With the latest inventions of more intelligent trucks made for hauling, it is very easy to forget the beginnings of the trucking industry; even the creation of the truck as a new machine in the motor family. So why not take a look at the past?
The truck concept was present since the very beginning of the motor industry. By 1800 the ultimate invention was the steam powered machines. Some carriages of this type were made in Europe. But the first vehicle powered by gasoline is an invention by Gottlieb Daimler. In October 1896, he created the first truck under the company Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG), just ten years after the first car was made.
That "proto -truck" was made to haul 1,500 kg, and its strength was sustained by 4 horsepower two cylinder engine. The truck was like a horse drawn carriage but without horses. The driver and the freight traveled in open air. But that primitive machine resulted as being very useful for the public.
Soon after, DMG built new trucks with even 10 horsepower and capacities of up to 5,000 kg. The faster ones developed a speed of 12 km per hour. New modifications were being made by the manufacturers, not only Daimler; the rest of the industry was taking part in the birth of the truck.
Companies like Winton Co in Ohio were the pioneers of the trucking industry in America. The very first truck show took place in New York in 1903. But the range of the truck was still small. The roads of the 1900's were in very bad shape, especially since they were not crucial in the transportation business; the railroads dominated the long hauling market. Until 1916, when the Federal Air Road Act was passed, the improvement of the roads took importance in order to encourage the travel and the commerce. And this was the open window for the truck.
With this opportunity, the truck technology added more innovation to the trucks. Their models began to have a cover on the freight compartment and a better engine function for example, the change of a "cardan" drive into a chain or pinion drive made in Daimler's Trucks. In 1923, the Benz Company implemented the first diesel engine which constituted one of the biggest steps for truck manufacturing.
As with other technologies, its development is extremely linked with the needs of the wars. World War I and II pushed the truck manufacturer to make military trucks and to make them more reliable and stronger machines. The company Mercedes Benz built a fleet of trucks with power of 150hp and hauling capacities of 18.5 tons as part of the movements of World War II.
In the United States, companies like Freightliner started to design and make trucks with a style of their own. By 1947, Freightliner had a big manufacturing center that produced 30 trucks per year. The demand for trucks provoked that in 1953 the company launched the WF-5844T model which had the innovation of all wheels drive traction.
Other companies like Mack, Kenworth and Gotfredson had the same parallel history of development not only for the engine, but the tires, the trailer, the cab and much more. All this because the pioneers understood that these were just first steps of a wide and dynamic new field of transportation.