Roughly speaking, a truck, or lorry, depending on where you are in the world, is a motor vehicle that is designed to transport cargo, move things or perform some form of heavy-duty service. There is a vast range of trucks out there, they vary greatly in power, size and configuration with different kind of trucks being required to perform different jobs. Smaller varieties of truck are often similar mechanically to some of the larger cars that you might find on the road.
Skip loaders
Use for the transportation of heavy skips, this type of truck is usually linked to the waste management industry. They are used in the construction industry to facilitate the removal of large amounts of demolition rubble, soil and other waste materials from building sites quickly and efficiently. They are fitted with hydraulic arms that allow them to lift skips, swing them into place and then lower them to the ground.
In order to provide stability during this process, they are also equipped with steadies at the back that can be lowered into place. For the transportation of lighter goods some skip loaders also offer a full sheeting system which covers the load and prevents it from blowing off during transportation and creating a hazard on the roads.
Hookloader
A fairly specialist type of truck, the hookloader is a truck that is often used to load waste containers. They are most commonly found on construction sites and are frequently used in the scrap and waste, recycling and demolition industries.
A hookloader uses several hydraulic rams in order to hook onto the type of container it is using, this is then hoisted up onto its own chassis before being secured ready for transportation. Whilst this might initially sound similar to a skip loader the main difference is in the method used to lift the container and then the way in which it is moved.
Cable lift trucks
An essential member of any construction fleet a cable lift truck is predominately used for scaffolding solutions. They come in a range of sizes with scaffold beds sitting on 4, 6 or even 8 wheeled lorries and have the capacity to not only transport heavy and awkward pieces of scaffolding but also to lift them as well. They offer a very useful alternative on the site to a hook loader system.
Tipper truck
The tipper truck, or dump truck as they are sometimes referred to, is used to transport sand, gravel and other types of loose material from one location to another. They are frequently used during major building projects and construction to transport raw materials to building sites and demolition rubble away from the site.
They are an open box bed design with a hinged rear end which allows them to be tipped upwards allowing their contents to be unloaded with ease. This rather humble truck plays a vital role in the construction industry and is the workhorse of any fleet.
Whilst this type of truck has in fact been around in Europe since the 19th century, they have obviously become more industrial over the years.
Why it might be best to hire your truck
Due to the nature of the work that the majority of these construction trucks carry out, they require regular maintenance, which can be costly. This is why many companies often prefer to consider tipper hire rather than purchase as it can prove to be more cost effective for them. This means that the maintenance is carried out by the hire company to ensure that health and safety standards are continually met.
