Once trucks and vans were simply considered work or delivery vehicles. All that has changed. Today, trucks are used for work, play, and even come luxury models. The van, reinvented in the 80's in the form of the mini-van, is the modern family vehicle, replacing the station wagon as the standard family runabout. Both vehicles have shaken off their humble, utilitarian beginnings to become two of the most popular vehicles on the road today.

Trucks range from the giant over the road diesels, down to the small Japanese pickup trucks introduced in the 1970's. Commercial trucks are still mostly utilitarian vehicles designed for specific work task and high mileage. Pickup trucks are now both work and normal transportation vehicles for many people worldwide. Models range from small pickups like the Ford Ranger or Chevrolet S-10; to mid range trucks like the popular Ford 150, up to the large one and a half-ton class.

The passenger offshoot of the truck is the Sports Utility Vehicle, or the SUV. The popular vehicles are available in 2 wheel drive (front or rear drive depending on model) and 4 wheel drive. Based on a truck chassis, these vehicles usually stand higher off the road than standard cars or min-vans, and offer a stiffer ride.

The original vans were commercial vehicles for transporting goods or groups of people. It is usually a rather box-shaped vehicle on four wheels, around the same length and width as a large car, except taller and usually higher off the ground. Vans started changing in the 1950's with the VW Van that started moving the van into the passenger vehicle market. These were followed by the van conversions of the 70's. and the introduction of the mini van in the 1980's. Minivans blasted into the market almost simultaneously by Chrysler in 1983 and by Renault in 1984. Though these two mini-vans were developed almost entirely separately, they each trace their roots back to the same point, a minivan design originally conceived in the late-1970's by Chrysler UK.

The Mini-van has a body that resembles a van, but which has rear side doors, rear side windows, and interior fittings to accommodate passengers similar to a station wagon. Minivans are higher than normal sedans, compacts and station wagons, and are designed for maximum interior room. The minivans were targeted for families living in the suburbs. This vehicle was a cross between the station wagon and the conversion vans that people had customize for passenger travel. It came at a time when families wanted a different vehicle that didn't have the stigma of the station wagon of their parents era, and demanded better fuel economy than that of the previously popular V-8-powered station wagons/conversion vans.

It will be interesting to see how trucks and van continue to change and evolve in the future.