Types of Semi Trucks and Trailers: Specialized Semi Truck and Trailer Configurations

A container chassis is a semi-trailer with a skeleton frame and locking devices for transporting intermodal cargo containers.

Study reference: ODOT Trucking Terminology and Acronyms (general vocabulary only). Follow current official guidance and your employer’s procedures.

A chip truck is designed specifically to carry wood chips and usually has a large, lightweight box on a semi-trailer.

Study reference: ODOT Trucking Terminology and Acronyms (general vocabulary only). Follow current official guidance and your employer’s procedures.

A Conestoga trailer features a retractable tarping system that combines weather protection with the loading advantages of an open-deck trailer.

Study reference: ODOT Trucking Terminology and Acronyms (general vocabulary only). Follow current official guidance and your employer’s procedures.

Carrying an empty trailer on another empty trailer or chassis is known as 'decked trailer,' a practice often used in flatbed or logging operations.

Study reference: ODOT Trucking Terminology and Acronyms (general vocabulary only). Follow current official guidance and your employer’s procedures.

Operating a tractor without a trailer attached is referred to as 'bobtail.'

Study reference: ODOT Trucking Terminology and Acronyms (general vocabulary only). Follow current official guidance and your employer’s procedures.

A belly dump trailer unloads its contents through a hopper in the bottom, making it suitable for materials like gravel or sand.

Study reference: ODOT Trucking Terminology and Acronyms (general vocabulary only). Follow current official guidance and your employer’s procedures.

Bulk carriers are designed to transport loose, unpackaged materials such as gravel.

Study reference: ODOT Trucking Terminology and Acronyms (general vocabulary only). Follow current official guidance and your employer’s procedures.

Standard-sized rectangular boxes used for intermodal transport are called containers.

Study reference: ODOT Trucking Terminology and Acronyms (general vocabulary only). Follow current official guidance and your employer’s procedures.

Two trailers of similar length connected in tandem by a converter dolly are called 'Doubles' or 'Twin Trailers.'

Study reference: ODOT Trucking Terminology and Acronyms (general vocabulary only). Follow current official guidance and your employer’s procedures.

A bunk is a device mounted at a right angle to the truck or trailer's direction of motion to support and secure logs during transport.

Study reference: ODOT Trucking Terminology and Acronyms (general vocabulary only). Follow current official guidance and your employer’s procedures.