International variance
ALMA antenna transporters are huge vehicles that drive on 28 tyres, are 10 metres wide, 20 metres long and 6 metres high, weigh 130 tonnes, and have as much power as two Formula 1 engines.[5]
For more details on this topic, see List of truck types.

In the United States, Canada and Philippines "truck" is usually reserved for commercial vehicles larger than normal cars including pickups and other vehicles having an open load bed. In Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the word "truck" is mostly reserved for larger vehicles; in Australia and New Zealand, a pickup truck is usually called a ute (short for "utility"), while in South Africa it is called a bakkie (Afrikaans: "small open container"). In the United Kingdom, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Ireland and Hong Kong lorry is used instead of truck, but only for the medium and heavy types.

In American English, the word "truck" is often preceded by a word describing the type of vehicle, such as a "fire truck" or "tanker truck". In British English these would be referred to as "fire engine" and "tanker" or "petrol tanker", respectively. In Canada and the United States, "fire engine" is also used.

In Australia and New Zealand, the term ute (short for coupé utility) is used to describe a pickup truck with an open cargo carrying space but a front similar to a passenger car, and which requires only a passenger car license to drive. The concept was developed in 1933 by Lewis Bandt of the Ford Motor Company in Geelong following a request from a Gippsland farmer's wife for a vehicle that they could go to church in on Sunday without getting wet and also use to take the pigs to market on Monday.[6]

Anatomy of a truck
Scania R470 flat nose truck

Almost all trucks share a common construction: they are made of a chassis, a cab, an area for placing cargo or equipment, axles, suspension and roadwheels, an engine and a drivetrain. Pneumatic, hydraulic, water, and electrical systems may also be identified. Many also tow one or more trailers or semi-trailers.
Cab

The cab is an enclosed space where the driver is seated. A "sleeper" is a compartment attached to the cab where the driver can rest while not driving, sometimes seen in semi-trailer trucks.

There are several possible cab configurations:

"Cab over engine" (COE) or "flat nose"; where the driver is seated above the front axle and the engine. This design is almost ubiquitous in Europe, where overall truck lengths are strictly regulated, but also widely used in the rest of the world as well. They were common in North America, but lost prominence when permitted length was extended in the early 1980s. To access the engine, the whole cab tilts forward, earning this design the name of "tilt-cab". This type of cab is especially suited to the delivery conditions in Europe where many roads follow the layout of much more ancient path, and trackways which require the additional turning capability given by the short wheelbase of the cab over engine type. The COE design was invented by Viktor Schreckengost.[12]
Conventional cabs are the most common in North America and Australia, and are known in the UK as "American cabs" and in the Netherlands as "torpedo cabs". The driver is seated behind the engine, as in most passenger cars or pickup trucks. Conventionals are further divided into large car and aerodynamic designs. A "large car" or "long nose" is a conventional truck with a long (6-to-8-foot or 1.8-to-2.4 m or more) hood. "Aerodynamic" cabs are very streamlined, with a sloped hood and other features to lower drag.
Cab beside engine designs also exist, but are rather rare and are mainly used inside shipping yards, or other specialist uses such as aircraft baggage loading.

A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a vehicle similar to a station wagon or estate car, usually equipped with four-wheel drive for on- or off-road ability. Some SUVs include the towing capacity of a pickup truck with the passenger-carrying space of a minivan or large sedan.

Since SUVs are considered light trucks in North America, and often share the same platform with pick-up trucks, at one time, they were regulated less strictly than passenger cars under the two laws in the United States, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act for fuel economy, and the Clean Air Act for emissions.[1] Starting in 2004, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began to hold sport utility vehicles to the same tailpipe emissions standards as cars.[2]

The term is not used in all countries, and outside North America the terms "off-road vehicle", "four-wheel drive" or "four-by-four" (abbreviated to "4WD" or "4×4") or simply use of the brand name to describe the vehicle like "Jeep" or "Land Rover" are more common. Not all SUVs have four-wheel drive capabilities, and not all four-wheel-drive passenger vehicles are SUVs. Although some SUVs have off-road capabilities, they often play only a secondary role, and SUVs often do not have the ability to switch among two-wheel and four-wheel-drive high gearing and four-wheel-drive low gearing. While auto makers tout an SUV's off-road prowess with advertising and naming, the daily use of SUVs is largely on paved roads.

Popular in the late-1990s and early–mid-2000s, SUVs sales have since declined due to high oil prices and a declining economy. The traditional truck-based SUV is gradually being supplanted by the crossover SUV, which uses an automobile platform for lighter weight and better fuel efficiency, as a response to much of the criticism of sport utility vehicles.