The Berliet CBA is a series of medium-duty trucks with chain drive, initially for the military and later also for commercial use.

Mass production was ordered when World War I broke out in early August 1914 and the French army needed trucks to transport troops and materiel.

[5] By mid-1914, Berliet introduced a more powerful engine (codenamed Z) for the truck which had its bore increased to 110 mm, giving a 5,322 cm3 displacement.

The payload was increased to 3.5 and later to 4 tonnes, the curb weight was reduced by 65 kilograms (143 lb) compared to the older model.

[7] Thousands of units were built up until the end of the war in 1918 and for some time afterwards, and were supplied to the French army as well as to civilian customers.

[10] From 1918 onwards, various CBAs were used for motorised field artillery regiments, as they could transport a gun and ammunition on their loading area.

Some CBAs were lost as a result of the war, others were sold to civilian customers after it ended (usually publicly auctioned), the rest remained in depots as materiel reserve in case of renewed mobilisation.

Those vehicles were mainly sold to civilian customers, but a total of 449 units were also delivered to the French army, between 1924 and 1926.

[12] In 1920, Berliet presented the CBA9, a variant with a payload increased to 5 tonnes: the vehicle's empty weight with tarpaulin is 4,630 kilograms (10,210 lb) (4,990 to 5,830 kg with tanker body), the wheelbase was extended to 4.20 m, the platform to 3.88 m. The engine has the previous dimensions, but uses the codename Z17 and was rated at 24 CV.

The French army acquired a truck of this type with a flatbed and tarpaulin in 1924, ten with a tanker body in 1925 and an additional twenty with a tipper in 1926.

The wheelbase is 4.19 m, the cargo area measures 3.80 x 1.85 m. It has curb weight of 5,131 kilograms (11,312 lb), the payload was 3.5 tonnes.

[21] Later, Berliet introduced a version with a bore increased to 120 mm, codenamed MDB,[20] giving a displacement of 7,238 cm3.

[22] In 1926, Berliet introduced a new series of medium-duty trucks with universal joints instead of chain drive, called the GD.