A steam wagon is a steam-powered truck for carrying freight. It was the earliest form of lorry (truck) and came in two basic forms: overtype and undertype, the distinction being the position of the engine relative to the boiler. Manufacturers tended to concentrate on one form or the other.
Foden C type steam wagon of 1929 overtype steam lorry
Preserved 1930 built "Super Sentinel" undertype steam lorry
Alley & MacLellan wheel with wooden felloes around a cast steel centre, as used on their Sentinel waggons
Early Thornycroft Steam wagon, above and below
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction, with a cabin that is independent of the payload portion of the vehicle. Smaller varieties may be mechanically similar to some automobiles. Commercial trucks can be very large and powerful and may be configured to be mounted with specialized equipment, such as in the case of refuse trucks, fire trucks, concrete mixers, and suction excavators. In American English, a commercial vehicle without a trailer or other articulation is formally a "straight truck" while one designed specifically to pull a trailer is not a truck but a "tractor".
Freightliner M2 dump truck
Sentinel steam wagon
Daimler Motor-Lastwagen from 1898
Foden diesel truck from 1931