What does 1/2 Ton, 3/4 Ton, & 1 Ton really mean?

In today’s truck world not very much. These terms are technically obsolete but have been engraved into the truck owners vocabulary as a way to distinguish the different size chassis available on trucks. Long ago the terms did actually refer to the payload capacity of the truck. You would take the trucks curb weight(empty no passengers or cargo) and subtract it from what GM said the GVWR(what the total weight of the truck, cargo, and passengers maximum could be) was. So for a ½ Ton Chevy or GMC Truck you could haul around 1,000 lbs of passenger and cargo. Today modern Chevy & GMC Trucks far exceed there ½ ton, ¾ ton, and 1 ton titles and that is why the terms are obsolete.