Figure 1.--Very few trucks were being used in Europe at the time of World War I. The situation in America was very different. Trucks were a common site on the streets of American cities. They had not yet replaced horse drawn carts, but they had begun the process. There was a substantial number of companies producing these trucks.

Large numbers of trucks first appeared in Europe during World War I. The word 'truck' appeared long before modern trucks, commonly called lories in Europe, first appeared in numbers during WorldPart of America’s identity is associated with the truck. The word truck is first noted (1611). It mean the the wheeled carriages on heavy Royal Navy ship cannons. Etymologists dispute the usages of 'truck' but the word gradually became used with transporting heavy cargo (late-18th century). Which began to approch the modern usage. The first American fire engines were referred to as trucks. Actually they were somewhat related to ship cannon carriages. They were not self propelled. They were wssentially water pumpson rigs pulled to fires by men. As speed was critical, eventually horses were hooked up to do the pulling (mid-19th century). A self-proppelled steam powered fire truck appeared in New York (1841), but the firemen did not like it. It would not be until the modern motorized truck appeared that the fire truck became motorized. As much as the truck became associated with America, the first motorzed truck came from Germany. One Gottlieb Daimler designed and built a truck (1896). It was a mechanical marvel operated in two forward speeds and one reverse, all powered by a belt-driven four horsepower engine. The truck, however, did not catch on in Germany or anywhere else in Europe. The reason for this was that autmobiles in Europe were high-end luxury goods built in what were craft shops. They were thus expensive and not economical for hauling coal, potatoes, and other cargo around town. America was very different, thanks to large measure to Henry Ford who built his first truck (1900). He saw the need for a work vehicle from the very beginning. It was the third vehicle he built. And with the Model-T and assemby line, Ford created the kind of low-cost vehicle that could be used for hauling freight. And as a result there were large numbers of cars in America at a time that Europe was still mostly depedent on horse power. Not only did the car catch on in America as a result of Ford and the automobile, but a large number of companies began building trucks. And by the time World War I broke out, trucks were a common sight in American cities.

Created: 5:39 PM 10/23/2018
Last updated: 5:40 PM 10/23/2018