Am i missing something obvious in why 7.5 tonne lorries are called puddle jumpers.I have refered to them in this way myself but i honestly can’t work out the term puddle jumper.
Because, like kids, they jump from one puddle to the next.
Because they only carry enough fuel to travel from one puddle to another.
Because their wheels are so small they have to jump over puddles as they are incapable of driving through them.
And what the poster above mentioned.
That’s my understanding of the term anyway! 
It’s all to do with vehicle size! A Luton van is considered a puddle jumper to 7.5t class 2 and class 1
A 7.5tonner is considered a puddle Jumper to Class 2 and class 1
Class 2 is considered a puddle jumper to class 1 
It is an aviation term that has crossed over to trucking.
Pliots flying in and out of flooded runways that are made of dirt are filled with puddles in the rainy season in Africa.
The pilot has to jump the plane over puddles or risk ingesting water and debris in the engines which will cause failure.
He will boost the throttle to lift the nose up and down to miss the puddles.
Many pilots of heavy aircraft miss this hands on fun flying compared to a boring flight on auto pilot.
I thought they were called Chicken chasers 
OTS:
I thought they were called Chicken chasers
At my school a chicken chaser was a motorbike with pedals 
the guys at the tippers call 7.5 tonka toys. I know small engine cars as puddle jumpers, so I’m 100% sure it’s just a reference to them being smaller.
7:5 tonners were christened puddle jumpers in the late 70’s early 80’s because their wheels aren’t big enough to go through puddles they have to jump them.
Anything on bigger wheels which requires an HGV licence to drive was never reffered to as a puddle jumper (proffesional respect).
The 7.5 at my work scares me, feels like its going to tip over on every corner 
toby1234abc:
It is an aviation term that has crossed over to trucking.
Pliots flying in and out of flooded runways that are made of dirt are filled with puddles in the rainy season in Africa.
The pilot has to jump the plane over puddles or risk ingesting water and debris in the engines which will cause failure.
He will boost the throttle to lift the nose up and down to miss the puddles.
Many pilots of heavy aircraft miss this hands on fun flying compared to a boring flight on auto pilot.
Hey toby I left school in 1956 and started in a local garage and some of the older cars were referred to as puddle jumpers. there was also a local fleet of buses which were well past their best (no vosa in them days) and they too were puddle jumpers so this just proves its an old saying that’s been around for a long time.
Eddie.
In the early 70’s Puddle Jumper were tractor unit’s with small engines IE. Commer with Perkins engine trying to do big boys work, under load the cab would jump about under the strain and jump puddles so to speak.
Danny_b:
the guys at the tippers call 7.5 tonka toys. I know small engine cars as puddle jumpers, so I’m 100% sure it’s just a reference to them being smaller.
I call tipper lorries ‘glorified wheelbarrows’…well i did last week when i moved over into lane 2, as did a DHL artic in front of me, so a tipper could join from the slip road and surprise surprise he didn’t back off but crept up on our inside for the next two mile until we could move back into lane 1.
My memory, such as it is, is that the original “puddle jumpers” were the reliant robin. Jeremy Clarkson had fun with one in top gear, I’m sure footage can be found on youtw@t, for the education of younger posters