Truck History

At the beginning of the 20th century, cars were becoming a common phenomenon on the roads, so it is only natural that the development of the truck would soon follow to replace the use of wagons in carrying heavy loads. The internal combustion engine could propel a car chassis and support an improvised metal container by the beginning of the century. It is not known when the first truck was actually built, but by 1904 there were about 700 trucks used for carrying loads on the roads of the United States. Although most of the freight was hauled by the railroad, the trucks were winning out in terms of delivery time.

The need for trucks in World War 1 was the impetus the truck building industry needed. There were many demands from the military and from civilians for this type of vehicle. The truck designs developed during the war were greatly improved upon so that by the time the war ended in 1918, the truck was an established mode of transportation. Many people had trucks for their own transportation and for the convenience of carrying things that would not fit in a car.

The rise in the number of trucks led to the development of better roads for them to travel on, In 1916, the US federal government offered to cover 50% of the cost of building roads to meet the needs of the trucks traveling over them.

In the 1930’s diesel engines became the common engines for trucks. This was to give these vehicles more power, but there were disadvantages as well. Diesel engines had a narrower range of speed and the transmissions needed to have a higher number of speeds.

In the modern 18-wheelers used for long-distance hauling, there may be as many as 16 different gears. Trucks need this to be able to navigate hills when carrying a heavier load.