This is a list of trucking industry terms used in Wikipedia U.S. trucking industry articles. Some of these terms may be used within other English-speaking countries. The terms are arranged by type, from general terms to specific terms, and sub-types are listed under the main term.
The official names are listed in bold, and slang, jargon, or acronym versions are listed in parentheses. Some items are referred to by more than one name, and alternate versions are separated by a forwardslash "/".
General
A typical wooden pallet
- Consignee
- The final destination and unloading point for a load of freight.
- Shipper
- The loaded point of origin for a consigned load of freight.
- Freight / Cargo
- The materials or goods being transported.
- Bulk Freight / Bulk Cargo
- Large quantities of undivided or unpackaged cargo, such as a tank trailer filled with gasoline.
- Pallet
- A wooden platform upon which boxes or cargo are stacked and sometimes shrink-wrapped. Usually refers to the entire palletized stack of boxes, although it can refer to the platform itself.
- Hazardous materials (Haz-mat)
- Explosive, poisonous or otherwise potentially dangerous cargo.
- Bill of lading (BOL)
- A paper document acknowledging the receipt of goods for transport. Usually describes the nature of the cargo; hazardous materials classification (if any); amount of cargo by weight, size, and/or number of pallets, boxes, barrels, etc; and the origin and destination of the cargo.
- Broker
- A person or company which arranges for the truck transportation of cargo belonging to others, utilizing for-hire carriers to provide the actual truck transportation.
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- Intermodal
- A single trailer or container which encounters multiple forms of transportation along its route, such as land/sea/rail.
- Tractor
- A truck designed to pull a semi-trailer by means of a fifth wheel mounted over the rear axle(s). The powered unit in a semi-truck/semi-trailer combination.
[TWNA Glossary - Trucking Terms. Trucking\'s Web Resource for Journalists and Communicators. Retrieved on 2008-03-06.]
Drivers and carriers
A double dropdeck flatbed trailer
- Commercial Motor Carrier
- A person or company providing transportation of property or passengers using commercial motor vehicles.
[Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - Registration and Licensing. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Retrieved on 2008-03-06.]
- For-hire carrier / common carrier
- Carriers contracted on a per-load basis and may haul loads of various types for different manufacturing/retail companies or facilities, or to the general public.
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- Contract carrier
- A for-hire carrier contracted to one particular manufacturing/retail company or facility.
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- Private carrier
- A carrier contracted to one particular manufacturing/retail company or facility, that is not for-hire.
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- Company driver
- Employees of a motor carrier who are assigned to drive company owned trucks.
- Owner-Operator (O/O)
- Self-employed independent contractors who drive privately owned or leased trucks.
- Team drivers
- A team of two drivers who drive the same truck in shifts, essentially allowing the truck to remain in motion almost constantly. Primarily used for time-sensitive freight.
- Regular Route / Dedicated
- A driver or carrier who transports cargo between two or more of the same locations on a repetitive circular or back-and-forth route, usually keeping a certain schedule.
- Regional
- A driver or carrier who transports cargo in a limited geographical area, usually within a certain radius of one\'s own home or company terminal, and may or may not maintain a schedule.
- Irregular Route / Over-the-road (OTR)
- A driver or carrier who transports cargo to any place at any time, without prescribed schedules or routes.
- Truckload (TL)
- A load of freight composed of mainly one or few types of cargo, with one or few destinations. A TL driver is normally an over-the-road driver.
- Less-than-truckload (LTL)
- A load of freight composed of many different types of cargo, with many different destinations. A LTL driver normally has a dedicated or regional route.
- Oversize/overweight load
- A unit of cargo which is larger than the legally defined limits for width, length, height, and/or weight; which cannot be broken down into smaller units. Oversize loads are normally hauled on flatbed trailers. Overweight loads typically utilize trailers with extra axles, resulting in a truck with more than the typical 18 wheels. Some carriers and drivers specialize in these types of loads.
Vehicles
A straight truck
- Combination vehicle
- A vehicle comprising two separate parts, a tractor (powered unit, semi-truck) and a trailer (unpowered unit, semi-trailer).
- Semi-truck / Tractor-trailer (Big rig, 18-wheeler)
- An articulated (jointed) combination vehicle, commonly comprising of a 10-wheeled tractor and an 8-wheeled trailer.
- Straight truck (Box truck, Bob truck)
- A smaller single-unit, non-articulated truck, usually having between 6 and 10 wheels.
- Dump truck
- Usually refers to a straight truck with a bucket-like cargo area, although can refer to a semi-truck with a dump trailer.
- Day cab
- A truck cab without a sleeper berth.
- Bobtail
- May refer to either a tractor without a trailer, or a box truck.
- Cab over
- A tractor featuring a flat, hoodless, vertical front, with the cab riding over the engine and steering axle. Used to shorten the wheelbase.
Vehicle parts
The cab of an 18-wheeler
- Cab
- The interior of a truck.
- Sleeper berth (Bunk)
- The legal definition for the area of a truck\'s interior designated for sleeping. Must contain a bed; often combines the amenities of a kitchen, living room, bedroom, and sometimes bathroom.
- Tandem
- A set of dual wheels (on pickup trucks, known as a dually). A tandem assembly is a redundant backup system, if one tire fails the second will maintain support, allowing the vehicle to keep driving.
- Super single
- A single, larger wheel, substituted for a tandem assembly. The main benefit of a super single is a reduction in weight; combined with lower rolling resistance the super single promises better fuel economy.
[Are super singles really that super?: Wide-base tires may not be ready for line-haul applications. Modern Tire Dealer Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-02-28.] The disadvantage being a lack of tire redundancy. Tire failure can disable the vehicle.
A fifth wheel coupling platform
- Retarder / Engine brake / Jake brake)
- Braking system that utilized the back pressure from the engine\'s pistons to slow down the vehicle. Commonly used to prevent heavy trucks from accelerating out of control while driving on steep downhill grades.
- Fifth wheel
- A pivoting platform on the rear of a truck tractor, used to support the front end of the trailer being towed.
- Kingpin
- A large pin, underneath the front of a trailer, which interlocks with the fifth wheel.
- Landing Gear
- A set of retractable, crank-up legs which support the front of a trailer when it is not connected to a tractor.
Trailers
- Freight Trailer (Dry Van, Dry Box)
- A simple, enclosed non-climate controlled rectangular trailer. Can only be loaded/unloaded through the rear doors, requiring elevated access for forklifts to enter the trailer.
[Truck Trailers. World Trade Press. Retrieved on 2008-03-06.]
- Deep drop van
- A specialized extra large dry van, with a lowered floor and higher roof. Normally used to transport bulky, relatively light cargo, such as furniture and electronics.
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- Refrigerated Van (Reefer)
- A refrigerated and insulated box trailer.
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- Platform trailer (Flatbed)
- A flat trailer with no enclosure or doors. Can be loaded/unloaded from the sides, and does not require elevated access for forklifts.
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A gooseneck lowboy trailer with an oversized load
- Dropdeck
- A flatbed with a lowered deck, featuring a raised step at the front, where the trailer attaches to the fifth wheel.
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- Double dropdeck (Lowboy)
- A flatbed with the lowest deck. Featuring a raised step at the front, where the trailer attaches to the fifth wheel, and at the back, where the wheel wells are located. Normally used for oversize/overheight loads.
- Gooseneck lowboy
- A specialized lowered flatbed trailer, normally used for oversize/overweight loads.
- Covered wagon
- A flatbed with specially fitted side plates and curved ribs supporting a tarp covering. Named for the resemblance to horse-drawn Conestoga wagons.
- Curtainside
- Can be either a dry box with tarp sides, or a flatbed with a movable frame of squared ribs supporting a tarp.
A typical dump truck
- Dump trailer
- A bucket-like trailer with an open top for loading, commonly used for hauling bulk quantities of dirt, rocks, etc.
- Rear dump
- A dump with a rear pivot point allowing the front of the cargo area to be raised vertically for unloading through the rear.
- Side dump
- A dump with front and rear pivot points allowing the cargo area to tilt sideways for unloading.
- Belly dump
- A dump with a funnel-shaped floor for unloading through the bottom.
- Tank trailer (Tanker)
- An enclosed cylinder-shaped tank used for hauling bulk quantities of liquid.
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- Dry bulk trailer
- A variation of the liquid tank trailer, with a funnel-shaped bottom, used for hauling bulk quantities of dry powder. Usually loaded through holes in the top, unloaded through the bottom.
- Auto transport trailer (Car hauler, Portable parking lot)
- A specialized trailer or truck/trailer combination used for transporting passenger vehicles.
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A belly dump trailer
- Grain trailer (Hopper)
- A rectangular enclosure with an open top for loading, covered with a tarp, and a funnel shaped bottom for unloading.
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- Livestock trailer (Bull wagon)
- A rectangular enclosure with sides featuring numerous ventilation holes, an interior with multiple levels, and usually a ramp in the rear for loading/unloading. Used for hauling cows, pigs, sheep, etc.
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- Timber trailer (Logger)
- A specialized trailer, used for transporting logs, consisting of a basic chassis with vertical stakes along the sides to hold the logs in place.
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- Double decker
- A specialized dry van or curtainside with 2 or 3 floors to allow for more cargo space.
- Container
- A simple, enclosed box of standardized sizes, used for intermodal transport.
- Container skeletal carrier
- A trailer composed of a simple chassis for the mounting of a containerized load.
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- Sideloader
- A specialized container trailer with cranes on the front and rear to allow for on-the-spot loading and unloading.
References
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia
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