hoover, though. Heavy-duty trucks or articulated dump trucks and graders are used heavily by both the construction industries and the transportation industries. They have a justified reputation for immense power and the performance to match, moving industrial sized mounds of earth or transporting thousands of tons of heavy machinery or raw materials such as iron and steel from suppliers to construction sites around the world.
There are a handful of companies which come to mind immediately – namely Mack, JCB and Caterpillar – when thinking of any need, application or location possible for a truck. Mack have a reputation for building reliable construction trucks, reliable motorway and interstate transporters, and the most hardy of refuse trucks in the US. As the jingle goes – Mack trucks always deliver! Both Caterpillar and JCB build a huge range of ultra reliable articulated dump trucks and graders which operate under the harshest conditions imaginable from building schools to preparing runways in the harsh African sun, to operating in the world’s biggest diamond mines and coal mines in Russia or the world famous opal mines of the Australian outback. These amazing giants of the automotive world often operate night and day, thanklessly performing their important function time after time as quickly and safely as possible. The tyres alone on these monster trucks often need to be made to order and can cost around twenty thousand pounds each. They need to be flown to some of the most inhospitable places on earth at a moment’s notice as down time on these machines costs corporations hundreds of thousands a day when they are taken out of operation. In their game time really is money!
The main types of these trucks are the sleeper trucks, dump trucks and the heavy-duty cab chassis trucks. These are some of the most popular types of trucks used today by many construction and land development companies.
Commercial trucks have various uses:
1. Transport of small and medium sized goods.
2. Transportation of fuels, liquids and gases in tankers.
3. Contributing in the development of residential construction.
4. Maintaining a safe community by playing their part in road construction.
5. Waste elimination.
6. Providing services for other companies or residential.
There is more to add to the list.The list of types of operation or business in which commercial vehicles play a part is endless; trucks play an enormous part in all of our business and personal lives.
Some of the best names in the world of big trucks are Peterbilt, Mack, Kenworth, DAF, Renault, Mercedes, Freightliner trucks, Feterl Manufacturing Corporation.Some of the best looking and high functioning trucks on the market are supplied by these companies. Their looks exhibit style, speed, sturdiness, flare, with a dash of uniqueness that puts them in a class of their own. New commercial trucks on the market by these manufacturers never fail to create a buzz in the global business world.
Trucks of all sizes and shapes are being advertised and sold primarily by these big-name commercial truck makers. A massive percentage of all commercial truck supplies to both UK and US markets is made by these major companies.Huge efforts have been made by these major players to gain global recognition – and with much success too, particularly in South America, Africa and Asia. Commercial trucks are changing the world, and hopefully for the better.
CEO and company managers worldwide strive to help improve our societies’ infrastructure by quickly moving everyday goods and perishable resources between company depots, from cities to rural areas as well as between countries, as is the case in Europe. Our economies can only move forward with the help of big trucks. Freight haulage across Great Britain and Europe is not always possible due to road infrastructure or economics.
Commercial trucks are easy to buy through expert distribution services worldwide made available by the big names in the trucking world. There are many franchised dealerships with strict supervision so that buyers always get the very best service, parts and equipment. It could be said that commercial truck suppliers are actually helping to improve the quality of people’s live by helping to improve the communities in which we live. Commercial trucks create results and results create jobs at the end of the day.
As we all know, economic growth is necessary for the provision of a stable financial life for ourselves and our families. The global recession has crippled truck sales across the UK, Europe and the US. Smaller dealerships acting as representatives on behalf of big manufacturers have experienced crippling blows to order books and unprecedented returns of new trucks. The reason is not as complicated as governments may like us to think either; it’s down to simple economics – high interest rates on truck loans for small businesses have continued to be offered to struggling companies even after reserve banks lowered their lending fees and the small business, still left at the mercy of the big banks, have simply had to return the trucks or risk going broke.
While some small businesses may no longer be able to consider purchasing a new truck, the flip side of the coin is that the market for used commercial vehicles in some sectors could actually see positive growth. The list of types of operation or business in which commercial vehicles play a part is endless. Whether you are a small enterprise starting out with a couple of Ford Transit Vans, perhaps a larger company needing to downsize to smaller vans, or maybe you are considering whether to buy a minibus to move workers between sites – the used commercial vehicle industry is yet another important facet of the truck industry as a whole.
The truck industry still has a bright future all around the world. Trucks perform a critical job; keeping our economy moving by delivering building materials, consumer goods such as TVs and hi-fi equipment to super stores and perishable goods from our farms to the supermarket shelves. Truck drivers typically spend a lot of time away from home when making these important deliveries, so next time you see a big truck, spare the truck driver a thought, as he or she may be miles from their home town or even country.
