page_title: Glossary of the American trucking industry
section_title: Vehicles
hierarchical_section_title: Glossary of the American trucking industry / Vehicles
caption_attribution_description: English: Truck from Ben &amp; Jerry's in Waterbury, Vermont, August 2006.
context_page_description: A specialized set of jargon describe the tools, equipment, and employment sectors used in the trucking industry in the United States. Some terms may be used within other English-speaking countries, or within the freight industry in general. For example, shore power is a term borrowed from shipping terminology, in which electrical power is transferred from shore to ship, instead of the ship relying upon idling its engines. Drawing power from land lines is more efficient than engine idling and eliminates localized air pollution. Another borrowed term is "landing gear", which refers to the legs which support the front end of a semi-trailer when it is not connected to a semi-truck. Some nicknames are obvious wordplay, such as "portable parking lot", in reference to a truck that carries automobiles.
context_section_description: Big rig
  See semi-truck.
  Big truck
  See semi-truck.
  Bobtail
  A tractor without a trailer. In verb form, this also refers to operating a truck without a trailer.
  Cab over
  A short, box-shaped tractor with no hood (UK: bonnet), and a steep vertical front. The "cab" rides "over" the engine and front steering axle. Used when a shorter wheelbase is needed.
  Combination vehicle
  A vehicle composed of two or more separate units, a tractor (powered unit, semi-truck) and a trailer (unpowered unit, semi-trailer).
  Conventional truck
  A truck or tractor featuring an engine forward of the cab, with a conventional hood configuration.
  Day cab
  A truck cab without a sleeper berth.
  Dump truck
  A truck with a bucket-like cargo area which the front can be raised, hinging on the rear, allowing the load to slide ("dump") out of the cargo area. Often a straight truck, semi-trailers are also common. Flatbeds and refuse container trucks can often "dump", but are rarely called that.
  Eighteen-wheeler
  This term is derived from the number of tires that the typical OTR tractor-trailer configuration has. See also semi-truck.
  Semi-truck
  An articulated (jointed) combination vehicle, often composed of a 10-wheeled (three axle) tractor and a 4-wheeled (two axle) trailer. There are also two axle tractors, single axle trailers, and occasionally combinations with extra lift axles. In some applications a semi can pull additional full trailers (doubles and triples) with the use of a single axle or tandem axle converter dolly. The use of the term "semi" in the name comes from the semi-trailer, a vehicle whose load is carried partly by its own axles and partly by the pulling vehicle, which is commonly included in tractor-trailer rigs.
  Straight truck
  A single vehicle, with no articulation. Normally 2 or 3 axles, sometimes with lift axles.
  Tractor-trailer
  See semi-truck.
  Truck crane
  A special truck (carrier) with a permanently mounted crane (upper).  This design allows faster moves from site to site than conventional cranes.
caption: A straight truck or box truck
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