Truck, bus and road freight glossary: the terms and the texts that define them

This glossary gives the meaning of truck, bus, trailer and road freight terms in the words of the texts that define them: EU and UN texts, the laws and regulations of Germany, Spain, Türkiye, Great Britain and the United States, British government pages, the statistical glossary of Eurostat, the UN Economic Commission for Europe and the International Transport Forum, European Commission pages, the Eurovignette sales portal and, for freight forwarding, FIATA. Each entry names its source and, where this site has a page that covers the subject further, links to it.

Status as of 8 October 2026. Every text was read on that day, in the version named in the source list. The EU consolidated texts say of themselves that they are “meant purely as a documentation tool” and that the authentic texts are those published in the Official Journal; for the TIR Convention and UN Regulation No. 13, the versions read point instead to the original United Nations texts. German, Spanish and Turkish quotations keep the original words, with our translation in brackets.

Logistics and the transport trade

Freight transport logistics

In the European Commission’s Communication COM(2006) 336 of 28 June 2006, freight transport logistics “covers the planning, organisation, management, control and execution of freight transport operations in the supply chain” (section 2). The Communication, a policy text of the Commission and not legislation, gives the definition “For the purposes of this Communication”. More in what is logistics.

Third-party logistics (3PL)

The same Communication defines the term from the side of the organisation that uses the providers: “‘Third-party logistics’ means that an organisation uses external logistics providers that supply all or a considerable number of its logistical activities” (section 2). More in what is logistics.

Logistics operator

Spain’s Land Transport Act, Ley 16/1987 (LOTT), defines logistics operators as undertakings specialised in organising, managing and controlling, “por cuenta ajena” (for the account of others), the supply, transport, storage or distribution of goods that their customers need (Article 122). Türkiye’s Road Transport Regulation defines the lojistik işletmecisi as natural and legal persons who, besides the actual carriage, take delivery of their customers’ goods and undertake all or part of services such as loading, storage, packing and distribution under their own supervision and control (Article 4(1)(ğğ)). More in what is logistics.

Freight forwarder

FIATA, the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations, which describes itself as “a non-governmental organisation”, defined freight forwarding and logistic services in 2004 as “services of any kind relating to the carriage (performed by single mode or multimodal transport means), consolidation, storage, handling, packing or distribution of goods”, with ancillary and advisory services. Under German law the forwarding contract obliges the Spediteur “die Versendung des Gutes zu besorgen” (to arrange the dispatch of the goods) (Commercial Code, HGB § 453(1)).

Freight broker (United States)

In 49 U.S.C. 13102, whose definitions apply to the part of the US Code on motor carriers, water carriers, brokers and freight forwarders, a broker is a person, other than a motor carrier or an employee or agent of one, that as a principal or agent sells, offers for sale, negotiates for, or holds itself out as selling, providing or arranging for, “transportation by motor carrier for compensation” (13102(2)). The freight forwarder, among the other elements of its definition, “assumes responsibility for the transportation from the place of receipt to the place of destination”, and the same section counts it among carriers (13102(3) and (8)).

Carrier and road haulage operator

Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 defines “the occupation of road haulage operator” as “the activity of any undertaking transporting goods for hire or reward by means either of motor vehicles or combinations of vehicles” (Article 2(1)). In Germany’s Commercial Code the carrier, the Frachtführer, undertakes to carry the goods to the destination and deliver them there to the consignee (HGB § 407(1)). More in road transport operator licence.

Transport for hire or reward and transport on own account

The Glossary for transport statistics of Eurostat, the UNECE and the International Transport Forum defines transport for hire or reward as “Carriage for remuneration of persons or goods on behalf of third parties” and transport on own account as “Transport which is not for hire or reward”. More in what is logistics.

Tonne-kilometre

The same glossary defines the tonne-kilometre by road as a “Unit of measurement of goods transport which represents the transport of one tonne by road over one kilometre”, counting “the distance actually run”. More in what is logistics.

Cabotage

Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009 defines cabotage operations as “national carriage for hire or reward carried out on a temporary basis in a host Member State” (Article 2(6)), that is, a Member State “in which a haulier operates other than the haulier’s Member State of establishment” (Article 2(3)). More in cabotage and posted drivers.

Vehicles and combinations

Lorry, truck and rigid lorry

In Annex I, Part C of Regulation (EU) 2018/858 the lorry, bodywork code BA, is “A vehicle that is designed and constructed exclusively or principally for conveying goods. It may also tow a trailer.” Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 calls “a lorry that is not designed or constructed for the towing of a semi-trailer” a rigid lorry (Article 3(6)), and US federal rules define a truck as a motor vehicle “designed primarily for the transportation of property or special purpose equipment” (49 CFR 571.3). More in vehicle categories M, N and O.

Van, pick-up truck and kamyonet

In the same Part C the van, code BB, is “A lorry with the compartment where the driver is located and cargo area within a single unit”; the pick-up truck, code BE, has a maximum mass not exceeding 3,500 kg, and its seating positions and cargo area are not in a single compartment. Türkiye’s Road Traffic Law No. 2918 defines the kamyonet as a motor vehicle built to carry goods, “Azami yüklü ağırlığı 3.500 kilogramı geçmeyen” (whose maximum laden weight does not exceed 3,500 kilograms) (Article 3). More in vehicle categories M, N and O.

Vehicle categories M, N and O

Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/858 places motor vehicles designed and constructed “primarily for the carriage of passengers and their luggage” in category M and those designed and constructed “primarily for the carriage of goods” in category N; category O “consists of trailers”. Each category is divided by maximum mass, M also by seating positions. UN R.E.3, a consolidated resolution of the UNECE World Forum WP.29, sets out the same categories (paragraph 2). More in vehicle categories M, N and O.

Semi truck and tractor unit

Annex I, Part C of Regulation (EU) 2018/858 defines the tractor unit for semi-trailer, code BC, as “A towing vehicle that is designed and constructed exclusively or principally to tow semi-trailers”; for such a vehicle “the maximum mass to be considered for classifying the vehicle shall include the maximum mass of the semi-trailer borne by the fifth wheel coupling” (introductory part, point 2.2.1). US federal rules define the truck tractor as “a self-propelled commercial motor vehicle designed and/or used primarily for drawing other vehicles” (49 CFR 390.5T; the Code of Federal Regulations notes that section 390.5 is suspended indefinitely). Neither definition uses the everyday name semi truck. More in what is a semi truck.

Semi-trailer

In Regulation (EU) 2018/858 a semi-trailer is “a trailer in which the axle, or axles are positioned behind the centre of gravity of the vehicle (when uniformly loaded)”, with a connecting device that transmits horizontal and vertical forces to the towing vehicle (Article 3(33)). Türkiye’s Road Traffic Law No. 2918 uses the term yarı römork; the word dorse occurs neither in that Law nor in the Road Transport Regulation (our search of both current texts on 8 October 2026). More in what is a semi truck.

Trailer, drawbar trailer and centre-axle trailer

Regulation (EU) 2018/858 defines a trailer as “any non-self-propelled vehicle on wheels designed and constructed to be towed by a motor vehicle” (Article 3(17)), whereas Directive 96/53/EC defines a trailer as a vehicle intended to be coupled to a motor vehicle “excluding semi-trailers” (Article 2). Annex I, Part C of the Regulation then separates the drawbar trailer (DB), the centre-axle trailer (DC) and the rigid drawbar trailer (DE) by their axles, the vertical load on the towing vehicle and the coupling. More in what is a semi truck.

Articulated vehicle and road train

Directive 96/53/EC defines a vehicle combination as either “a road train consisting of a motor vehicle coupled to a trailer” or “an articulated vehicle consisting of a motor vehicle coupled to a semi-trailer” (Article 2). The Glossary for transport statistics counts articulated vehicles with a further trailer attached as road trains. More in what is a semi truck.

Road tractor

The term has different meanings in different texts. In Annex I, Part C of Regulation (EU) 2018/858 the road tractor, code BD, is a towing vehicle designed and constructed “to tow trailers other than semi-trailers”; in UN R.E.3 (paragraph 1.8) a road tractor is designed, exclusively or primarily, “to haul other road vehicles which are not power-driven (mainly semi–trailers)”, and the Glossary for transport statistics uses the same words. More in what is a semi truck.

Link semi-trailer and converter dolly

Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2018/858 defines the link semi-trailer, code DF, as “A semi-trailer with a fifth wheel mounted at the rear such that the link semi-trailer could tow another semi-trailer”, and the converter dolly, code SJ, as “A vehicle of category O equipped with a fifth-wheel coupling to support a semi-trailer with a view to converting the latter into a trailer” (Part C, point 5.5; Part A, point 5.9). 49 CFR 390.5T provides that “A semitrailer equipped with an auxiliary front axle (converter dolly) shall be considered a full trailer”. More in what is a semi truck.

King pin and fifth wheel

In Annex I, Part C of Regulation (EU) 2018/858 the semi-trailer, code DA, is built to be coupled to a tractor unit or to a converter dolly, and “The coupling to be used for a vehicle combination shall consist of a king pin and a fifth wheel”; for the rigid drawbar trailer, code DE, the coupling “shall not consist of a king pin and a fifth wheel” (points 5.1 and 5.4). More in kingpin and fifth wheel.

Masses and weight classes

Maximum mass and maximum permissible mass

Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2018/858 states that “‘Maximum mass’ means the ‘technically permissible maximum laden mass’” (introductory part, point 1.4), the mass by which its vehicle categories are divided. Regulation (EC) No 561/2006, on driving times, breaks and rest periods, defines “maximum permissible mass” as “the maximum authorised operating mass of a vehicle when fully laden” (Article 4(m)). More in truck weights: GVW and GCW.

Gross vehicle weight rating and Class 8 (United States)

In US federal rules the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) is “the value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded weight of a single vehicle” (49 CFR 571.3). Table II of 49 CFR 565.15 groups the ratings into classes for the information submitted to NHTSA; its top class reads “Class 8—Greater than 14968 kg. (33,001 lbs. and over)”. More in GVWR, GCWR and GAWR.

HGV and LGV (Great Britain)

HGV stands for heavy goods vehicle on GOV.UK, and the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995 defines a heavy goods vehicle as a goods vehicle, or a vehicle combination including a goods vehicle, “that has a maximum laden weight exceeding 3.5 tonnes” (section 58(1)). LGV stands for large goods vehicle on the pages of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, and for light goods vehicle in the Department for Transport’s vehicle licensing statistics. Section 121 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 defines, for Part IV of the Act, a large goods vehicle as a motor vehicle, other than a medium-sized goods vehicle, “constructed or adapted to carry or to haul goods and the permissible maximum weight of which exceeds 7.5 tonnes”. More in what is an HGV.

Buses and coaches

Bus and coach

Directive 96/53/EC defines a bus as “a vehicle with more than nine seats including the driver’s seat, constructed and equipped to carry passengers and their luggage” (Article 2). The Glossary for transport statistics separates the bus, designed to carry more than 24 persons including the driver, seated and standing (classes I and II of R.E.3), from the motor coach, designed to seat 24 or more persons including the driver and “constructed exclusively for the carriage of seated passengers” (class III). More in bus classes.

Bus classes I, II, III, A and B

UN R.E.3 divides vehicles of categories M2 and M3 by capacity (paragraph 2.2.4). Above 22 passengers in addition to the driver, Class I is built with areas for standing passengers, Class II principally for seated passengers with limited standing space, and Class III “exclusively for the carriage of seated passengers”; up to 22, Class A is designed to carry standing passengers and Class B is not. More in bus classes.

Minibus and midibus

The Glossary for transport statistics defines the mini-bus as a passenger road motor vehicle “designed to carry 10-23 seated or standing persons (including the driver)”, referring to classes A and B of R.E.3. Türkiye’s Road Traffic Law No. 2918 calls an otobüs with not more than seventeen seats including the driver a minibüs (Article 3); the word midibüs occurs neither in that Law nor in the Road Transport Regulation (our search of both current texts on 8 October 2026). More in vehicle categories M, N and O.

Cabs, axles and bodies

Day cab and sleeper cab

Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 on CO2 emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles defines a sleeper cab as “a type of cab that has a compartment behind the driver’s seat intended to be used for sleeping” and a day cab as “a type of cab that is not a sleeper cab”; the cab type is one of the criteria by which the Regulation defines the vehicle sub-groups of heavy-duty vehicles of category N (Annex I, point 1.1.1). More in truck cabs.

Axle configuration

Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2400 sorts heavy lorries into vehicle groups by axle configuration, such as 4 × 2, 6 × 2, 6 × 4 and 8 × 4, chassis configuration and technically permissible maximum laden mass (Annex I, Table 1). A hydraulically driven axle is treated as a non-drivable one and is not taken into consideration for establishing the axle configuration (Annex III, point 5). More in axle configurations.

Box, curtain-sided, conditioned, tipper and low floor bodies

Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2018/858 supplements the bodywork codes, where necessary, with two digits for the kind of body (Part C, point 1.4). Its Appendix 2 lists, among others, the box body, the conditioned body “with insulated walls and equipment to maintain the interior temperature”, the curtain-sided body, the tipper, the tank and the low floor trailer. More in trailer types.

Swap body

The Glossary for transport statistics defines a swap body as “A freight-carrying unit optimised to road vehicle dimensions and fitted with handling devices for transfer between modes, usually road/rail”; the main feature that distinguishes it from a container is its sizing to road vehicles, and some swap bodies “are equipped with folding legs on which the unit stands when not on the vehicle”. More in swap bodies.

Intermodal, multimodal and combined transport

The Glossary for transport statistics defines intermodal freight transport as “Multimodal transport of goods, in one and the same intermodal transport unit by successive modes of transport without handling of the goods themselves when changing modes”, and multimodal freight transport as “Transport of goods by at least two different modes of transport”. Directive 92/106/EEC defines combined transport as transport of goods between Member States in which a lorry, trailer, semi-trailer, swap body or container of the kinds it lists “uses the road on the initial or final leg of the journey and, on the other leg, rail or inland waterway or maritime services”, under the distance conditions of its Article 1. More in combined and intermodal transport and swap bodies.

Conditioned vehicle and ATP

Directive 96/53/EC defines a conditioned vehicle as one whose superstructures “are specially equipped for the carriage of goods at controlled temperatures and whose side walls, inclusive of insulation, are each at least 45 mm thick” (Article 2). ATP is the Agreement on the International Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs and on the Special Equipment to be used for such Carriage, done at Geneva on 1 September 1970 (UN Treaty Collection). More in ATP and refrigerated transport.

Drivers and dangerous goods

Driving time, break and rest

Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 defines a break as “any period during which a driver may not carry out any driving or any other work and which is used exclusively for recuperation”, rest as “any uninterrupted period during which a driver may freely dispose of his time”, and driving time as “the duration of driving activity recorded” by the recording equipment or manually (Article 4(d), (f) and (j)). More in driving time and rest rules.

Tachograph and driver card

Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 defines the tachograph as “the equipment intended for installation in road vehicles to display, record, print, store and output automatically or semi-automatically details of the movement, including the speed, of such vehicles” and details of certain periods of activity of their drivers (Article 2(2)(a)), and the driver card as “a tachograph card, issued by the authorities of a Member State to a particular driver, which identifies the driver and allows for the storage of driver activity data” (Article 2(2)(f)). More in digital tachograph and driver card.

Driver CPC and code 95

Directive (EU) 2022/2561 makes the driving of vehicles that need a licence of category C1, C1 + E, C, C + E, D1, D1 + E, D or D + E, by the drivers within its scope, subject to “a compulsory initial qualification and compulsory periodic training” (Articles 1 and 3(1)), certified by a certificate of professional competence, the CPC (recital 13). On the basis of the CPC, the competent authorities of the Member States mark the harmonised Union code “95” alongside the corresponding licence categories, on the driving licence or on the driver qualification card (Article 10(1)). More in driver CPC.

ADR

The UN Treaty Collection lists the Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR), done at Geneva on 30 September 1957, and records the adoption of a Protocol amending its title. Directive 2008/68/EC, which applies to the transport of dangerous goods by road, rail or inland waterway within or between Member States, defines ADR as “the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road, concluded at Geneva on 30 September 1957, as amended” (Articles 1(1) and 2(1)). More in the ADR driver training certificate.

Documents, customs and charges

CMR consignment note

The Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR), Geneva, 19 May 1956, applies to contracts for the carriage of goods by road in vehicles for reward when the place of taking over of the goods and the place designated for delivery are in two different countries, at least one of them a contracting country (Article 1(1)). “The contract of carriage shall be confirmed by the making out of a consignment note” (Article 4), and “The consignment note shall be made out in three original copies signed by the sender and by the carrier” (Article 5(1)). More in the CMR consignment note.

TIR carnet

Under the TIR Convention of 14 November 1975 a TIR transport is “the transport of goods from a Customs office of departure to a Customs office of destination under the procedure, called the TIR procedure, laid down in this Convention” (Article 1(a)); it must be guaranteed by authorised associations and “performed under cover of a TIR Carnet”, or carried out by the eTIR procedure (Article 3(b)). A TIR carnet “shall be valid for one journey only” (Article 17(2)). More in the TIR carnet.

External transit, T1 and NCTS

Under the Union Customs Code the external transit procedure allows non-Union goods to “be moved from one point to another within the customs territory of the Union” without import duty, other charges or, as long as they do not prohibit entry or exit, commercial policy measures (Article 226(1)). The Convention of 20 May 1987 calls the common transit procedure “the T1 procedure or the T2 procedure, as the case may be” (Article 2(1)), and the European Commission describes the New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) as “a trans-European digital customs system designed to streamline management and control of goods moving under Union and Common Transit procedures”. More in the T1 transit document and NCTS.

Toll, user charge and Eurovignette

Directive 1999/62/EC defines a toll as an amount payable for a vehicle “based on the distance travelled on a given infrastructure and on the type of the vehicle”, and a user charge as an amount whose payment “confers the right for a vehicle to use for a given period the infrastructures” referred to in its Article 7(1) and (2) (Article 2(7) and (16)); the word vignette does not occur in the Directive (our search of its consolidated text). The sales portal of the Eurovignette calls it “a road user charge” for heavy goods vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of at least 12 tonnes, required on 8 October 2026 in Luxembourg and Sweden. More in truck tolls in Europe and the Eurovignette.

CO2 emission class

Article 7ga of Directive 1999/62/EC requires Member States to vary infrastructure charges and user charges for heavy-duty vehicles and to establish CO2 emission classes 1 to 5: class 4 for low-emission heavy-duty vehicles, class 5 for zero-emission vehicles, classes 2 and 3 for vehicles whose CO2 emissions lie set margins below the emission reduction trajectory of their sub-group, and class 1 for all others. More in EU road tolls and CO2 classes.

Emissions and vehicle technology

Euro VI and Euro 7

Regulation (EC) No 595/2009 is the regulation “on type-approval of motor vehicles and engines with respect to emissions from heavy duty vehicles (Euro VI)”. Regulation (EU) 2024/1257 (Euro 7) applies to new types of vehicles of categories M2, M3, N2, N3, O3 and O4 from 29 May 2028 and to new vehicles of those categories from 29 May 2029 (Article 21), and repeals Regulation (EC) No 595/2009 with effect from 1 July 2031 (Article 20). More in Euro 6 and Euro 7.

Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and reagent

Commission Regulation (EU) No 582/2011, which implements the Euro VI Regulation, defines a deNOx system as “a selective catalytic reduction (hereinafter ‘SCR’) system, NOx adsorber, passive or active lean NOx catalyst or any other exhaust after-treatment system designed to reduce emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx)” (Article 2(6)). The Euro 7 Regulation defines a low-reagent driver warning system as one designed “to warn the user of the low level of the consumable reagent and to ensure the use of the reagent” (Article 3(70)). More in SCR and AdBlue.

VECTO

Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2400 has the Commission provide free of charge “a simulation tool”, which “shall be used for the purposes of determining CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of new vehicles” (Article 5(1) and (3)). A page of the Commission’s Directorate-General for Climate Action describes VECTO, the Vehicle Energy Consumption calculation TOol, as “the new simulation tool developed by the European Commission to determine CO2 emissions and fuel consumption from heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs)”. More in what is VECTO.

Endurance braking system and engine brake

UN Regulation No. 13 on braking defines an endurance braking system as “an additional braking system having the capability to provide and to maintain a braking effect over a long period of time without a significant reduction in performance”, which “may comprise a single device or a combination of several devices” (paragraphs 2.15 and 2.15.1). Among the kinds of brake it names the engine brake, “when the forces are derived from an artificial increase in the braking action, transmitted to the wheels, of the engine” (paragraph 2.6). More in retarders and engine braking.