Amazing Machines: Trucks and How They Help Us

Posted by admin on February 27, 2010 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

DREAM TRUCKS

In this day and age, truck makers realise that safety comes first – this has become their first priority.Manufacturers have made huge efforts to ensure driver and employee safety when behind the wheel of any of their trucks.Trucks are being made these days to cope safely and reliably under a range of harsh circumstances and tough environmental constraints. This particular sector of the automotive industry is itself a well-oiled machine worth taking the time to find out a little more about.

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. The upshot of it all is that without trucks almost all global enterprise would cease to exist.  As companies continue to grow, developing world countries continue to develop and the people who live in this world continue to improve the surroundings in which they live – the demand for commercial trucking will not die down. Over the past decade, the need for trucks has been growing consistently. 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. That remained a constant requirement. 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.Manufacturers of trucks categorise them by the amount of weight they are capable of carrying. Trucks in the US are categorised into eight weight classes, ranging from the lightest at class one up the scale to class eight. For example, a Dodge Ram 3500 falls into a Class 2; a class 3 vehicle would be something like a Ford F-350. 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.

The tractor unit is the business end of the truck. This is the bit which not only houses the engine and gearbox, but is also the cab of the truck and it has to pull the trailer as well! 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. There is as big an industry built up around the manufacture of trailers as there is around the manufacture of truck tractors. 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 also deliver the products we need to build the homes we live in. If these trucks did not exist, we would not have many of the everyday items available to us which we so take for granted!

 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. These are the most frequently used commercial trucks, which all types of companies and businesses use.

 Large commercial trucksare also sometimes called articulated trucks, or Artics for short. The trailer of these trucks is able to swivel on a hook, hinge or tow-bar, giving them articulation by design and thus name. These are the really big trucks, which get the big jobs done. Mac trucks are what we knew them as while I was growing up. This is a brand name, however, and the same as calling a vacuum cleaner a Hoover. Heavy-duty trucks or articulated dump trucks and graders are used heavily by both the construction industries and the transportation industries. Shifting industrial-sized mounds of earth to and from construction sites, or transporting raw materials and machinery thousand of miles across continents: their reputation for immense power and performance is fully justified.

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. Mack trucks always deliver! Both JCB and Caterpillar have built their reputations upon their huge range of trucks whose reliability enables their employment in some of the most hostile and challenging environments around the globe. 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. Replacements for machines out of operation often need to be flown into distant and sometimes hostile environments at a minute’s notice, as down time on these machines can cost corporations and even governments many hundreds of thousands per day. Time really does equate to money in this game!

Sleeper trucks, dump trucks as well as the heavy-duty cab chassis trucks are the main types of these big commercial vehicles. These types of truck are commonly used in the construction and land development industries, for example.

 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 could go on forever, as trucks of all sizes have such a big part to play in the development of any enterprise.

 Some of the best names in the world of big trucks are Peterbilt, Mack, Kenworth, DAF, Renault, Mercedes, Freightliner trucks, Feterl Manufacturing Corporation.  These truck companies supply some of the best looking and functioning trucks on the market. Unique among transport vehicles and truly in a class of their own, they exhibit flair, strength and speed all in one hit. All commercial trucks on the market by these manufacturers are creating a huge buzz in the business industry worldwide.

It is these big-name commercial truck makers selling the majority of the trucks of all shapes and sizes you see advertised. 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. Commercial truck providers are helping to improve communities and the hard working people who live in them.  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 economic depression experienced by the United States, Great Britain and across Europe has severely crippled truck and van sales. Some smaller truck dealerships who were appointed as approved representatives on behalf of the big manufacturers have been dealt a crippling blow to their order books, with many experiencing unprecedented returns. 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. Commercial vehicles play a part in so many types of operation. 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.

There is little doubt that the continued success of the truck industry as a whole is inevitable. 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. Next time you see a big truck on the road, spare a thought for the driver too, as he or she is probably many miles away from home.