Types of Heavy Vehicles and Trucks

Small Trucks

Most of the trucks you see out and about that are quite small and light (such as small delivery vans) are generally known as rigid trucks. These start at a Gross Vehicle Mass of 3.5 tonnes and are drivable on an ordinary car licence, making them accessible for the everyday person and common for transporting light goods such as food.

Large Trucks

Once rigid trucks hit 4.5 tonnes of Gross Vehicle Mass, these are then classified as heavy vehicles and drivers must have a heavy vehicle licence to drive them. One type of heavy vehicle that you’ve likely come across before is a large freight truck, which can carry just about anything up to 33.5 tonnes. They usually have between two and five axles.

Trucks With Trailers

Whether the trailer is small and used only for carrying light goods, or is a large tipping trailer that weighs as much as or even more than the truck pulling it, you will often see heavy rigid trucks with trailers attached.

Passenger Busses

Of course, one of the most common heavy vehicles on the roads in Australia is passenger buses. A bus is defined as a vehicle that has seating for at least ten adults and it must comply with the Australian Design Rules, ranging from intercity and interstate to private coaches. It is estimated that over 1.5 million domestic passengers travel by bus each year in Australia.

Agricultural

You have probably been stuck behind a slow-moving tractor before, and this is because they are designed specifically to be slow in order to carry out farming tasks with various equipment attached, which you may also see out on the road. They could also be attached to a chaser bin. There is also livestock transporting heavy vehicles that can reach much higher speeds, but these are classed as freight-carrying vehicles rather than agricultural ones.

Special Purpose Vehicles

Another classification of heavy vehicles is special purpose vehicles, such as cranes, drill rigs, graders and fire trucks, to name a few. There are many different types of each of these which all come in unique shapes and sizes and stand out from the average truck due to their specialised functions. At Mick’s Towing Service, we offer crane truck hire, so if you spot one out on the road, it could be one of our fleet.

We also offer the best towing service on the Gold Coast, so do not hesitate to contact us if you require any of these heavy vehicles and trucks to be towed by calling our 24/7 emergency number: 0411 715 630.