Horse and cart (England, 2013)Dockworkers and hand cart (Haiti, 2006)
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand[1]) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs.
The word cart is often used interchangeably with trolley (especially in the UK) and wagon (especially in the US).[2]:47,268,308 Over time, the word "cart" has expanded to mean nearly any small conveyance without regard to number of wheels, load carried, or means of propulsion. The word car has often been modified to cart through colloquialization. For example, several small sport and hobby cars carry "cart" in their name such as pedal carts (manually pedaled), soap-box carts (gravity run), and go-carts (gas engine). Similarly, golf cars are more commonly known as golf carts.[3]
The history of the cart is closely tied to the invention of the wheel. Pre-dating the wheel there were dragged devices like sledges and travois. The earliest known wheels date back to around 3400 to 3000 BC. The combination of the wheel and axle enabled the development of early wheeled vehicles which transformed human mobility and trade. The earliest wheeled vehicles had four-wheels (wagons), however two-wheeled vehicles (carts) required about 40% less pulling force than a four-wheeled vehicle of the same weight and were more maneuverable.[4][5][6]:65-66
With the domestication of animals such as oxen and horses, carts became central to ancient economies. Animal‑drawn carts and wagons were widely used across civilizations for farming, trade, and migration. Their evolution—from solid wooden wheels to lighter spoked designs—marked a major technological advance, improving efficiency and enabling long‑distance transport.[7][6]
Small human pushed or pulled conveyances commonly called carts can have any number of wheels (not limited to two). The term handcart can mean any of numerous small conveyances.[9]
Hand truck: A two-wheeled upright handcart for moving boxes, sacks, large appliances and other loads
Baggage cart: for travelers to carry luggage in places like airports and train stations
Shopping cart: a wheeled basket supplied by a store for use by customers inside the premises as they move around selecting items prior to paying for those goods
Serving cart: for transporting prepared food for serving to customers such as in a restaurant or airplanes; may be named for what it carries, such as tea cart for tea service, or pastry cart for offering desserts at a restaurant
Larger carts may be drawn by animals, such as horses, mules, and oxen. They have been in continuous use since the invention of the wheel, in the 4th millennium BC. Carts may be named for the animal that pulls them, such as horsecart or oxcart. In modern times, horsecarts are used in draft horse showing competitions. A dogcart, however, is usually a cart designed to carry hunting dogs: an open cart with two cross-seats back to back; the dogs could be penned between the rear-facing seat and the back end.
The term "cart" (synonymous in this sense with chair) is also used for various kinds of lightweight, two-wheeled carriages, some of them sprung carts (or spring carts), especially those used as open pleasure or sporting vehicles. They could be drawn by a horse or pony—and if small enough, a dog. Examples include:
Cocking cart: short-bodied, high, two-wheeled, seat for a groom behind the box; for tandem driving[10]:53[11]
Dogcart: light, usually one horse, commonly two-wheeled and high, two transverse seats set back to back[10]:66
Float: a dropped axle to give an especially low load bed, for carrying heavy or unstable items such as milk churns. The name survives today as a milkfloat.[10]:79
Governess cart: light, two-wheeled, entered from the rear, body partly or wholly of wickerwork, seat for two persons along each side; also called governess car, tub-cart[10]:88
Ralli car: a two-wheeled vehicle for two persons facing forward, or four back to back.[10]:139
Stolkjaerre: two-wheeled, front seat for two, rear seat for the driver; used in Norway[10]:155
Whitechapel cart: spring cart, light, two-wheeled, especially for family or light delivery service[10]:173[12][13]
The builder of a cart may be known as a cartwright. A person operating a horse and cart for haulage was called a carter,[14] and the surname "Carter" derives from the occupation.
Carts have many different shapes, but the basic idea of transporting material (or maintaining a collection of materials in a portable fashion) remains. Carts may have a pair of shafts, one along each side of the draught animal that supports the forward-balanced load in the cart. The shafts are supported by a saddle on the horse. Alternatively (and normally where the animals are oxen or buffalo), the cart may have a single pole between a pair of animals. The draught traces attach to the axle of the vehicle or to the shafts. The traces are attached to a collar (on horses), to a yoke (on other heavy draught animals) or to a harness on dogs or other light animals.
Traces are made from a range of materials depending on the load and frequency of use. Heavy draught traces are made from iron or steel chain. Lighter traces are often leather and sometimes hemp rope, but plaited horse-hair and other similar decorative materials can be used.
The dray is often associated with the transport of barrels.[10]:68
12Anthony, David W. (2007). The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World. Princeton University Press. ISBN9780691058870. OL11182657M.
↑Piggott, Stuart (1983). The Earliest Wheeled Transport. Thames and Hudson. ISBN9780801416040.
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