Ok, I know this is a really dumb question, but I honestly don't know the answer.
I often hear guys talking about a half-ton truck, or a 1 ton truck, or even a 2.5 ton truck. But obviously, when they talk about a 1-ton truck, their vehicle weighs more than 1000 lbs, and I somewhat doubt that the truck I saw called a "2.5 ton" weighed 5000 lbs.
So what does this expression mean? When people call something an "x" ton truck, what is it that really weighs that much? The payload capacity?