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Originally Posted by ZOOMiata
Slightly off topic but I am curious about the etymology of the tow vehicle. Here in Ontario (and maybe the rest of Canada) that's a "float" truck. Is "rollback" a regionalism? Or is "float"?
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Float is regional. Rollback is pretty common term in the US and picks up any type of truck that rolls cargo on/off from the rear with a tilt-function. Be that a tow truck, where the bed rolls back/down, and the car is pulled on, or something like a trash bin truck where the bin is a big box that is moved by rolling on/off the truck.
In this country, when you hear the term "float" for a truck, it's usually associated with a flatbed and more commonly heard in the south than other areas. By flatbed, I mean the type with a fixed bed, where you would back up to a loading dock or forklift the materials on/off. Not a commonly used term in the US.
angela