The oldest truck was built in 1896 by Gottlieb Daimler. It was a triumph, for trucks need much more power than automobiles. The word truck is from the engineering term for a small wheel - a truckle. Trucks began as large flat areas with small wheels behind a cab.

Motor vehicles carry most of the goods in the country – far more than railways. The largest of these goods carriers are called trucks (and also lorries), while the smaller, lightweight ones are called vans.

Trucks are made quite differently from cars and buses. While cars and buses are made with a frame, the truck has a rigid, heavy duty bottom frame called a chassis. The chassis is like a ladder placed flat, with long side beams and many cross beams to keep it from twisting. The body is made separately and placed on the chassis. A cab is then placed on the front. So a truck is made from three parts.

Trucks are often meant for carrying large loads over long distances, so the cab may be fitted out with a bed to let the driver take a rest from time to time.

The engine always goes at the front, but may be in front of the driver or underneath the cab. Most European trucks have engines under the cab. They are flat-nosed trucks. Many American trucks have the bonnet stretching out in front of the cab. This is largely because roads are wider in America, so truck length is not important.

Trucks use huge amounts of diesel, so saving money is important. One way to do this is to try to make the truck move through the air more easily. There are often slats (called spoilers) over the cab, to help smooth the flow of air.

Trucks are very heavy, and take huge engines to get them going. You may be used to a 5-speed gearbox in your family car, but a truck commonly has a 16 or even 18 speed gear box to help it to pull at low speeds and cruise at high speeds.

Van

A van (which is a shortened version for the word caravan) is a box-shaped vehicle meant for carrying relatively light loads. It is sometimes called a panel van. A vehicle referred to as a full size van is usually a large, boxy vehicle. Vans do not have separate cabs, as there is a large empty space behind the front seats, although the space and the driver are often separated by a safety panel to stop goods crashing forwards if the van has to stop quickly.

In recent years, there have been many more vans on city roads as people buy more goods from the Internet and have them delivered by van. The people who drive them are often owner-operators and are sometimes called ‘white van men’ because most vans have white paintwork.