What exactly is a tonneau? Well a tonneau also known as a truck bed cover is exactly that, a cover that goes over a truck bed. There are many different types of tonneau covers on the market today. Some are made of vinyl that look like leather but hold up fairly well under different weather conditions as well as the ultra violet rays of the sun. Some tonneau covers are made of plastic, fiberglass and aluminum. Many of the soft vinyl covers have aluminum frames and aluminum bows which give the covers a slight arch for strength against snow load and also allow water to run off. Some tonneau covers close up along the edges with snaps and others close up with rugged velcro tape. There are truck bed covers that open on hinges. Just lift up from the back of the pickup truck much like a trunk cover. These are known as a hinged tonneau. Several manufacturers make such a soft cover such as Extang with there fulltilt tonneau and Lund Genesis with there hinged tonneau. Tonneau Masters make a hinged tonneau they call the hinged slantside. Gaylords make a couple model hinged tonneau covers made of fiberglass, called the traditional and the x2000. Both of these models are available with an optional speedsturr wing. One other hinged tonneau I should mention is the UnderCover hinged tonneau made of an ABS plastic. We’ve touched on soft tonneau covers made of vinyl that close with snaps or Velcro and hinged tonneau covers that are soft vinyl, hard plastic and fiberglass. There are also tonneau covers that fold up giving you quick and easy access to your truck bed. Bak Industries make a hard folding cover made of a plastic like material called the BakFlip. Lund Genesis make a soft tonneau that fold they call the tri-fold and Extang makes a soft folding truck bed cover called the Trifecta. Reds Beds also make a folding lid made of diamond tread plate. The Reds Beds aluminum tonneau comes in polished aluminum or painted. They even have 2 tool box editions, one that comes with a tool box and one that you need your own tool box. There is yet another type tonneau cover called a retractable tonneau or also called a roll back tonneau that retracts into a canister up in the front of the truck bed under the rear window of the cab. There are a few manufacturers of this type of tonneau cover with Pace Edwards offering the most different models. They have the Roll Top, the JackRabbit, The full Metal JackRabbit and even one model that opens electrically with a remote control called the BedLocker tonneau. Some other manufacturers a retractable tonneau cover are Bak with its RollBak tonneau and Truck Covers USA with its American Roll retractable tonneau cover. If you are looking for a tonneau cover, whatever one you choose, they can conserve fuel and also protect your cargo from different weather conditions as well as wind caused by higher speeds. They also keep your cargo out of the eyes of thieves.