4 Differences Between Light and Medium-Duty Trucks

If you don’t know very much about trucks, they might all look huge to you. Once you start learning a little more about them, though, you will realize there are light trucks, medium-duty ones, and largest-in-class varieties. Those in the truck manufacturing industry usually call this third variety super-duty trucks.

In this article, though, you’re going to be talking about a particular kind of truck, the tow truck. You have doubtless seen these vehicles on the road many times on their way to crash sites or to tow stalled vehicles away. You may have seen International Durastars or one of the other popular truck varieties.

Let’s dive into what the difference is between a light and medium-duty tow truck. It’s helpful to know these differences before you call for a tow truck since that way, you can request that the company send the proper kind to help you.

The Size

This sounds ridiculously simplistic, but it’s still worth mentioning. Light-duty tow trucks are smaller than medium-duty ones.

If you look at a medium-duty tow truck next to a light-duty one, you can immediately see that the medium-duty truck is considerably larger. Unsurprisingly, though, both are smaller than the heavy-duty tow trucks that are only called into action when you have a huge stalled vehicle in the roadway or one that has been damaged by an accident.

The Power

If you look at how much horsepower a medium-duty tow truck has, you will also consistently see that they have more towing power than a light-duty one. This comes into play if the towing company needs to haul a small vehicle off of the road vs. a medium-sized one.

As you might expect, a medium-duty tow truck is usually sufficient for hauling a medium-sized disabled vehicle. A light-duty one can often handle a smaller disabled vehicle.

Medium-Duty Trucks Usually Handle Commercial Vehicles

If you see an accident blocking a roadway and it involves a commercial vehicle, like a tour bus or a disabled delivery van, you can be sure that the towing company will want to send a medium-duty truck to move it out of the way. A light-duty truck will not be sufficient.

It’s a safe bet when you’re looking at a disabled commercial vehicle that at least a medium-duty tow truck will be needed to move it. A heavy-duty truck might even be necessary for larger commercial vehicles, like eighteen-wheelers.

Light-Duty Tow Trucks Have More Maneuverability

Light-duty tow trucks may not be able to handle such heavy loads, but they have some particular abilities that medium-duty ones do not. Because they’re smaller, light-duty tow trucks can sometimes sneak around debris in the roadway following particularly destructive car crashes.

If you see a major pile-up on the highway with metal debris scattered around, a smaller, light-duty tow truck may be able to creep around it to get to a small vehicle. A larger version would not be able to do that.

Now, you know how light and medium-duty tow trucks differ.