It exists almost as long as the truck, which had to gain some power before the advantage of the transport of more cargo came out. However, this did not happen in the beginning without a second person, which had to operate the brake in an own small driver's cab at the front of the trailer in about the same way as the driver.

A trailer never had its own drive, which in turn does not mean, that on the front of a semitrailer or between the axles a combustion engine drives a cooling unit. Also typical is the center pivot, if it has a steering at all. There have even been exceptions with Ackermann steering.

A trailer with only one axle does not need it any more than with two that are close enough to each other. Of course, steering on one or two of the rear axles is quite common. Typical for trailers and not necessarily limited to large payloads or special vehicle length.

When e.g. tight loader regions must be operated, steerable rear axles provide invaluable services when maneuvering. Different in these cases also the influence of the towing vehicle, which can be a rod connection between saddle clutch and rear axle, a lock or a influence by hydraulics. 11/12