Commercial Vehicles

Work vehicles range from vans to pickup trucks to specialty trucks that you can customize in countless different ways. Vans include cargo vans and passenger vans in several different configurations. There are city vans like the Ford Transit Connect, the Ram ProMaster City and the Nissan NV200 that are perfect for urban transportation if you don't need a ton of space or towing power. For more room and more muscle, you can upgrade to a full-size van like a Ford Transit, a Chevrolet Express or a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter.

Work trucks range from the midsize Chevy Colorado and the Ford Ranger to full-size pickups like the Chevrolet Silverado, the Ram 1500 and the Ford F-Series. For really heavy lifting, you can get into the heavy-duty (HD) pickups with more towing and payload capacity like the Ford Super Duty line and the HD variants of the Silverado and the Ram.

If you need a special custom truck rather than just a pickup, Ford, Ram, Chevrolet and GMC all offer chassis cab and cutaway versions of their trucks and vans, allowing you to upfit whatever you'd like on the ladder frame on the back. The difference between a chassis cab and a cutaway is that a cutaway is a van with a hole in the back of the cab like an ambulance and a chassis cab is a truck with an enclosed cab like a dump truck.

Pros: The biggest pro of any commercial vehicle is that you can get one specifically for what you need it for. For example, when you're ordering a commercial van, you have lots of choices for things like roof height and wheelbase to ensure that it's perfect for your business. The same is true for cutaway vans and chassis cab trucks where you can pick the perfect upfit that works for your business.

Since they're purpose-built work vehicles, commercial vehicles are often pretty affordable. For example, the commercial versions of the Ford Transit and the Transit Connect have lower starting prices than their non-commercial counterparts.

Cons: A downside to commercial vehicles being made for work is that they're usually light on frills and creature comforts. A lot of commercial trucks and vans have rubber floors and vinyl seats since they're made for work more than for comfort. However, there are several exceptions like the Ford Super Duty Limited and the GMC Sierra HD Denali, which are surprisingly luxurious for being work trucks. But those luxuries come with steep price tags.