A Comprehensive Guide to Types of Trucks and Their Load Capacities

Trucks play an important role in India’s goods and services transportation sector, serving in industries like infrastructure, construction, FMCG, dairy, etc. With so many types of trucks in India, understanding where each truck type excels will help you find the right truck for your business and fleet.

Eicher is among India's most popular truck makers, having produced reliable and powerful trucks since 1948. Our trucks are known for their consumer-centric approach, innovation, and best-in-class after-sales service. In this blog, we will guide you through the types of trucks in India, their payload capacities, GVW, and how to calculate the load capacity for your business.

What Are The Advantages Of Understanding The Basics Of Truck Load Capacity?

Before you purchase a truck, it is essential to understand the basics. Buying without knowing the basics can lead to wrong purchases, which can result in more downtime, lower ROI, and financial losses, all of which can hamper your business and future endeavours.

The first thing to understand is the truck load capacity. A truck’s payload capacity is the maximum load your truck can safely carry. Sticking to the recommended load capacity can help you avoid unwanted fines, reduce accidents, and prevent premature wear and tear.

Types Of Trucks

As mentioned above, the hierarchy of trucks depends on the truck load capacity and a truck’s GVW (gross vehicle weight). The hierarchy of trucks is as follows:

Light Commercial Vehicle

Light commercial vehicles, or light-duty trucks, are the most common types of trucks in India. They are comparatively smaller and lighter than medium and heavy trucks, and have more efficient engines than the latter. Having a compact footprint, these trucks are popular for urban deliveries, last-mile logistics, and tasks that need timely deliveries. Light commercial trucks have a GVW rating between 3,500 kg to 7,500 kg, and have a maximum payload capacity of 3,500 kg.

Eicher offers an expansive range of LCVs, ranging from haulage, tipper, and sub 5 ton trucks.

Medium Commercial Vehicles

MCVs are larger than SCVs and use larger and more powerful engines, which makes them brawnier yet less fuel-efficient than SCVs. Medium trucks typically have a gross vehicle weight (GVW) of 7,500 kg to 16,000 kg and a maximum payload capacity of 5,000 kg to 7,000 kg, depending on the powertrain and the truck’s body type.

Eicher offers a massive range of medium trucks, offering options for various kinds of businesses. The Eicher Pro 2118 is the most capable medium-duty truck in Eicher’s lineup with a maximum payload capacity of 12.800 kg. Models like the Pro 3018 can carry up to 12,700 kg, which makes these trucks extremely popular in the construction and mining industry.

Heavy Commercial Vehicles (HCVs):

Heavy-duty trucks (HCVs) are engineered to tackle the toughest jobs that require power, extreme payload, heavy hauling capacities, and durability. HCVs come with more powerful engines than medium and light trucks, which yield a high truck load capacity. 

They typically have a GVW rating of 19,000 kg to 55,000 kg, making them the backbone of heavy-load transport and long-haul freight. These trucks can carry between 16 tons to 49 tons, making them popular in the construction industry, the iron & steel industry, heavy goods transportation, and intra-state transportation.

Eicher has one of the best heavy-truck ranges in India, among which the Pro 2119 CNG and Pro 6019 are the most popular. Trucks like the Pro 6042 and Pro 6048XP 47.5-ton trucks are some of the best HD trucks on the market.

How To Calculate The Truck Load Capacity?

• Shortlist the critical parameters: Nature of work, type of materials the truck will carry, Payload, etc.
• To calculate the payload capacity, subtract the unladen/dry weight from the GVW
• For instance, if the truck’s GVW is 10,000 kg and the dry weight is 4,000 kg, the payload capacity would be 6,000 kg.