Mules are slightly smaller than their horse parent, and when they grow they share traits of both a donkey (the long ears), and the horse (color, tail, etc.). A Mule in the grass.
For example, a 2014 Ford F-150 is considered a half ton truck but most variants can carry a lot more than 1,000 pounds in the bed. Since these terms are probably not going away any time soon, it's best just to think of them as smaller, mediumest, and more than medium.. (Pause for laughter).
I'm sure you've heard different models of pickup trucks referred to as half-ton, three-quarter-ton, and one-ton vehicles. All three terms refer to a pickup truck's load capacity. For example, a half-ton truck's springs, chassis, and bed are designed to safely carry a maximum of 1000 pounds or one-half of a ton. Most manufacturers have stopped using weight-related terminology to describe their pickup trucks.