Multi-stop trucks are a type of light-duty and medium-duty truck created for local deliveries to residences and businesses. They are almost always forward-control vehicles, designed to be driven either sitting down or standing up, and often provide easy access between the driver and goods, hence the name "Walk-In Delivery" van. They are taller than full-size vans such as the Ford Econoline, Dodge A-Series

Dodge A100

The A100 line was a model range of American compact vans and trucks manufactured and marketed from 1964–1970 by Chrysler Corporation for the Dodge brand in the United States and the Fargo brand in Canada....

/B-Series

Dodge B-series van

The Dodge B-Series was a full-size van marketed under the Dodge brand by the Chrysler Corporation and later DaimlerChrysler...

/Ram Vans

Dodge Ram Van

The Dodge B-Series was a full-size van marketed under the Dodge brand by the Chrysler Corporation and later DaimlerChrysler...

, and Chevrolet G-Series vans, but can have wheelbases that are shorter than these models or longer.

Uses

Though commonly referred to as "bread trucks" and "bakery trucks," trucks like these are used for delivering many other goods and services. Many have also referred to them as "Step-Vans" despite the fact that this was a name only used by Chevrolet

Chevrolet

Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...

 (see below).

Another common group of users include electric power companies, both with and without cherry picker scoops. The ones with such devices tend to be half-cab vans. Occasionally they've been mounted with common truck bodies, such as bottlers

Bottling company

A bottling company is a commercial enterprise whose output is the bottling of beverages for distribution.Many bottling companies are franchisees of corporations such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo who distribute the beverage in a specific geographic region...

. In the 1980s Frito-Lay

Frito-Lay

Frito-Lay North America is the division of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets and sells corn chips, potato chips and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks, Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips,...

 bought fleets of Olsons that were redesigned to tow light commercial 5th-wheel Olson trailers. School and library systems frequently have used them for bookmobile

Bookmobile

A bookmobile or mobile library is a large vehicle designed for use as a library. It is designed to hold books on shelves so that when the vehicle is parked the books can be accessed by readers. It usually has enough space for people to sit and read books inside. Mobile libraries are often used to...

s, when bus bodies are not preferred.

Partially due to their size, they have also been used as large ambulances. Subsequently, fire departments have also used them for this purpose, as well as for utility vehicles, radio command centers, canteens, and other secondary work. Police S.W.A.T. teams

SWAT

A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...

 and other special units have used them as well. The opening theme from the 1975-76 police action TV series S.W.A.T.

S.W.A.T. (TV series)

----S.W.A.T. is a 1970s American television series about the adventures of the WCPD's Olympic Division Special Weapons And Tactics team operating in an unidentified California city....

 was noted for containing a large IHC Metro van.

Postal workers also use them in larger deliveries. Parcel companies such as UPS

United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service, Inc. , typically referred to by the acronym UPS, is a package delivery company. Headquartered in Sandy Springs, Georgia, United States, UPS delivers more than 15 million packages a day to 6.1 million customers in more than 220 countries and territories around the...

 and FedEx

FedEx

FedEx Corporation , originally known as FDX Corporation, is a logistics services company, based in the United States with headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee...

 have used them for decades. Since 1966, Grumman-Olson,and Southern, have made UPS trucks designed excusively for that company. Ice cream distributors such as Mister Softee

Mister Softee

Mister Softee is a United States-based ice cream truck franchisor popular in the Northeast. It was founded by William and James Conway in 1956 in Philadelphia. It is one of the largest franchisors of soft ice cream in the United States. It has about 350 franchisees operating 600 trucks in 15...

 and others have found these types of trucks to be far more suitable than cowl-and-chassis-based pickup trucks. Many have been converted into "Jitney" buses. Some are converted into motor homes either by manufacturers or private citizens who buy used models.

Manufacturers

• Divco
  Divco
  Divco was a brand name of delivery trucks in the United States. Divco is an acronym which stands for Detroit Industrial Vehicles COmpany. Founded in 1926, Divco was well-known for its pioneering delivery vehicles, especially the home delivery milk trucks. From 1926 until 1986, Divco produced...
  
  was making vehicles such as these from its inception. By the late 1930s they gained short curved hoods and separated fenders resembling the Chrysler Airflow doghouse. This design made them well known and remained virtually unchanged until 1986. By 1957, when the company bought Wayne Works they began manufacturing larger versions of these vans which did not contain typical 1930's design cues. A later version called the Dividend had a front resembling other walk-in vans which cut several inches off the length of the front portion of the truck. Some Dividends were fitted out as mini-buses with Wayne bus parts.

• Chevrolet
  Chevrolet
  Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
  
   Step-Van and its twin GMC Value Van, were successors to the shared "Dubl-Duti" delivery vans. They had classifications as light as 1/2 ton trucks, and as heavy as 2 ton trucks. They've also offered stripped-chassis versions which can be used for made-to-order bodies. Some later models were available with the Step Van/Value Van cab and Olson after-body. Motor Homes were built around Step-Vans & Value Vans; the GMC Motor Home (which was built between 1973 and 1978) was not related.

• International Harvester Metro Van
  International Harvester Metro Van
  The International Harvester Metro Van was a Step van, also known as walk-in or multi-stop delivery trucks. These vehicles were usually forward-control trucks once commonly used as milk and bakery delivery trucks...
  
  was originally based on the 1937-40 D-Series trucks. One of the first models built was sold to the Czechoslovakia
  Czechoslovakia
  Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
  
  n Army and destroyed by the Nazis during World War II
  World War II
  World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
  
  . In the 1950s, they began producing variations such as the "Metro-Lite," "Metro-Mite," and "Metro-Multi-Stop" vans. By 1972, all IHC Metro Vans were stripped-chassis that other manufacturers could build on, and after 1975, they were discontinued along with all other light-duty trucks except for the Scout
  International Harvester Scout
  Scout 80s were built between 1960 and 1965. These models were identifiable by removable sliding side windows in 1960–1961 and even some very early 1962 models, a fold-down windshield, vacuum windshield wipers mounted to the top of the windshield and an IH logo in the center of the grille...
  
  , which was last made in 1980.

• Ford Vanette was made between 1948 and 1965. It succeeded the Walk-In versions of the Ford F-Series
  Ford F-Series
  The F-Series is a series of full-size pickup trucks from Ford Motor Company which has been sold continuously for over six decades. The most popular variant of the F-Series is the F-150...
  
   trucks, and had the same grilles of the Ford F-Series from 1951-1955. After 1956, it retained the 1955 grilles until the model was discontinued and replaced with the Ford P-Series chassis. These models were stripped-chassis that could be fitted with made-to-order bodies, and often contained red crests on the grilles reading "Chassis By FORD."

• The Dodge
  Dodge
  Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....
  
   Route-Van was made between 1948 and 1951. It was succeeded by the Dodge Door-to-Door Delivery Van, and was itself replaced with the Dodge P-Series, which like the Ford P-Series were stripped-chassis that could be fitted with made-to-order bodies. Chrysler manufactured these models until 1979.

• Willys
  Willys
  Willys was the brand name used by Willys-Overland Motors, an American automobile company best known for its design and production of military Jeeps and civilian versions during the 20th century.-Early History:In 1908, John Willys bought the Overland Automotive Division of Standard Wheel Company...
  
   produced the Walk-In Willys Van from 1941 to 1942, which were based on the 441 trucks. After World War Two, most of Willys' truck manufacturing was concentrated on Jeep
  Jeep
  Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
  
  s, although Jeep did offer walk-in delivery type bodies for some of its pickups. Under ownership by Kaiser
  Kaiser Jeep
  Kaiser Jeep was the result of the merger between the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation, an independent automaker based in Willow Run, Michigan, and the Toledo, Ohio-based Willys-Overland Company....
  
  , Jeep built the FJ-3, FJ-3A, and FJ-6 delivery vans, and in 1975 AM General
  AM General
  AM General is an American heavy vehicle manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. It is best known for the civilian Hummer and the military Humvee, that is assembled in Mishawaka, Indiana...
  
   built the Jeep FJ-9. Jeep also supplied chassis for bodies made by Highway Products and other manufacturers.

• Studebaker
  Studebaker
  Studebaker Corporation was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers, miners, and the...
  
  had walk-in delivery vans. In 1963 they added ZIP vans, which existed until the company collapsed in 1966.

• White Motor Company
  White Motor Company
  White Motor Company was an American automobile and truck manufacturer from 1900 until 1980. The company also produced bicycles, roller skates, automatic lathes, and sewing machines. Before World War II, the company was based in Cleveland, Ohio.-History:...
  
   originally built the White Horse from 1939 to 1942. Later, they built the White PDQ Delivery van between 1960 and 1966.

As of today, most manufacturers of these types of vehicles build them on existing chassis made by General Motors

General Motors

General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...

, Ford and Freightliner Trucks

Freightliner Trucks

Freightliner Trucks is an American manufacturer of heavy duty trucks, chassis and semi-trailer trucks in the United States. The company was founded as Freightliner Inc in 1942 and is now a division of Daimler Trucks North America, a subsidiary of the German Daimler AG...

. These include such companies as Utilimaster and Morgan Olson

Morgan Olson

Morgan Olson is a leading producer of aluminum walk-in vans. Morgan Olson was founded in 1946 on Long Island, New York, by Jimmy Olson, and is currently located in Sturgis, Michigan...

 (a company once owned by Grumman). Boyertown has built this type, referring to them as "Step Vans".