this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2024
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My partner is a professional woodworker. Turns out, we haul a lot of very large stuff. You might be surprised to learn that many people utilize their trucks.
I think you would be quite surprised how little the vast majority of consumer trucks are utilized.
Leave the city and its uncommon to find a moderately underutilized truck. The Ford F150 is the most popular vehicle in america for a reason, and it's not because people like trucks. It's because they use them. Towing capacity, cargo space, gravel or dirt roads. Live in Michigan with tough winters? Have fun in that shitty sedan.
That said, american trucks are definitely oversized and the average owner would get the same utility out of a Kei truck.
Sedans are people movers and are designed for paved roads. They can certainly survive tough winters, though, and I wouldn't call them shitty. You would be an idiot trying to go camping in one though, for that occasional trip I'd rather rent an SUV.
It's a niche, though. My subcompact is the absolute best city car I've ever been in. When you're tiny, parallel parking is a breeze, getting through tight city streets is easy, and climbing hills is simple. Many city streets are thin because they're were not built with cars in mind.
As for popularity, do keep in mind the cities are home to 80% of the US population. The truck isn't getting it's sales strictly from rural buyers, you can thank a fair amount of pavement princesses for that!
There's lots of use cases in cities, too. As you said, most people live in cities, which means most construction work (both for businesses and for private citizens) will be in the city. While the companies that businesses contract with will usually have their own fleet of vehicles, many private citizens contract with smaller privately-owned companies. Many of them use their own vehicles for transportation. (I'm friends with the heads of three such companies in my area.)
Construction supplies (wood, pipes, etc.) like the kind many contractors get at Home Depot or Lowe's is usually pretty long, so they would benefit from having a really long truck. Many of those companies usually need that supplies ASAP, too, so they get it themselves instead of having it delivered. Or, if they know they'll need it, they order it ahead of time and pick it up themselves when it's ready rather than trusting others to get it delivered on time. As others in this comment section have said, long objects like that create a risk of impalation. So the longer the truck, the better in that case. Not to mention they also need to store their tools and stuff in the truck alongside whatever supplies they've purchased.
As far as gravel and dirt roads go, a Subaru, or just an SUV with 4 wheel drive is going to perform better off road. Pickup trucks have stiffer suspension, and larger overhangs with the truck bed that require them to be lifted higher to get the same clearance as other non-pickup style off road vehicles.
If they aren't being utilized for their stowage or towing capacity, then they are being underutilized, as there are just better vehicles for off road use.
Personally, I'd take a Subaru sedan with all wheel drive over a pickup truck, for a place like Michigan.
I specified normies in my comment because trucks are for utility. If you need it for work, honestly it should be a licensed thing. After all, you can also write it off your taxes and maybe even get it covered with subsidies.
They generally don't need to seat a family of four, nor do most benefit from a lifted bed, though. A simple cab and an easy to reach bed make for a more efficient transport.