Truck: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

A truck is a wheeled vehicle for transporting goods.

The term is most commonly used in American English and Australian English to refer to what earlier was called a motor truck, and in British English is often called a lorry or, for bigger vehicles, a Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV). This type of truck is a motor vehicle designed to carry goods, with a cab and a tray or compartment for carrying goods.

In Australia and New Zealand a small truck with an open tray is called a "ute" (utility vehicle).

"Pantechnicon" is a British word for a furniture removal van that has now fallen out of usage. It was originally coined in 1830 as the name of craft shop or bazaar, in Motcomb Street in Belgravia, London. The shop soon closed down and the building was turned into furniture warehouse, but the name was kept. Vehicles transporting furniture to and from the building, known as pantechnicon vans, soon came to be known simply as pantechnicons.

The biggest ever truck is the Liebherr T 282B.

For larger vehicles, see semi-trailer trucks.

For smaller vehicles, see pickup trucks.

See also forklift, Scania AB, list of truck types.

A hand truck is a small human powered truck. It consists of a metal plate attached to metal tubing and two large wheels. The metal tubing is bent to form a long handle, so as to provide good mechanical advantage. The metal plate is slipped under large heavy objects, and the truck and object are tilted backward until the weight is balanced over the large wheels, making otherwise bulky and heavy objects easy to move.

A railroad truck is a movable platform on pairs of wheels which supports one end of a railroad car; it is also called a bogie. The term is also used for such a part on a skateboard.

Truck is also a (now little used) term meaning to barter or negotiate exchange; it survives in such expressions as "truck farming" and to have no truck with someone.