From Wikipedia, "Tonneau (pronounced ta'-no) in modern usage describes a bed cover for a pickup truck."  The word is derived from a French word that means, cask, container or cover.  The term was originally used in the late 1800's to denote a type of body style that included an open, rear seating area.  In those days, all cars were open air vehicles, and it was not long before a cover was developed for the often unused rear seating area which gave use to today's term, Tonneau Cover.

In modern times, the term (with and without the "Cover" part) is applied to an auto accessory used to cover the rear portion of a vehicle or in some cases the entire interior of a vehicle, such as a convertible while the top is down.  The term was later applied to applications which covered the rear, or bed, of a pickup truck.

For this article, I will focus on the Tonneaus designed for pickup trucks.

Tonneau covers come in many styles and price ranges.   They are often divided into two categories, hard tonneaus and soft tonneaus as there is a significant price difference between the two categories.  Within each category are several different application types.  A few examples are the multi-panel tonneaus, lift or hinged tonneaus and roll up tonneaus.

Soft tonneaus are extremely popular due to their ease of installation and lower cost.  They are also much lighter weight than hard tonneaus which makes them easier to handle.  Originally, soft tonneau covers required the installation of snaps or other fasteners to a truck's body.  The soft tonneau top would then snap or hook onto the fasteners.  Most soft tonneaus that are available today (and all the soft tonneaus sold at AccessorizeYourVehicle.com) are designed using a rail system.  The fasteners that attach the soft cover to the truck are contained on the rail system.  And instead of drilling or otherwise making holes in the truck bed, the rail system is attached to the truck's bed using clamps.

Tonneau manufactures have devised a variety of fastening models used to attach the cover to the rail system.  The different fastening models have different names depending on manufacturer, but most tonneau vendors offer one or more the following models: low profile, top mount, snap mount, lift and fold.

More on these different type of tonneaus in our next installment.