For other meanings, see Truck (disambiguation).

A truck (lorry in British English) is a motor vehicle for transporting goods. The word "truck" comes from the Greek "trochos", meaning "wheel". In America, the big wheels of wagons were called trucks. When the petrol engine driven trucks came into fashion, these were called "motortrucks" and the Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV)). The British term is, however, only used for the medium and heavy types (see below), i.e. a van, a pickup or a SUV would never be regarded a "lorry" . Other languages have loanwords based on these terms, such as the Malay lori and the Mexican Spanish truck (or pickup in northern Mexico).

In Australia and New Zealand a small vehicle with an open back is called a ute (short for "utility vehicle") and the word "truck" is reserved for larger vehicles.

Sentinel_DG4_registration_KF_6482.jpg steam lorry.]]

History

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Steam trucks

Trucks and cars have a common ancestor: the steam-powered "fardier" Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built in 1769. However, steam trucks were not common until the mid-1800s. The roads of the time, built for horse and carriages, limited these vehicles to very short hauls, usually from a factory to the nearest railway station. The first semi-trailer appeared in 1881, towed by a De Dion steam tractor. Steam-powered trucks were sold in France and the United States until the eve of World War I, and the beginning of World War II in the United Kingdom.

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