A portable hand truck is an upright 鈥淟éˆ?shaped handcart with 6 climbing wheels, made of sturdy high carbon steel, a telescoping handle at one end and a small flat ledge at the bottom that allows you to set objects on. A folding hand truck is a more recent innovation of a hand truck; the only key difference between the two is that when the truck is not in use you can fold up the toe plate and the wheels to reduce space. This is great to keep on a work van or truck that is generally full with inventory because it can be folded flat and not take up a lot of precious space on the vehicle. It can be used as a stair climbing cart to save effort when moving up and down stairs or served as cargo cart for industrial applications.