That's a very good point, actually. I was trying to think of some other examples and everything that came to mind had to do with vehicles. So...
... you might be on to something here.a specific use of this phrase with means of transport
I ran it through COCA, and sure enough, truck, car, pickup were very high on the list of collocates. With the other frequent collocates (house, knee, building, apartment) the meaning mostly seems to be "behind".
Very perceptive on your part!