One of the most widely valued and certainly most-used vehicles in the construction industry is the dump truck. When one thinks of a construction job site, they almost assuredly think of giant dump trucks going to and fro with their loads. But, most people are probably unaware of the modest history of the dump truck in Austin, TX. Here is a brief breakdown of its beginnings.
Most historians consider the first dump truck to pre-date the internal combustion engine. While this may seem odd, they actually consider the horse-drawn carriage to be the ancestor to the modern dump truck. This is because when the cart was unlatched from the horses, it would automatically tip back, discharging its load, just as the owner intended. This is the exact reason modern dump trucks are so popular. They are great at getting rid of their load wherever they need to.
Once the internal combustion engine was invented, it was just a short time before engineers saw the possibility for so much more. They invented a lifter that surpassed the flatbed that was previously being used. However, the very first tippers were actually operated manually. They relied on a rope and pulley system to lift the bed of the truck, thus allowing the cargo to be eliminated.
Once hydraulic systems were invented, the birth of the modern dump truck in Austin, TX was on the horizon. Engineers quickly realized they could save both time and manpower by using the hydraulics to lift the load. The weight the truck held could also be exponentially increased as well, as it was no longer being done manually.
While the design of the motorized dump truck has changed throughout the years, its basic idea and purpose have changed little. Some of the best representations of modern dump trucks can be found at Loftin Trucking & Materials LLC. In fact, companies such as these use their dump trucks to hauls tons of stone and other landscaping material at a time, something that would have been impossible to do in the early days of the dump truck. They have certainly come a long way.
