A Brief Description of Bucket Trucks

You must have already seen a man lifted in a high bucket working on telephone posts. The bucket rests on the end of a long, “robotic” arm, which is then connected to a truck. The arm is controlled by an operator at its base, who move different sets of joysticks to guide the arm.

That truck is called an aerial lift truck, also known as a “bucket” truck (because of the characteristic bucket). Bucket trucks are vehicles designed to lift workers up, to reach previously hard-to-reach places. And while jobs requiring this function vary, so do the trucks. 

They do different types of actions for lifting, and each is built to do specific tasks, such as repairing electrical or telephone lines, cutting down trees, or even picking fruits. The characteristic arm-and-bucket mechanism works by using hydraulics. 

 

Bucket trucks are indispensable equipment. Almost every modern amenity we have – telephone, internet, cable TV, and electricity lines – were installed using bucket trucks. Can you imagine climbing a ladder 65 feet high? You can’t, and neither do those cable guys. It allows for top-notch service efficiency, while also protecting technicians from the hazards involved in their work. 

 

So next time you see a guy high up on a bucket working on cables, you’ll probably have a better sense of what they do. Imagine if bucket trucks weren’t around to help them get the job done, the world would practically be stuck—what seems to be from this perspective now—in the Stone Age.