A combination bus, also called a truck bus or shift bus, is a purpose-built

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

with a "passenger container" fulfilling the role of a

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

. Such vehicles used to be common in

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed Industrial sector, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is al ...

. Alternative combination buses can be a passenger/cargo module/container mounted on a truck chassis, or a bus with a large open or closed in cargo area known as a bruck. BCA truck bus 9

Truck buses have been mainly used by the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distin ...

, the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest a ...

anti-riot units,

public utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and ...

, as school buses, and by state owned companies on short routes for employees.

Construction

Combination buses are built by installing a complete box body equipped for transporting people onto a truck chassis. The body is independent and separate from the driver. There is usually no passage between the cab and box body but there is usually an

intercom An intercom, also called an intercommunication device, intercommunicator, or interphone, is a stand-alone voice communications system for use within a building or small collection of buildings which functions independently of the public telepho ...

system. The body is equipped with windows, a separate internal lighting and heating and/or air conditioning systems. Related bodies are different types of mobile workshops or specialized military superstructure. Passenger comfort is generally minimal. Some companies such as

Ha'argaz Ha'argaz is an Israeli cooperative founded in Tel Aviv in 1932. It is one of Israel's oldest industrial companies. History Ha'argaz was founded on August 18, 1932, as a cooperative that produced crates for the citrus industry. The first factory o ...

manufacture combination buses by installing a partial bus body on an all-wheel-drive truck chassis.

Usage

Due to the minimum of comfort provided by the combination bus, they are suitable for transport over short distances only. Specifically, the distribution of workers in large workplaces under the open sky such as a large construction site, agricultural labor, quarries or surface mines. Often these vehicles built on off-road vehicle chassis. These vehicles are also used as police intervention units,

commando 40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations forc ...

s and anti-terrorism units. Such shift buses are the most popular mode of transport in the field of oil mining. They allow you to leave quite far from populated areas, while it is relatively comfortable to transport the entire workforce with the possibility of spending the night. In some such trucks, sleeping places are provided, since the work shift can last up to a week, while this can happen in the conditions of a polar night with frost up to -50 degrees Celsius (-58 Fahrenheit). Powerful heating and insulation are installed in the salons.

Gallery

File:Interpolitex 2010 (334-35).jpg,

Russian Police The Police of Russia () is the national law-enforcement agency in Russia, operating under the Ministry of Internal Affairs from . It was established by decree from Peter the Great and in 2011, replacing the Militsiya, the former police service ...

Ural-572060 also known as VM-4320 File:Cikupa-20111121-00147 manhauler bus.jpg, Cikupa manhauler File:Star 200 buda (1).JPG, Star 200 truck with passengers bodywork for the

Milicja ''Militsiya'' ( rus, милиция, , mʲɪˈlʲitsɨjə) was the name of the police forces in the Soviet Union (until 1991) and in several Eastern Bloc countries (1945–1992), as well as in the Non-Aligned Movement, non-aligned Socialist Fe ...

in Poland. File:Tiyulit0769.JPG, Modern Tiyulit (Hebrew for "trip truck") in Israel used for transporting IDF soldiers in open non-paved terrain. File:KamAZ-44108-based off-road bus in Krasnoyarsk Krai.jpg,

NefAZ Neftekamsk Automotive Plant (''NEFAZ'', russian: Нефтекамский автозавод) is a Russian manufacturer of buses and machinery on KamAZ chassis located in Neftekamsk in Bashkortostan. History 17 December 1970 the Council of Min ...

-4208/4951 shift bus based on a KamAZ-44108. File:Thai-Songthaew.JPG, Medium-sized Hino

Songthaew A songthaew ( th, สองแถว, , two rows, , ; lo, ສອງແຖວ, ; ms, dua baris) is a passenger vehicle in Thailand and Laos adapted from a pick-up or a larger truck and used as a share taxi or bus. Overview The songthaew tak ...

(truck bus) as seen in

Sakon Nakhon Sakon Nakhon ( th, สกลนคร, ; sometimes written Sakhon Nakhon) is a city (thesaban nakhon) in Thailand within the Isan region, and capital city of Sakon Nakhon Province as well as Mueang Sakon Nakhon District, with a population of ap ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. File:Ural-375D-based bus in Tajikistan.jpg,

Ural-375D The Ural-375 is a general purpose 4.5 ton 6×6 truck, which has been produced at the Ural Automotive Plant in the Russian SFSR since 1961. The Ural-375 replaced the ZIL-157 as the standard Soviet Army truck in 1979. It was itself replaced by the ...

'truckbus' in

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

. File:Camioneta-Bus Santiago de Cuba 2013.JPG,

GMC New Design The Advance-Design is a light and medium duty truck series by Chevrolet, their first major redesign after WWII. Its GMC counterpart was the GMC New Design. It was billed as a larger, stronger, and sleeker design in comparison to the earlier A ...

truckbus File:BCA truck bus 21.jpg,

Opel Blitz Opel Blitz (''Blitz'' being German for "lightning") was the name given to various light and middle-weight trucks built by the German Opel automobile manufacturer between 1930 and 1975. The original logo for this truck, two stripes arranged loose ...

combination bus File:Котлас, район Лименда (02).JPG, GAZ combination bus File:Songthaew Isuzu 8221 8221-7.jpg, Medium-sized Isuzu

(truck bus) as seen in

Samut Sakhon Samut Sakhon ( th, สมุทรสาคร, Pronunciation is a City in Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Ind ...

. File:Arctic bus Ural-425702 during the "Armiya 2022" exhibition (front view).jpg , Arctic bus during the " Armiya 2022" exhibition.

References

{{buses Buses by type Trucks

Construction

Usage

Gallery

See also

References