We have a pipeline being built through our city right now. It's absolutely hilarious for me to see the temporary company parking lot for about 100 vehicles full of mostly pick up trucks because they're actually being shuttled between the construction site and the parking lot in ... buses. This is what I think of when people talk about how they need trucks :)
Well this is sticking your head in the sand about it.
People own trucks because while trucks might not be particularly good at some things, they're also not particularly bad at them. If you need to move large or heavy items occasionally, it's really handy having a truck...and the thing is, it won't be bad at doing car things either.
To the specific example here, you also have the obvious missing part: people are having to drive from home to the parking lot, to catch the bus to the site. The failure is pretty obvious.
Pile onto that that most construction workers generally have to assume that they might need to use the truck for work sometime, and it's an obvious purchase: you can't afford two cars, but you can afford one slightly more expensive one that will be as good at everything you need as a smaller one.
People complain about trucks without even trying to understand where the motivation to own them comes from.
Most Pickup Truck Owners Don’t Actually Do Any Truck Stuff.
> Only 7.0% of truck buyers frequently use their trucks to tow. About 2% of people use their trucks to tow occasionally, while 63% of owners rarely or never tow.
> But at least 28% of owners frequently use their trucks for personal hauling, while 47% of owners occasionally haul. Nearly 32% of owners rarely or never haul personal items.
These types of stats aren't much good without some measure of criticality. Even if you only rarely use the full functionality of a truck, if it's critical those times you do, it's probably worth owning. It's the same logic used to justify car ownership in areas with good public transportation; you're paying for a capability on demand, even if you're not always using it.
Also, not all trucks are good for towing. Pick-ups/utes are notorious for yielding where the cab meets the chassis, right in front of the bed, because they're designed to take a load in the bed, not at the rear of the vehicle. We don't tow with our truck for that very reason.
One thing that happens when you own a truck, you get called on to help friends and family move, or pick up an oversized item. I do this a few times a year. Multiple people benefit from my truck ownership.
U-haul rents pickup trucks for $20 a day plus mileage, and if you want something bigger, they've got it. Your friends and family would get along just fine without your truck ownership.
For sure. Just having one when you own a home is very handy. Being able to just toss long boards or pipes or large pieces of furniture in the back is great. I really only use my truck for truck related stuff (things I wouldn’t otherwise be able to use a sedan or suv for) perhaps 2-3x a month. But that’s enough to justify owning one. I think even if it was only once every 3 months it would still be justified, since it doesn’t get radically worse mileage than a sedan and I don’t otherwise drive much.
Oh, sure, but that’s a hefty premium to pay if you don’t need it frequently - the $20+k extra people pay for commuter trucks would pay for thousands of truck rental hours, and that’s before you factor in the higher operating costs and insurance.
Both SUVs and trucks are heavily promoted by the manufacturers due to their higher margins - convincing Americans to pay 10-20% more margin is literally what saved Detroit around the turn of the century. The average midsize truck hit $42k and full size is over $60k, but the median buyer doesn’t need anything a sub-$30k sedan could do at more than a couple of times a year, if that - we didn’t add millions of contractors in the last couple of years and the best selling configurations are designed for luxury and image, not utility.
> Only 7.0% of truck buyers frequently use their trucks to tow. About 2% of people use their trucks to tow occasionally, while 63% of owners rarely or never tow.
So that's 72% not 100%.
> But at least 28% of owners frequently use their trucks for personal hauling, while 47% of owners occasionally haul. Nearly 32% of owners rarely or never haul personal items.
That accounts for 107% of truck owners.
The rest of the numbers seem to add up well enough though. Not sure if maybe I'm missing something or the author is.
"People complain about trucks without even trying to understand where the motivation to own them comes from."
Agree 100%. I have a Ford Ranger on order, and I am not a construction worker. I've already fielded some "hurr durr what do you need a truck for / it will never be on a construction site" comments.
The thing is, even if I only need the adjustable roof rack for 5m lengths of timber, or the 3.5-ton towing capacity a few times a year, it's worth it for me. The common argument I hear is "just rent a truck when you need it" - do the people saying this have any idea how much of a PITA it is renting a vehicle vs using one you already own?
A viewpoint I frequently see missing is having a truck is fun, especially when I want to go piss around outdoors. Sure a car is technically more useful/efficient day to day but it's not going to get me over sand, mud, or even slightly rough patches of ground on the weekend. I can throw a bunch of stuff in the back and don't really have to think if it'll all fit.
Construction and hauling aren't the only uses for a truck and without my Ranger my numerous moves would have been significantly more involved and annoying. Plus for road trips having the extra space over a car is more comfortable with the added benefit of the bed, which carries way more than a trunk.
I think the HN folks tend to forget about how spread out the US is and how many people drive for trips. Or maybe they've just forgot how to have fun.
Btw the Ranger is great.
I think this really depends on the mirrors tbh. I run a small fleet of three work trucks. 2010 Ford Ranger, 2020 F-250, 2022 F-150. Out of any of them the F-250 is the easiest to park, all due to the towing mirror/ low convex tear drop mirror. Ridiculously easy to park given its size.
Any of these vehicles is easier to park (parallel especially) than my 2007 Acura TL personal vehicle. Good mirror design goes a long way.
I want to preface this by stating that I am sure your comment wasn't directly directed at me even to it was a reply to mine but I wanted to share:
I drive a unibody suv with full time four wheel drive. It drives like a truck and has many of the same benefits and many of the drawbacks. It's a lexus gx470 if that helps. I have given trucks careful consideration and often observe how people use them when they are driven around loaded and unloaded in the city and on the highway. My brother owns a huge ram truck which I have driven. I am also a homeowner who has made more trips to the hardware store than I would like, including buying/replacing appliances, water heater, flooring, hauling heavy lumber to build a 100 foot fence using large ten foot 6x6 posts, installing sod, and so on. I have moved across country and back and up and down the state. So maybe there are people who complain without trying to understand, but I was not complaining, nor do I lack understanding.
But I think truck culture and ego is a very real thing and when someone jacks up their truck so they now need a step to get in and out, it ruins it. There are other modifications that also ruin its utility and that is some of what I had in mind when I made my comment about ego. Also, one can see in another comment here I compare and contrast truck ownership with van ownership.
Man, this comment got rather lengthy and if anyone actually read up to this point, appreciate it. Not hostile in any way, I just find the discussion around transportation very interesting as I grew up as a car enthusiast and I find myself always looking at optimization problems and trying to come up with improvements.
