DISCLAIMER!: i think i might have worded this in a way that seems critical of the use of the term truck or critical of the capabilities of a 1/2 ton pickup--that's not my intention at all! i'm really being critical of myself and laughing at the way in which language and environment work in shaping my vocabulary

in the area in which i grew up, everyone called these vehicles 'pickups' or sometimes the long version--'pickup trucks'...we used the term 'truck' to describe a vehicle that was capable of pulling a much heavier load than the 1/2 tons of the time, but we still called a 3/4 ton a 'pickup' or 'pickup truck'

that being said, by far, most farmers in the area drove 1/2 tons and still do, and they work them like you wouldn't believe--so i'm not being critical of 1/2 ton trucks! i just call them pickups out of habit--kind of like calling a hi-lift jack a farm jack, any soda a 'coke', and saying i'm 'fixin' to do something when i'm preparing to embark on a mission of some sort

sorry for any inadverdant offense!




just curious--i was wondering if it's a regional thing or nothing at all, but i've never called a 1/2 ton pickup a 'truck'...and i don't remember anyone around me while i was growing up refer to anything but a tractor-trailer rig as a truck

i do recall a few people here and there who made reference to my truck, and it always took me a second to realize they were talking about my pickup...seemed most of these people were from larger cities...and here in dallas, everyone likes my 'truck' heh heh

we had a 3/4 ton pickup that we considered a truck, but we still called it a pickup...and it's funny because i still have the mindset that a 1/2 pickup isn't really a 'truck' and i never refer to my f-150 as anything but my 'pickup'



anyhow--just noticed a huge percentage of forum members refer to the f-150 as a 'truck' and wondered if the panhandle/south plains of texas was the only place where 'pickup' was still the prevailing terminology

 

I call my truck a truck.

I call the tractor & trailer rigs 18 wheelers.

 

Kind of a goofy question isn't it?

You know I've never called the sun the sun...I call it floating burning Hydrogen...It took a while when people said "man the sun is bright" for me to figure out they weren't saying my boy was smart.

Weird.

 

Vader, are you sure thats you posting that? That sounds too much like something Raoul would post.

 

F-150's are trucks here. I cant remember anyone refering to it as a pickup ever.
Reminds me of the country song

Pickup Man
by Joe Diffie

Well I got my first truck, when I was three
Drove a hundred thousand miles on my knees
Hauled marbles and rocks, and thought twice before
I hauled a barbie doll bed for the girl next door
She tried to pay me with a kiss and I began to understand
There's just something women like about a pickup man

When I turned sixteen, I saved a few hundred bucks
My first car was a pickup truck
I was cruisin' the town and the first girl I seen
Was bobbie jo gentry the homecoming queen
She flagged me down and climbed up in the cab, and said
"I never knew you were a pickup man!"

You can set my truck on fire and roll it down a hill
And I still wouldn't trade it for a coupe deville
I got an eight foot bed that never has to be made
You know if it weren't for trucks we wouldn't have tailgates
I met all my wives in traffic jams
There's just something women like about a pickup man

Most friday nights, I can be found
In the bed of my truck on an old chaise lounge
Backed into my spot at the drive-in show
You know a cargo light gives off a romantic glow
I never have to wait in line at the popcorn stand
'Cause there's just something women like about a pickup man

You can set my truck on fire and roll it down a hill
And I still wouldn't trade it for a coupe deville
I got an eight foot bed that never has to be made
You know if it weren't for trucks we wouldn't have tailgates
I met all my wives in traffic jams
There's just something women like about a pickup man

A bucket of rust, or a brand new machine
Once around the block and you'll know what I mean

You can set my truck on fire and roll it down a hill
And I still wouldn't trade it for a coupe deville
I got an eight foot bed that never has to be made
You know if it weren't for trucks we wouldn't have tailgates
I met all my wives in traffic jams
There's just something women like about a pickup man

 

Well, Ford calls it a truck...

It's a truck.

So's the Ranger. I gues anything with a bed instead of a trunk is technically a truck, since that's generally the defining characteristic of a truck..

We called 18-wheekers:

18-wheeler's
Tractor-trailers
Semi's
Big-Rig

But to us, an 18-wheeler wasn't an 18-wheeler, unless it was a Kenworth... The cab-over's were just pieces of crap to us kids, until Optimus Prime came out!

What I don't get is the whole 1/2 to 3/4 ton crap... Most every truck on the market (Yes, even the Ridgeline) can carry (haul) damn-near 2,000 lbs. (Not counting what it can tow). Where I come from, 2,000 lbs is (1-ton). The F-150, Tundra, Ram, Silverado/Sierra, Titan, Ridgeline, etc... all have a minimum payload rating of around 1,500 lbs, and some are at 1,700 - 1,800. Much closer to 1-ton, than 1/2 ton.

Mathematically, I guess today's "1/2 ton" trucks, are really 3/4 tons...

Someone explain that to me... I don't get the whole 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, 1-ton BS.

Take it a step further, the Army's Deuce & a half was a 2.5 ton truck. Yet, we'd load that SOB with 64 reels of CX11230-A/U coaxial cable @ 147 lbs/reel, plus an RL-202 reeling machine @ 502 lbs. totalling 9,910 lbs. (Almost 5 tons)

Why's it referred to as a 2.5 ton, when it can carry twice that weight? No one in the Army could explan that either...

A US Standard ton is 2,000 lbs, right? I'm not talking short tons, or metric tons, I mean good old fashioned American tons.

 

 

I've been drinking goat milk...

 

I use the term truck.

tractor-trailers - 18 wheelers or semi's. The term 18 wheeler will probably come to an end soon. There is a grocery store chain (those in Texas it's HEB) who is switching out there tractor and trailers to one wide tire (Michelin X-One 445/50R22.5 w/ an automatic inflation/tire pressure monitoring system) instead of duallies. So 4 tires on the trailer and 6 on the tractor.

 

*yawn*

 

I hauled firewood this morning in my vehicle some don't verify as a truck.

 

if you don't call an 18 wheeler a truck, do you refer to the drivers as truckers or truck drivers? if not, what do you call the driver?

i'm just curious about the semantics

 

so...do you call it a truck or a pickup?

 

I call it a truck, or a Texas sedan.

 

now, texas sedan i like!

thanks man