Or pickup truck? Naw, too many words. When I was growing up, it was always called a pickup. Now, when I hear people refer to their such vehicle, they say, "truck." Trucks for example might be what my dad's friend had. Two each one and a half ton bobcat flat beds that he hauled alfalfa on. Both Jimmys, one about 1946 and the other about 1956. Both cab-overs. There was no confusing those for pickups.
My dad owned several pickups that I remember. A 1936 Ford, two 1956 Fords, a 1963 Ford, a 1969 Ford Torino Ranchero (which wasn't really a pickup either), and lastly a 1979 Ford. I guess we can't count a 1947 Ford panel truck because although it was a light truck, it had an enclosed body. By the way, back in those days, Ford didn't call their truck line as such, there were referred to as "commercials." I used to drive the '36 Ford to high school sometimes. Big, long gearshift lever that stuck up out of the floor. Fairly small bed on that one.
Henry Ford is said to have invented the pickup by adapting a small cargo box onto the back of a Model T roadster chassis in the 1920's. But like everything else, someone else less famous may have actually done it earlier. When I was a kid growing up in my hometown in the 1950's, I used to see a number of Model A coupes whose owners had removed the rumble seat lid and installed a home-made cargo box in the hole. Usually, some old guy was driving it. Still stinging from the Depression. And hence made their own pickup. I once saw a 1949 Lincoln Cosmopolitan pickup. That's right, home made. The rear half of the sedan body had been cut off and replaced with a welded steel box.
Speaking of trucks, the real deal that is. Mrs. Merkt and I drove over to Spokane to visit her sister about a month ago. Once we got over the mountains, I started seeing more sets of double trailers. Now those are real trucks and the guys who drive them usually real truck drivers. Like hay trucks come to mind. I'm not a truck driver but I think of truck driving skill as being easily measured by backing ability. Drivers who can back a double properly have my admiration. One of the things in my charge before I retired was a loading dock. I had trucks coming in off and on all day. Anything from short trucks to 53 foot trailers. When a 53 footer came in, a good driver could stab it in there in one sweep. Another driver, one with less skill, might take six or seven attempts to get it in. I know that axle placement on a long trailer is important but good drivers take this into account too.
I don't own a pickup or truck. I have an old Ford station wagon that I use for hauling. If something won't fit in the wagon, it has a hitch on the back and I will rent a trailer. Because I don't much want to store and pay the state a license fee for something that mostly sits. I won't brag too much about being a single axle trailer-backer, either. When I pull a trailer, I try to do it in a one-way direction if possible.
My dad owned several pickups that I remember. A 1936 Ford, two 1956 Fords, a 1963 Ford, a 1969 Ford Torino Ranchero (which wasn't really a pickup either), and lastly a 1979 Ford. I guess we can't count a 1947 Ford panel truck because although it was a light truck, it had an enclosed body. By the way, back in those days, Ford didn't call their truck line as such, there were referred to as "commercials." I used to drive the '36 Ford to high school sometimes. Big, long gearshift lever that stuck up out of the floor. Fairly small bed on that one.
Henry Ford is said to have invented the pickup by adapting a small cargo box onto the back of a Model T roadster chassis in the 1920's. But like everything else, someone else less famous may have actually done it earlier. When I was a kid growing up in my hometown in the 1950's, I used to see a number of Model A coupes whose owners had removed the rumble seat lid and installed a home-made cargo box in the hole. Usually, some old guy was driving it. Still stinging from the Depression. And hence made their own pickup. I once saw a 1949 Lincoln Cosmopolitan pickup. That's right, home made. The rear half of the sedan body had been cut off and replaced with a welded steel box.
Speaking of trucks, the real deal that is. Mrs. Merkt and I drove over to Spokane to visit her sister about a month ago. Once we got over the mountains, I started seeing more sets of double trailers. Now those are real trucks and the guys who drive them usually real truck drivers. Like hay trucks come to mind. I'm not a truck driver but I think of truck driving skill as being easily measured by backing ability. Drivers who can back a double properly have my admiration. One of the things in my charge before I retired was a loading dock. I had trucks coming in off and on all day. Anything from short trucks to 53 foot trailers. When a 53 footer came in, a good driver could stab it in there in one sweep. Another driver, one with less skill, might take six or seven attempts to get it in. I know that axle placement on a long trailer is important but good drivers take this into account too.
I don't own a pickup or truck. I have an old Ford station wagon that I use for hauling. If something won't fit in the wagon, it has a hitch on the back and I will rent a trailer. Because I don't much want to store and pay the state a license fee for something that mostly sits. I won't brag too much about being a single axle trailer-backer, either. When I pull a trailer, I try to do it in a one-way direction if possible.
