Abstract: A tailgate loader for a vehicle such as a truck. The loader includes an upper arm and a lower arm, both pivoted at one end to the rear of the vehicle, and both swingable in a vertical plane. The arms are in parallelogram linkage, and a platform is mounted on the short rearward arm of the parallelogram, so that it can swing between a stored position in which it overlies the upper arm, and an extended position in which it projects rearwardly from the upper arm. A hydraulic device is provided for swinging the arms about their pivot locations, and an opener assembly is provided for raising the platform from the stored position to a near-vertical position as the two arms swing downwardly about their pivot locations.