1984

As we look back over the last sixty-five years, the needfulness for trucks has changed significantly. When we explore the use of trucks in the 1940's, they were considered to have an important value in their demand as well as an indispensable tool. The uses of trucks have changed dramatically in today's society when compared to the 1940's. They are no longer considered a just an essential part of transporting goods, however, we now use them as a necessity for life.

Trucks were very different in the early days compared to the trucks of today. During World War II four companies made most of the 1 Ð... ton trucks for military service; International (M-3L-4) made specifically for the Navy and Marines, Ford (GTB), Dodge (WC62) and Chevy (G506 also known as G7100). Of the manufacturers, Chevy by far, supplied the most 1 Ð... ton trucks during the war. Chevy labeled the trucks "Vehicles of Victory" during the war in the many ads Chevy ran promoting their war effort. The trucks were used for almost every task at hand. Common uses included towing artillery, firefighting, hauling troops and supplies, and the multitude of tasks associated with engineering battalions. The truck also came with special body configurations, for a variety of specialized tasks such a fire fighting, bob supply, and communications.

If we look at the Persian Gulf War in the early nineties, large flatbed trucks were used to transport heavy armored vehicles to the front. It required a lot of trucks and muscle, and they called this special truck "Camp Big Sky Oasis. It managed the movement of supplies and convoys from what looks like an air traffic control center plucked from a control tower and crammed into an office trailer.

The type of truck that the United States are using is very transient. Back in the early 2003, the United States army only had a hundred or so armored trucks available for operation in Iraq. In the last 20 months, another 16,000 trucks in Iraq and Afghanistan have had armor added (15,000 humvees, 450 medium trucks and 650 heavy trucks). The Humvees are actually light trucks, and are used not just to move people and supplies around, but to carry troops and weapons to escort convoys of unarmored trucks. This is the heart of the current controversy of the shortage of armored trucks. Currently most of the trucks in Iraq and Afghanistan are not armored (5,000 Humvees, 4,300 medium and 3,600 heavy trucks). The drivers of the larger trucks want armor.

There are many different styles of trucks that are used in today's society other than what we use in war. We have the box truck that is very important in this century of time. There are numerous manufacturers who produce box trucks for the US market. While there are differences in each model, the trucks as a whole have many similarities. Box Trucks have separate, boxlike cargo areas that sit on the frame. The box on some of the trucks is totally separate from the cab. Some box trucks have a cargo area that is grafted to the cab. The cargo area in some box trucks built like that can be accessed from the cab. Most box trucks have a roll-up rear door that's similar to a garage door. Box trucks are generally used by companies that need to haul large items such as furniture, appliances, and large boxes.

The years of 1940 - 1960 they there were trucks that resembled the box trucks called Refrigerators, better known as reefers. By the 1940's, new reefers were being built entirely of steel. Insulating techniques improved to the point where economical refrigeration could be accomplished using steel side plates in place of wood sheathing. In 1958, the first mechanical reefers (utilizing diesel powered refrigeration units) went into service and by 1971, the "ice age" came to a chilling end. The "plug" door was introduced in the 1960's as an option that provided a large door to ease loading and unloading of certain commodities. These tightfitting doors were better insulated and could keep the care at a more even temperature.

The fire truck is another type of truck that is extremely important to our communities. Starting in the days of the horses was when firemen started to ride on the fire engines. There was at least the driver of the team on the fire engine. Most of the equipment, what little they had, was mounted to the frame. Everything else had to be carried to the scene. Separate hose wagons or carts carried the hose that was going to be used with the engine as well as a few extra tools. Ladder companies were probably the first to put running boards on the side of the truck. This is because you could not stand on the rear of the truck because the ladders hung out the back. This remains true until they invented the rear mounted ladder truck. A rear mounted ladder means that the turn table is at the rear of the truck and the tip of the main ladder hangs over the cab of the truck instead of having the turn table just behind the cab of the truck or mid-mounted on the vehicle. The 1975 LTI ladder tower is a rear mounted ladder and had a trail board