The Many Types of Trucks: From Pickups to Heavy Haulers

Trucks range from light-duty pickups and delivery vans to heavy-duty semis and specialized vocational rigs such as dump trucks, mixers, and fire engines. Broadly, they’re categorized by weight class (light, medium, heavy), by body/role (e.g., box, flatbed, tanker), by chassis configuration (cab style and axles), and by powertrain (gas, diesel, electric, hydrogen). Below is a clear breakdown to help you understand the major types and how they’re used.

How Trucks Are Categorized

Truck types are typically grouped by gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), their body and primary job, their cab and axle layout, and the fuel or energy they use. Regulators, fleet operators, and buyers use these categories to match capability to payload, route, and operating environment.

By Weight Class (U.S. GVWR Classes 1–8)

The GVWR system in the United States divides trucks into eight classes by maximum allowable weight, which offers a quick indicator of capability and regulation thresholds (such as commercial licensing and road restrictions).

1. Class 1 (0–6,000 lb GVWR): Small pickups and compact vans; examples include compact/midsize pickups and city delivery vans.
2. Class 2 (6,001–10,000 lb): Full-size half-ton to three-quarter-ton pickups and larger vans; often split into 2a (to 8,500 lb) and 2b (8,501–10,000 lb).
3. Class 3 (10,001–14,000 lb): One-ton pickups, heavier service vans; common for trades and towing.
4. Class 4 (14,001–16,000 lb): Medium-duty cab-chassis and small box trucks.
5. Class 5 (16,001–19,500 lb): Larger cab-chassis for utility bodies, flatbeds, and small dump trucks.
6. Class 6 (19,501–26,000 lb): Straight trucks like larger box, beverage, and stake-body units; often just under CDL thresholds for certain operations.
7. Class 7 (26,001–33,000 lb): Heavier straight trucks for refuse, mixers, and regional distribution; CDL typically required.
8. Class 8 (33,001 lb and above): Tractor-trailers (semis), heavy dump trucks, specialized vocational trucks, and off-highway variants.

While GVWR class sets a baseline for size and regulation, the body type and drivetrain ultimately determine how a truck works in the field.

By Body Type and Primary Role

Body style dictates what a truck is built to do—hauling pallets, carrying liquids, lifting people for utility work, or transporting cars. These are the most common configurations you’ll see on roads and job sites.

• Pickup trucks: Compact/midsize and full-size, with beds for general hauling; heavy-duty pickups handle larger payloads and towing.
• Chassis-cab trucks: Sold as a cab with frame rails to accept service bodies, flatbeds, utility, or ambulance upfits.
• Box/van trucks (dry vans): Enclosed cargo bodies for parcel, furniture, and retail deliveries.
• Flatbeds and rollback carriers: Open decks for building materials, machinery, or vehicle transport.
• Dump trucks: With hydraulic beds for aggregates, soil, and debris; includes standard, transfer, and super-dumps.
• Tanker trucks: For liquids and gases such as fuel, milk, chemicals, and water (potable or non-potable).
• Refrigerated (“reefer”) trucks: Insulated, temperature-controlled bodies for perishables.
• Car haulers: Single-vehicle rollbacks and multi-vehicle stinger/overhead racks for auto transport.
• Tow/wrecker trucks: Wheel-lift, hook-and-chain, and rotators for roadside recovery.
• Concrete mixers: Drums for ready-mix deliveries to construction sites.
• Refuse/garbage trucks: Rear-, front-, and side-loaders for municipal and commercial waste.
• Logging trucks: Equipped for timber transport, often with bunks and loaders.
• Livestock and agricultural: Livestock boxes, grain hoppers, and silage bodies for farm operations.
• Utility/service body and bucket trucks: Tool compartments; aerial lifts for electrical and telecom work.
• Snow plow and spreader trucks: Plows and salt/sand spreaders for winter road maintenance.
• Emergency and public safety: Fire engines (pumpers, ladder trucks, tenders), ambulances (Type I/III).
• Armored trucks: Secure transport for currency and valuables.
• Tractor-trailers (semis): Road tractors pulling trailers such as dry van, reefer, flatbed, step-deck, lowboy, tanker, hopper-bottom, car carrier, and intermodal chassis.

These bodies can be mounted across multiple weight classes; for example, a box body may be Class 3 for urban routes or Class 7 for regional distribution.

On- and Off-Highway, Plus Specialized Hauling

Beyond conventional road-going models, specialized trucks handle extreme loads, rough terrain, or yard operations within ports and distribution centers.

• Articulated dump trucks (ADTs): Hinged, all-terrain haulers for construction and quarry sites.
• Rigid-frame mining haul trucks: Ultra-class off-highway trucks for open-pit mines.
• Terminal/yard tractors (“yard goats”): Short-distance tractors for moving trailers in ports and warehouses.
• Heavy haul and multi-axle lowboys: For oversized equipment and infrastructure components.
• Military and disaster-response trucks: High-mobility, multi-axle platforms for rough terrain and logistics.

These platforms prioritize traction, durability, and load distribution over highway speed or fuel economy, and often require special permits and operators.

Cab and Chassis Layouts

The cab layout and axle configuration affect maneuverability, driver comfort, payload, and where trucks can legally operate.

• Conventional vs. cab-over-engine (COE): Conventional (long-hood) offers ride comfort and engine access; COE shortens overall length and improves maneuverability, common in urban and international markets.
• Day cab vs. sleeper cab: Day cabs for local/regional routes; sleeper cabs for long-haul with integrated bunks.
• Axle setups: Single, tandem, or tridem drive axles; lift/tag axles for weight distribution and road wear compliance.
• Drivetrain notations: 4×2, 4×4, 6×4, 6×6, 8×4, etc., indicating number of wheels and driven wheels for traction and capacity.

Matching cab and axle choices to route density, bridge laws, and jobsite conditions is as important as choosing the right body.

Powertrains and Fuels

Power choices influence operating costs, emissions, and range. Today’s market spans traditional fuels and fast-evolving zero-emission options.

• Gasoline: Common in light-duty and some medium-duty trucks; lower upfront cost, shorter range under heavy loads.
• Diesel: Dominant in medium- and heavy-duty for torque and efficiency; widely available fueling and mature maintenance networks.
• Propane autogas and CNG/LNG: Lower-emission alternatives for fleets with centralized fueling; popular in buses, refuse, and delivery.
• Hybrid-electric (HEV/PHEV): Improves stop-and-go efficiency; plug-in hybrids add limited electric-only operation.
• Battery-electric trucks: Growing in light-duty and increasingly in medium/heavy urban and regional use; examples include electric delivery vans, Class 6–8 box and tractor models from major OEMs, typically for short to medium routes with depot charging.
• Hydrogen fuel cell electric: Zero tailpipe emissions with faster refueling than BEVs; early deployments in Class 8 regional haul and drayage where hydrogen supply exists.

Infrastructure availability and duty cycle are key: depot-charged BEVs suit predictable routes, while fuel-cell and diesel remain common for longer, variable hauls.

Regional Terms and Variations

Terminology varies globally and can affect how types are described in news, regulations, and sales literature.

• Lorry: Common UK/European term for truck, especially heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).
• Ute: Australian term for car-based pickups; “prime mover” refers to a tractor unit.
• Cabover prevalence: COEs are more common where overall length limits favor shorter cabs (Europe, Japan) and in dense urban delivery.

Understanding local terms helps when comparing specs and regulations across regions and markets.

Choosing the Right Truck

Selecting a truck comes down to payload and towing needs, operating environment (urban, regional, off-road), uptime and maintenance support, driver comfort, regulatory thresholds (CDL, emissions zones), and total cost of ownership, including fuel or charging infrastructure. Aligning these factors with the correct weight class, body, and powertrain ensures capability without overspecifying.

Summary

Trucks span a broad spectrum: light-duty pickups, medium-duty delivery and service bodies, heavy-duty vocational rigs, and long-haul semis with specialized trailers. They’re distinguished by weight class, body role, cab and axle layout, and power source. Knowing these categories makes it easier to match a truck to the job—whether that’s last-mile delivery, construction, emergency response, or cross-country freight.

How many types of trucks are there?

The three main classifications for road truck by weight are light trucks, medium trucks, and heavy trucks.

Which are the three most commonly used types of trucks?

For road trucks – that is, trucks that can be on the road without any special permit – the three types of trucks are Light, Medium, and Heavy.

What are the different classes of pickup trucks?

There are 8 main classifications of CMVs

• Class 1 (Up to 6,000 lbs.)
• Class 2: (6,001 lbs. – 10,000 lbs.)
• Class 3 (10,001 lbs. – 14,000 lbs.)
• Class 4 (14,001 lbs. – 16,000 lbs.)
• Class 5 (16,001 lbs. – 19,500 lbs.)
• Class 6 (19,501 lbs. – 26,000 lbs.)
• Class 7 (26,001 lbs. – 33,000 lbs.)
• Class 8 (33,001 lbs. and heavier)

What are class 5 trucks?

A Class 5 truck is a medium-duty commercial vehicle with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) between 16,001 and 19,500 pounds. These trucks are used for a variety of purposes, including delivery, utility work, and as chassis for specialized equipment like bucket trucks or larger walk-in vehicles.
 
Key characteristics of Class 5 trucks:

• Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR): Falls within the 16,001 to 19,500 pound range. 
• Classification: Considered a medium-duty truck by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). 
• Common Uses: Often used for commercial applications such as delivery services, utility work, and as platforms for specialized bodies like bucket trucks, service trucks, and larger box trucks. 
• Examples: Chassis for vehicles like the Ford F-550 and RAM 5500 fall into the Class 5 category.