The commercial trucks category can include 18-wheeler tractor trailers, tanker trucks, delivery vehicles, and other large freight trucks. Commercial trucks can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. Commercial trucks are often used to deliver products and freight for interstate commerce throughout the country, not just in intrastate driving.
That’s not to say that pick-ups and vans can’t also be commercial vehicles. But they can also simply be private vehicles. Pickups and vans also get into truck accidents in Georgia. According to the NHTSA, for example, pick-ups caused 235 deaths in crashes and vans caused 46. Light utility trucks were responsible for 217 fatalities in traffic accidents.
Any collision with pick-ups, light utility trucks, and vans may do more damage than a passenger car, but they are not likely to do as much damage as an 80,000 pound 18-wheeler. That is roughly 40 times as heavy as a small passenger car.
A major difference between any commercial vehicle and a pick-up or van driven for personal use is the licensing requirement and potential liability in an accident. Let’s discuss those.
