Why Absurdly Large Trucks Are Terrible For Cities
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- čas přidán 15. 02. 2022
- Large pickup truck models are the top three selling vehicles in the US, now holding over a 20% share of all new vehicle sales. The Ford F Series, the Ram, and the Chevy Silverado dominate car sales, and the growing share of heavy vehicles on the road creates problems for the efficiency, sustainability, and safety of our transportation system.
This video explores the evolution of truck size over the past 40 years, how they're marketed, and a bit of the science around why this growing segment is so hazardous to other transportation system users.
Other CityNerd videos referenced in this video:
- The Stroad Ecosystem Examined: • The Stroad: A Case Stu...
Other Resources:
- "The Hidden Danger of Big Trucks" by Keith Barry for Consumer Reports, available at www.consumerreports.org/car-s...
- The 2021 EPA Automotive Trends Report, acailable at nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi?D...
- "Top 25 Bestselling Cars, Trucks, and SUVs of 2021" by Joey Capparella from Car and Driver, available at www.caranddriver.com/news/g36...
- "GM squeezes pounds and pennies to attack Ford's pickup profit machine" by Joseph White for Reuters, available at www.reuters.com/article/us-gm...
- "Why Annual Pickup Truck Sales Have More Than Doubled Over The Last Decade" by Jim Gorzelany for Forbes: www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorze...
- "Big Cars Are Killing Americans" by Angie Schmitt for The Atlantic, available at www.theatlantic.com/ideas/arc...
- "As Autos Sales Fall, Shoppers Snap Up Pickup Trucks" by Jerry Hirsch for Forbes, available at www.forbes.com/wheels/news/sh...
- "Pounds That Kill: The External
Costs of Vehicle Weight" by Michael L. Anderson and Maximilian Auffhammer, from Review of Economic Studies, available at static1.squarespace.com/stati...
Photo/Video Credits:
- VW Golf By Kazuyanagae, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- 1975 Honda Civic By Fletcher6 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- 2015 Honda Civic By Alexander Migl - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- 1992 Chevy Tahoe By Akdylan18 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- 1980_Datsun_Pickup By Lee Mills - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Datsun_620_truck By Muyo - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Chevrolet_Luv_1600_1978 By order_242 from Chile - Chevrolet Luv 1600 1978, CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- 14_GMC_Sierra_2500HD_(MIAS_'14) By Bull-Doser - Own work, Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...)
- Monster Truck pics by CraigL from Pixabay
- Chevy Silverado ad from www.nytimes.com/2006/09/26/bu...
- F-450_coal_rolling_Monster(By Salvatore Arnone - / watchv=ist4qjvs9sw , CC BY 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...)
- Landscaper truck By Ildar Sagdejev (Specious) - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Juvenile furniture truck By OckhamTheFox, CC BY 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Toyota Corolla By Kevauto - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Airbags By Pineapple fez - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Pickup truck vector Image by Susrut Mishra from Pixabay
- Crumple zone By Fotograf: Stefan Lampert. Users Ahellwig, Sebastian8939, Saiki on de.wikipedia - Feuerwehr Meerane, Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Leaning Tower of Pisa Image by Please Don't sell My Artwork AS IS from Pixabay
- Pickup truck on beach By Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States - Oceano Beach Flag Truck, CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Lowrider By dave_7 from Canada - Ford truck lowrider, CC BY 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Music:
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Contact: nerd4cities@gmail.com - Věda a technologie
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The worst part is 90% of people that drive trucks will never tow or haul anything that would require a truck.
Exactly! I see a lot of 70 and 80-somethings driving them. I highly doubt these folks are out there doing construction.
Absolutely agree. Add to the list very tiny suburban women driving huge SUVs to run errands. Never see anyone in the car with them or anything towed behind. The impracticality drives me crazy. No foresight, no regard for other people or the environment. Climate change will be difficult to solve when people refuse to see the connection between their current lifestyle and the problem.
My favorite is the monster truck with an empty bed hauling a giant trailer. Cuz god forbid the truck bed gets scratched or dirty.
@@theeclecticlifewithsam The typical private jet burns around 5,000 gallons of fuel per hour. That's the equivalent of about 400 passenger cars. flights in private jets varies between 10,000 and 11,500 per day. The average flight times in thoses flights 6.75 hours. Thats around 388,125,000, gallons of jet fuel per day being burned. Its also 8,577,562,500 billon pounds of carbon dioxide. Data from the non-governmental organization Transport & Environment shows that private jets are up to 14 times more polluting than commercial planes per passenger, and up to 50 times more polluting than trains. That's because, in just one hour, a single private jet can emit two metric tons of carbon dioxide. But i never see any large campaigns to stop that kinda travel, i wonder why ???
I don’t know, I reluctantly bought a mid-size pickup in 2022 for 3 reasons: easiest way to carry 4 bikes, continuous renovation to my 1950s house, and continuous landscaping demands. I will be the first to admit that the last 2 reasons are transient; at some point, I will be done fixing/improving my property. The first point, is a life-long passion and hobby that is equally shared by my wife and 2 children. The problem is there is no such thing as a “light-duty” van (minivans simply still don’t have enough interior room) that is more fuel efficient or take less of a footprint than a mid-size pickup for hauling 4 bikes with wheels attached. I’ve owned multiple wagons with all manner of bike rack configurations and modern bicycles with threaded axles and hydraulic brakes really just don’t lend themselves to be easily taken apart.
One thing I've really noticed lately is that since nearly every other car on the road sits higher than my sedan, their headlights shine right at eye level for me. That, combined with the ultra-bright LED lights that new vehicles all have (did headlight brightness regulations change?), makes night driving a harrowing experience. (Sometimes, even with my rearview mirror flipped to night mode, the lights are still blindingly bright.)
I know that feeling all too well I have a 1980 cordoba I drive in the summer as a toy so I still have the old sealed beam headlights and every vehicle cars and crossovers included seem to just shine right in my back window makes me not even go out at night in it
Absolutely agreed. These new blue light LED headlights should be straight up illegal, as they are directional and have TERRIBLE effects on night time visibility.
If you're at a stop light, you can angle your rearview mirror in such a way that it shines their headlights back at them.
Factory LED headlights have to follow the same rules for glare. What sucks is that people can drop in LED modifications which range from mediocre to awful, and instantly make their headlights both worse for seeing down the road *and* able to create more glare for everyone else.
I should glue some small mirrors on, front and back.
As someone who requires my '07 Silverado for work, it irks me that BECAUSE most of them are posh pavement princesses, they've gone up in price way too much, and stripped down long beds are as rare as unicorns.
Yup. My 2005 Chevy 1/2 ton is regular cab, 4X4, MANUAL transmission (Can't get anymore) with NO power windows or locks, rubber floormat... Everyone looks at me like I just came out of 1940. It cost $19K and gets 20+ MPG at 55 MPH. I use mine on the farm and hunting etc.
As a retired contractor and construction worker who has spent the last 47 years owning, driving, working, going to church and even vacationing out of dozens of trucks, I agree $110%. The absolute madness that has gripped the truck industry lately needs to end. Today's humongous, loaded-out, brutally expensive "pimp trucks" with the 4.5 foot beds have nothing at all in common with the practical, affordable and easy to drive, park and access trucks of just 10 years ago. There will always be posers who want these behemoth, $80,000.00 "grocery-getters", and they should be able to get them. BUT THEY SHOULDN'T BE ALL THAT IS AVAILABLE!!!
It's so hard to get a long bed!!!
The Hummer used to be the go-to example for a vehicle that was too large to be practically used. Most modern full-sized pickups are bigger than a Hummer.
wait what! fr?
if I remember rightly, the Hummer H1 is still the widest vehicle ever sold to general consumers, though I can see 3500's being longer
@@cpufreak101 I can't find a width for the Hummer that includes the mirrors. Without Mirrors it is 86.5 inches. A Chevy 1500 is 81.1 inches without mirrors. But modern mirrors are much bigger than those on the Hummer - on a Ford F-150 "standard mirrors" add 15.8 inches to the width, and towing mirrors another 10.2 beyond that.
A hummer was 77 inches high (plus 2 for the soft top). A Chevy 1500 is 75.6 inches high.
Length is the one dimension where the Hummer wasn't particularly big. A hummer was 185 inches long, a Chevy Cobalt is 180 inches long, and Chevy 1500 trucks are 230 inches long.
Maybe in length but not really in width, those things are stupid wide
@@Cresta-fm8uj Not including mirrors, the Hummer is 86.5 inches wide. A Chevy 1500 is 81.1 inches wide. A Ford F150 is 79.9 inches wide. The Hummer is king, but only barely.
Ford says that with the standard mirrors an F150 is 95.7 inches, so if a Hummer's mirrors stick out less than 9.5 inches on each side the Ford is wider. (Chevy doesn't say how big their mirrors are.)
Several states require passenger vehicles to be under 96 inches wide, so the F150 is pushing the limit there and the Hummer probably had small mirrors specifically to stay under that limit.
My wife was in an accident last year with a f-series pickup. She was driving her Chevy Spark. The pickup sustained minimal body damage and all its occupants were completely unharmed. My wife’s vehicle was crumpled beyond repair and the crash smashed her knee so badly she needed surgery, a bone graft, and had her knee completely rebuilt. She was unable to walk without crutches for 3 months.
When she was finally able to drive again, we replaced her car with a midsize suv because she didn’t feel safe driving in a small vehicle anymore. Her new vehicle gets about 18 mpg while her old one got more than 30.
I hadn’t been able to express everything you have in this video before, and I really appreciate you putting into words something that I’ve been thinking about for the past year. Were vehicles lighter and less likely to cause injury to someone in an equally light vehicle, my wife would have likely purchased a lighter more fuel efficient vehicle when she replaced her old one, but as it stands, she felt forced to purchase something that she would rather not be driving.
There's also a great video by Eco gecko on the topic of cultural obsession with SUVs and pickups, you might want to check that one out to. His videos are usually just as well researched as City Nerd's.
Thanks for sharing this, even though it was really hard to read. Hope your wife is fully recovered, and it's hard to begrudge people their personal choices of how to move around when there's this constant escalation happening.
What kind of accident was it? if it was a head on, that should never happen at high enough speeds to be that harmful, if America didn't have stroads, as Forgiving Divided highways with high speeds, and slow unforgiving streets are the safest environments to drive in.
Another problem is that the drivers of these big vehicles are terrible drivers who are not qualified to drive such large vehicles. They should have higher licensing requirements. The reason why buses and 18 wheel semi trucks don't get into so many collisions is because their drivers have to go through much higher licensing requirements to get commercial driver's licenses.
@@tripac3392 I’m not sure who you’re replying to, but in many cases that’s exactly what should happen. The pathologically antisocial culture in the US kills people all the time, whether through traffic fatalities, resistance to COVID-19 safety measures, or toddlers having accidents with firearms.
The blatant and negligent disregard for others, such as by those who choose to drive pickup trucks with no legitimate use case, kills people. Maybe you like the idea of a chance to legally become a killer; I do not. But you don’t think of it that way at all, of course, because you’re only looking out for #1.
Frankly, I think Auto Manufacturers should start being held liable in a major and severe way for negligently increasing traffic fatalities, especially for pedestrians and people in smaller vehicles, by marketing massive and dangerous vehicles to young men, statistically the most dangerous group of drivers, as a way to prove their manliness in much the same way that Remington Arms is being held accountable for those same marketing practices causing the deaths of children.
This sort of creates a rat race effect too because as more and more drivers switch to bigger and heavier vehicles, the more unsafe I feel driving a small sedan. Makes me want to size up my vehicle as well for a piece of mind for my own safety
i'd suggest to not buy a new car every few years you should directly switch to a big fat tank, you might not be the fastest at the red lights, but you defenetly win the crash vs a pick up
Totally this. Was just talking with a friend the other day that feels uncomfortable driving their children around in a sedan with all the lifted trucks and SUVs around town. So they have 2 SUVs themselves
My issue too. Here in Australia we are seeing the same trend. Lots of raised old Landcruisers driven by young men still on P Plates!
I worry about my partner driving to work daily in our light hatchback and feel I need to update a perfectly reliable small convenient car.
That's why I usually drive by train or tram. It'll take a few more years until personal vehicle catch up to these big boys.
I've read it written elsewhere that this is definitely an "arms race" dynamic. You spend more and more just to tread water -- any wonder why the big three spend so much money on advertising?
I had some German colleagues visit a few years ago (I live in Texas) and we were walking through a parking lot to somewhere and I remember suddenly being confused by them laughing loudly and taking pictures. I was like, what? Turns out they had stumbled upon one of our monstrous pickup trucks. They are now so normal in our cities I couldn’t even tell initially what they were reacting to.
We're jaded to it!
Probably not even that big. Those trucks are th emost disgusting things on the road.
Can confirm, they look absolutely comical on our roads. It's so bad they look like a clown and nobody can take them seriously, it would affect your social contacts no doubt.
I live in Germany and I saw a brand new Ram 1500 in bright orange parked in front of my house the other day
Had to take a picture
Was also up on the sidewalk cause It didn't fit in the parking space
I live in Frankfurt
There's a gentleman that imported(?) an obnoxious orange Ford pickup truck of some kind
Frankfurt is a large city that numbers in the millions. Everyone knows this man
I lived on and around military bases for almost 20 years and I used to love watching people (guys) having to sell their giant trucks because they got overseas orders.... yeah you're not taking that massive thing to Japan or the Azores.
were you the base ho?
They were dumb enough to join the military and get used by the government in the first place, so not a big surprise
Such a tough life to have to sell your pickup when moving to the Azores islands 😿
The Azores are crazy even for small cars. When I was there most of the roads were still made of cobblestone.
Even for Europe assignments, I have seen folks having to pay extra (TMO) because of being an oversized vehicle.
Then they get to Europe and still have to buy a smaller vehicle to be able to drive around the gorgeous European towns.
As a landscaper who replaced my old beater pickup, I found it EXTREMELY difficult to find a simple 4wd pickup without bells and whistles and preferably a V6 cause I only do residential and don't need to burn too much fuel. Every truck out there seemed to have so many "features" that I didn't want and jacked up the prices on these things
I would be interested to know what kind of towing capacity you actually need as well?
Most landscapers I see either have a small trailer (Usually towed by a pickup) which could probably be pulled by a decent sized van, or they use an actual small truck with a tip bed. At the end of the day a trailer and tow ball are capacity limited anyway for things like heavy gravel/stones. Until you get a more complex coupling, no matter how beefy the actual vehicle is the trailer and ball need to be pretty strong.
In any case, most big projects would have items delivered in bulk? Surely the time saved not having to pick up your own raw materials and spending that time with the client/on site doing prep + not maintaining a large utility truck for $$ makes sense?
My brother searched for specifically and found an old ranger for his dirtbike. He had been saying the exact same thing
@@robertjoosten7785 I should specify mostly residential lawn care. So a small trailer to haul a snow blower/push mower and sometimes a riding mower. Truck box is primarily for hauling away the grass clippings/leaves or branches. The truck I had to drive 2 hours to get only has a V6 so about 3ish thousand pounds tow capacity, and gets about the same fuel economy as an older V6 car
When you said V6 I didn't understand how that correlated with fuel efficiency. Then I realised the norm is V8 in the US...
No 4cyl pickups around your area?
@@cema6813 some of the midsize trucks do, but no full size ones. At the time (and probably now cause covid) newer used midsize trucks were selling at a hefty premium and old one are old and I didn't want to build my business on the back of an old truck. I guess not enough people were buying the new smaller trucks cause of the reasons outlined in the video
The modern pickup with all the luxury options is about the farthest thing from a utilitarian working class vehicle you can get. I remember opening the door of my coworker’s new F150 and seeing the power runningboards lower into place. It was so ridiculous I had to laugh.
Power runningboards actually make sense. They improve ground clearance, but I guess a runningboard retract system mechanically linked to the door would be better
The desire for luxury 4-door trucks and the absurd notion to use them as family haulers is absurd. The demand for that segment has grown so much that its genuinely HARD to buy a stripped down base model truck for work purposes unless you have some sort of fleet contract. I feel like a majority of the ones on the road in my area cost $75k or more.
"Ford, it's just not a truck any more."
"Unpretentious" is not the first word that comes to mind.
@@elimogenson3316
This is MY chief complaint. If you have a GENUINE need for a fleet of small, 20th century style trucks, it's almost impossible to get them. You're FORCED to buy more truck than you need because fleet vehicles these days are stripped-down consumer models rather than consumer models being luxed-up fleet trucks. This creates problems when it comes to fuel, parking, visibility, and maneuverability in tight work spaces. You're being forced to use a stripped-down soccer mom vehicle rather than a proper, minimalist work vehicle that provides only what you need and nothing more. The demand for bigger trucks by ordinary consumers is actually HURTING people who NEED these trucks for legitimate utility.
As a city dweller, I don't own a car but my retired parents who live out in the boondocks have always applied this same logic as to why they absolutely need to buy the largest car on the road. As they say "the bigger car wins" (in the event of an accident) and so they currently drive a Lincoln Navigator - effectively a truck with an air conditioned truck bed. Because, you know, safety first. I feel such irritation any time I visit them and they use it to go to the grocery store to pick up a head of lettuce in a three ton tank. But if I ever express my frustration to them my words simply flutter away and pollinate the trees.
Americans do love their arms races....
Speaking of pollinating trees have you had a chance to hug one this morning?
It is amazing to see how the car industry made us focus on head on crashes, while especially in the US with relatively few cars per mile of road but bad road quality, roll over and crash by driving of the street is something where those big trucks perform insanely poor. Where you normal car might get thrown and jump around if you slide of the road, a pick up will roll over, land on it's roof in an unlucky way and break their occupants necks.
@@Ismalith
Addition by subtraction.
@@rudolphguarnacci197 what are you on about
As a machanic who works specifically on pickup trucks, I can tell you that when it comes to light and medium pickup trucks, only 15 to 30% of them are used as intended, most of them are just pavement princesses.
Can confirm. Many a time I get a spotless Silverado pull in
Why do you care? They bought it they can do whatever they want with it.
@@musthaveclutch It puts me at risk. That's why. A bigass pickup truck blinds me with their brights, and the extra weight means they have a higher chance of rear ending someone.
My right to swing my hand ends at where your face begins
I drive a 7,000 lbs pickup and tow for work everyday. My vehicle before that was a VW golf. It baffles me to see how unsafely pick up owners drive. The vehicles are much heavier and therefore the braking distance is much shorter. Still you see full size trucks tailgating and speeding on the highway, even weaving through traffic. I think driving a heavy vehicle should come with a heightened sense of responsibility for the safety of others around you and yourself. Unfortunately, the opposite happens. Something about being the driver of the bigger vehicle gets to peoples heads, amplifies their ego and the next thing you know they start driving around like maniacs endangering everybody on the road.
Agreed
Pickups are the most dangerous vehicles on the road. Followed by SUVs and motorcycles.
Never understood why lifted pickup trucks are racing around like BMWs…. It’s like they are trying to murder people.
@@Isaiah-ft5nx ego man, so dumb
they should update the driver training materials most likely... or even make a seperate class of license
I like the old Steven Colbert joke: "This pickup truck is perfect for towing the boat I don't own up the mountain I don't live near!"
why would you be towing a boat UP a mountain? is it a ski boat?
Colbert is a treasure
@@brokenrecord3095 its for the alpine lake that he doesn't have near him
Colbert let's hatred and non facts drive the propaganda he feeds you.
@@slevinkolebra You are attacking a comedic show. Do you not like his jokes?
I love how Top Gear took a F150 "Raptor" offroad and broke the axle almost immediately. Super useful truck that was.
What episode?
What is so absurd is when the cabin part is huge, but the bed is tiny. It’s like WTF? This is not a functional vehicle. I guess it’s better a towing.
The "function" is communicating to everyone else that you're a selfish a-ho.
As someone who owns and drives a full size pick up for work, filled with hundreds of pounds of tools all day, everyday -- I agree with you.
I used to do hydraulic and mechanical dock repair along with garage door repair and installs out of an old Ford ranger. people get pretty silly sometimes about what they think they need.
@@Yaboidavey I am a contractor who needs hundreds of tools everyday and for multiple types of jobs so yes, I do need one. A Ranger wouldn't be big enough and with one vehicle for a family of five there's no way a small pickup would work. I use to have a tacoma but had to upsize due to the bigger cab. The bigger box helps with loading materials when I need them and the bigger engine actually gets the same fuel mileage as the old truck. The box with the cap is literally filled with tools, all of which are essential so no, some people do need them.
Courier here, deliver to construction sites and warehouses all day. Totally agree.
@@michaelcoakley6167 to me it sounds like a FORD TRANSIT would be a better vehicle FOR WORK as most cargo vans ARE BIGGER on the cargo side then "large" pickups
@@jasonriddell I use to drive one almost daily back when I still worked for someone else. They are great for just work related stuff. As an independent contractor who has a wife, three kids, a 90 pound dog, and a partridge in a pear tree, it becomes impossible to do anything else with those cargo vans - which only seat two, and are never four wheel drive, to my knowledge. The cargo vans are a nightmare in the winter up here in Canada, even with good snow tires. The pickup is more versatile for the dual purpose I use it for and the conditions where I live. It's also better when I carpool with other contractors when working on a big job. With the fuel prices that's almost daily now, but it saves having one or more other vehicles on the road, and helps my bottom line when we split the gas costs.
My father lived in town and bought a 4 door dual wheel F350 I think for the main purpose of giving him a reason to scream and yell about the narrow streets, curbs, and roundabouts.
That was way funnier than I expected!
That was funny.
I live in a metropolis of 3 million+ population. The number of giant pickup trucks and SUVs I see with only the driver, and completely empty cargo areas truly horrifies me. Do you really need a Navigator to buy your groceries and drop your child off at school? Cuz that's all thats happening around me.
How could there be more than 1 driver? You want trucks to have 2 steering wheels and sets of pedals?
Staring in front of them is scary. The hoods on many are 5 feet high.
I thought that was only here in America. I thought Canadians were smarter. I’m being serious.
@@GonzoLibre-pl3lc Only THE driver, referring to only one person in the vehicle. Read properly.
LMFAOOO IM 22 I DRIVE MY CREWMAX TUNDRA ALL BY MYSELF WITH NO CARGO I GO LIKE 115 MPH ON THE MEXICO FREEWAYS DONT CARE ABOUT GAS PRICES BECAUSE I LOVE MY TRUCK SO MUCH & I WILL NEVER STOP DRIVING IT
But but but Murica. But but but mah right. The vast majority of these enormous trucks are driven by people who aren't hauling shit except their fragile egos.
“You live in a state of fear” said people who drive 2.5 ton pickups and carry their guns to buy groceries
@@tacticallemon7518all that those people got is projection.
@@tacticallemon7518lmao I'm conservative but sometimes the idiocy of some people knows no boundaries. Red or blue
Actually, I hate giving me a label as it makes me look like a simpleton with only one mindset. I'm a very complex machine
If you can’t afford one just say that
As someone who lives in a rural part of NorCal, I can say that having a pickup truck can be really useful. However, a light truck is enough to do the job 95% of the time! If I need to haul firewood or bring tools with me, my little Ford Ranger does the job fine.
I just worry what us poor rural folks who actually might need trucks are gonna do in the future, once light trucks get rarer and rarer.
A majority of the people I see actually utilizing their pickups drive a reasonably sized one. I've even seen cases where they are hauling so much they could justify a bigger truck, but managed to squeeze as much as they can into what they have. Our family minivan has done more work than most of these pickups I see in my city
Thankfully Hyundai and Ford are making "small" trucks now with the Santa Fe and the Maverick! I do hope this becomes a bigger trend.
My first car was a '95 Ranger, and I loved that truck. I was able to move, haul things for work, and it got good gas mileage since it wasn't heavy and was a 4-cylinder engine. I've moved to small hatchbacks since I live in a big city, but small trucks have just gotten SO RARE.
Man all I want is basically any standard model pickup truck that was being made between 1994 and like 2001.
No power windows.
No rear view camera.
No info-tainment center.
No gps or microphones or other crash detectors built in.
No radio.
No electronic driving control.
Manual transmission only
No 100hp that I never need of use.
I want AC.
I want speakers with an aux plug-in
And a USB charger instead of a cig lighter (always have matches or a lighter anyways even when I did smoke)
The nee bed liners they are using also seem nice.
2-door only naturally.
And I live in one of the capitals of Truckistan in the south and NEVER see these. The Chevy Colorado is a great replacement for the old S-10 series and I only see them as fleet vehicles. You only see a Ranger when it's someone still driving an 80's-90's version. I can't remember the last time I saw a Dakota. Even the import models are creeping up in size, the new Tacoma looks like one of the old models wearing ski jacket. The people who drive pickups because they might haul something once a year forget that Home Depot and Lowes rent F-250s (with lift gates even!) by the hour, and yet that Ranger gets almost double the fuel economy of their luxobarge King Ranch and likely carries 75% of the cargo.
Thank you. Finally, someone else saying this. I live in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and I see countless gigantic pickup trucks. Office workers waddling out of their office and getting in their gigantic F-250, and I have to resist the urge to ask them: WHY?! Why the hell do you need this gigantic vehicle that takes up so much space and blocks everyone’s view, makes parking lots and garages more difficult to navigate, and guzzles gas?
I assume you mean the Willamette Valley never heard it called the Central Valley and I lived in Oregon all my life but that is beside the point. Have you ever thought maybe this person commutes to Salem or Eugene or Portland because they have a farm or ranch out in Sheridan or Sweet Home or Estacada. And that by having an F250 they are actually protecting you because they have a 10000 horse trailer that they tow around on the weekends that is a lot easier to stop and control with that F250 then a Ford Escape.
@@joejohnson8159 that’s why I specifically said office workers waddling (that indicates they’re fat! Fat people typically don’t do manual labor.) out to their gigantic trucks.
This literally just boils down to a lot of Oregonians just being like ahyuck, ah lahk twucks. Screw everybody else on the roads, I need a gigantic vehicle for no reason.
it's a subsidiary penis/personality. they make up what they lack by buying a bigger truck. I know a few of these guys.... they typically still live with their parents and don't have any bills.
*AS A EUROPEAN* the American obsession with pick up trucks is both weird and screams tragic insecurity to me
@@piccalillipit9211 it wasn’t so bad when the trucks were reasonably sized, but now they’re all these behemoth tanks and it’s completely unnecessary
I experienced this today. I drive a small city car (less than 800 Kg) and was following a friend today, who drove in an SUV, and he said he had to adjust his mirrors down just to see my car behind his car. My car really has a standard height for the average saloon car. And his SUV is quite a bit smaller than a Ford F series pickup. I changed from a small motorbike to a small car after several accidents for my own safety. I really don't want to change to a big car with all its downsides. This country is already filled with pick-up trucks and Toyota SUV's, If not for the almost non-existent public transportation here, I wouldn't have these issues. Mind you, I live in Laos, South East Asia. (meaning this is a global phenomenon)
Why is he driving with his mirrors so high he can't see a car behind him??? That's exceptionally dangerous.
@@marcusjones7082 having the mirrors to only show heavy commercial vehicles & buses is absurd. He'd be skimming over the majority of traffic everywhere that isn't a mining or logging site or something.
@@InnuendoXP We have ended up in a Global Vehicle size race, much like the Arms Race of the Cold War era. Crazy 🤷
Your friend is a horrible driver and an idiot. Teach him how to drive and set his mirrors.
And here I thought you were going to talk about the increased pressure to require larger lanes, turning radiuses, driveways garages, and parking spaces to accommodate people's choices to buy larger and larger vehicles.
That is totally a thing. I'm a city planner and I hear "you need to require more / larger parking spaces because my vehicle is too big" more often than I would like.
Edit: to be clear, I'm not implying that people are purposefully buying big cars because they love/want sprawl. I think it's just an unintended outcome of choices that make rational sense to the person at the time, i.e. "bigger vehicles make me feel safer and I have more potential cargo/passenger space and freedom". As a species, I think we're just not really great at thinking about externalities!
Do you ever get threatened if you suggest not having a car dependent sprawl?
@@richpryor9650 thankfully no. Just a lot of raised eyebrows and "but this is what we already have". Nobody seems to WANT to be car dependent, it's just the collective outcome of so many "rationally self interested" decisions to want cars, big houses, quiet streets, big yards, etc etc. And individual property ownership makes remedial efforts like bike connections etc. really really complicated.
That's interesting. I'm in Florida now and there's tons of pickups and just huge cars in general. I parked at a Target, the beach, and in a parking garage in downtown Tampa. The spaces were pretty tight even for my sedan. I couldn't even imagine parking a huge pickup there. I guess they were built when cars were smaller, but I guessed they would have "fixed" that by now. Kinda hope they don't though.
@@GrahamLikeTheCrackers I was wondering if it's like engineering programs where if you say "Maybe designed obsolescence isn't a good thing" your professor automatically takes a grade point off.
this is exactly why I hope in the EU they will never ever increase the size of our parking spaces. They are pretty small (search "American car in Rotterdam blocking tram" for a good picture to give a nice perspective. All our parking spaces are the same size, all of them. The second they get bigger, the cars will get bigger. If we keep them this small, we might be able to prevent this infestation of ridiculous cars. (Also big fines for this guy, he should have parked elsewhere and just walked if this is the car he wants).
I think what is the most irritating is that the dealers and even the manufacturers make it difficult to get a basic utilitarian vehicle. I went through this in 2017 when buying my Nissan Frontier. I had to fly to Utah from Wisconsin to get the truck with the options I wanted. Which was no options at all. The dealer in Utah wanted it gone so badly they took the price of my plane ticket off the price tag. 5 years latter I couldnt be happier with the truck and everyone is looking for the optioned truck because people are sick of the monstrosities the manufacturers are producing.
They paid for your flight?!?!? That's wild!!!
@@psmith2403Yes. I purchased it in Dec 29th 2017, they received the truck in there inventory July of 16. The truck is a Nissan Frontier 2WD 4cylinder 5speed Manual trans and manual everything else. Needless to say they wanted it gone and I was paying cash so they could doctor the books how they wanted plus a $90 plane ticket was cheaper than the taxes on it if they held it into the new year.
Good luck on that resale.
There going for 9k more than I bought it for right now............ Plus I plan on driving it into the ground anyway.
That's one problem as well, that the pickup developed from an utility truck all the way over everyday driver to a luxury vehicle.
And now when you want a basic truck with leather seats, bed liner, and rear diff locker...sorry sir, you need to buy the xxx version with tech pack 2, utility group and tech upgrade with heated cup holders to get those options.
Actually all manufacturer using that option...want fog lights? Premium version required, no option in base model
As someone who has occasionally moonlighted as a construction worker, I have to say that myself and my coworkers always laughed at these stupid megatrucks. They’re just not ergonomically practical for lifting heavy things into them. Our boss always used the 1980s style trucks. And we were hauling reinforced concrete countertops.
Not only are they horrible from a ergonomic standpoint, they are horribly space inefficient too. You can get a toyota dyna or similar that fits in the same space as a large pickup truck, which has over twice the bed space, not to mention the option for under-bed storage, crane etc.
@@omfghai2u 99.9% are bought by men, to tell the world they are insecure about their p*$nis size.
@@omfghai2u what really drove that home for me was... Either a vw crafter or transporter
We had it for transporting stuff at our yard (we had cranes meant to unload semitrucks at each point it might use) and getting/delivering stuff in our local area
A ram... 2500? Was parked illegally and blocking the unloading point for an important delivery so we put it on the back of the vw and drove it to an impound lot.
That vw was maybe a meter longer, slightly wider and weighed less than that ram
I also laugh at lifted trucks and other mall crawlers that dont see work use. I only have a 1500. its worked to the bone.... beat to shit.... and im proud to say it earns its gas. even if im tired of fixing it. lol. I find the people with super lifts on their trucks funny when they get a 5th wheel camper.... then they cry about all the bridges they dont fit under...
@@omfghai2u
The Dyna is really popular amongst gardeners too, I've found. I guess it's the ability to fit all the stuff you need in the back of the bed... If only pickup trucks could do the same thing...
I've been driving small cars for over 30 years, and until the last 15 years or so, I didn't feel like a midget on the roads. But today, driving a Honda Civic. I often can't see around me when backing out of parking spaces. I haven't hit anything by deer in ages, but it is scary.
it's crazy that a honda civic was once considered a large car, i always thought it was small
@@the.abhiram.r It has always been classed as a small car ie sub compact.
@Ben-jq5oo right! Also the older trucks shown are not full sized pickups. Trucks definitely have gotten larger, just like Civics, but comparing compacts to full sized is disingenuous.
@@mh-qx2mkunfortunately with cities going nuts with speed humps and this complete streets agenda you need a long wheel base truck to be comfortable.
@@mh-qx2mkIt’s not disingenuous to compare them because the compact truck no longer exists, they were replaced with full-size trucks that were previously and exclusively work vehicles. The smallest truck you can buy in the US is the Maverick (I think), and that’s still larger than any crossover on the road.
In America, "the land of freedom," you're NOT free unless you drive an expensive car that costs you minimum $11,000 a year to own. You are chained to your car down here. So much for freedom.
Exactly!
Nice. I think you’d enjoy the third (4th?) verse of Randy Newman’s “Rednecks”.
Anti-democratic and anti-capitalist sentiments detected. Please report to your nearest Freedom Camp immediately.
That extra mass only helps when there's a smaller car to crash into. 53 percent of motor vehicle crashes are single-vehicle crashes, where all that extra mass is applying its energy to a tree or concrete barrier or building that doesn't care. Along with increased rollover risk and longer stopping distance, the crash energy of a 2-3 ton pickup means these are absolutely not safer even for the people in the pickup.
Lol, being safer in 47% more accidents is big though. Also because of their size they have larger crumple zones so more time to dissipate energy even if they are running into a wall or tree.
Well I wouldn’t want to be in an electric car like a Tesla bc those things are heavier than most pickup trucks
@@irtb4250 Hmmm, I wouldn't be too sure about that. Most popular Tesla is the model 3 which according to Google has a curb weight of 3,648 to 4,250 lbs. The 2022 Dodge Ram has a curb weight of 4,775 to 6,439 lbs, The 2022 Ford F-250 has a curb weight of 5,677 to 7,538 lbs, and the 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 has a curb weight of 4,400 to 5,620 lbs (these were the top 3 selling trucks listed in this video).
@@heebsgames I was think of all pickup trucks in general such as the Tacoma, ranger, Colorado and many older models of trucks but I will admit that new and more popular models are heavier especially when you get into hauling models, but those are more specialized and have purpose
@@irtb4250 Yeah I just googled the top ones he listed in the video since the point of the vid seems to be that the newer models just keep getting bigger. I definitely remember older models being smaller than they are today.
Vehicles getting bigger and bigger seems to be a global problem, even if the trend in Europe is more SUV rather than pickup trucks.
Yeah my dad shocked me by saying they’re planning on getting one. I was even more shocked when he told me why:
They’re the only ones available fully electrified (at least to them I don’t even have a license so idk)
yeah SUVs are common in the US as well. They are basically the default suburban car where I live.
SUVs are just Pick-Em-Up trucks with an enclosed bed
for the Americans replying to this comment, European SUVs are large crossovers in US terms, we don't have SUVs based on trucks and even if we did the trucks in Europe are a lot smaller then American trucks
@@bencarpendale Good point, I saw a few American-sized pickup trucks over the last couple of weeks and they're noticeably larger than any cars around
As a UK resident, I find the size of the US pick-ups staggering, particularly those crew cab dualies. My first car was a FIAT 126, you could reach all the windows from the drivers seat, and it had a 650 twin cylinder engine. Weighed about 650kg.
Don't worry. These clowns are crying with diesel going for $6.50/gallon.
My car is literally below their mirrors. I am very wary around them.
I live in Italy, and I still see 126s from time to time.
ok. but that is a radical comparison. your car is on the end of the size spectrum, almost useless unless you are a single person, or have no kids, or hobbies. there is a happy medium, and I think a mid size truck or base model full size truck may be it. giant trucks really should be a rarity, and in murica, it is not. that is the part that is out of balance. I have an f150 - the most popular truck in america, and I fully utilize it. it is truly a tool. I do wish that it came with fewer options and technology.
@@davelafontaine1709 actually, the size of the 126 is perfect for easy parking, fitting down any alleyway, and fuel efficiency. It's the lack of safety features and the fact that the engines are nowhere near as efficient as those of today that are more often the issue.
Well, unless as you imply you need to take more that 2 or 3 kids to a dozen different activities all in different parts of town with no public transit, or you need to move large pieces of furniture.
So all in all, if I needed a car I would be sorely missing the opportunity to get a modern vehicle that size, but as it is it's a moot point so far as I'm concerned
I run a construction business. I drive a Suzuki Jimny as my work vehicle. It would fit in the tray of most pickup trucks shown on this video. With the seats down I can fit all the tools I need in the back. At the start and end of each job I hire a trailer to move stuff like wheelbarrows and scaffold planks. Anything else I just get delivered. It takes a bit more organisation but it saves me a lot of time and money in the end. A proper flatbed delivery truck can fit ten times what a pickup can. I don't need to go down to the merchants to load up as they take care of that. Also the materials get craned onto my site with a the truck's hiab, saving even more time and effort.
The Jimny is great for tight inner city sites and is easy to park out of the way. It cost a third of what a pickup would and costs next to nothing to run.
There are tradesmen that legitimately need a big pickup but many are
1/ Trying to look tough.
2/ Disorganised.
as reviewed by Doug Demuro; czcams.com/video/8RJ3JONrSK4/video.html
I feel like almost every hunter, forester or farmer owning shieling drives one of these. I live in the alps where people somehow started to think that because of the mountains they need a strong, big vehicle. Although that’s actually nonsense. So now we have these rich people who park their oversized trucks in front of their easily accessible villa for two weeks a year and the people I just mentioned, which they seem trying to imitate have way smaller, utilitarian vehicles because here we actually do have streets so we don’t have to drive on dirt or rocks. But the streets that would actually “need” a “strong” vehicle like the road up the mountain or in the forest would be way too narrow for these big trucks anyway.
Those big pickups don't really have any more carrying capacity than smaller ones. They mostly just have a lot more bells and whistles. The increase in horsepower is almost entirely eaten up by the increase in mass. Mass doesn't scale linearly, the bigger a vehicle becomes the less efficient it becomes. Since not only does the engine need to increase in size but so too does the transmission, steering, breaking and everything else. Those increased sized components add more weight which means they need to be even larger. This is the square cube law.
@@jf7222 Over actual rough terrain though these vehicles don't fare too well. They have a very high center of gravity which means when they are at a steep angle they are in a very real risk of tipping over. Also their weight means that across rough terrain the suspension is under a tremendous amount of strain.
The square cube law is especially true in rough terrain. You need enough mass to run over branches and enough ground clearance for potholes of course. But beyond that extra mass just puts more strain on the engine and the suspension. That's why quads or other vehicles that are tall but still light weight are ideal.
@@MrMarinus18Maybe I'm misunderstanding you.... are you saying like a Ford Maverick can haul as much as an F150? I've hauled with a 1997 Ford Ranger and a 2021 F150... they are night and day in towing capacity.
Surprised there was no mention of the roads themselves. Vehicle weight has an exponential impact on road wear. On highways and such 18 wheelers still cause a disproportionate amount of damage, but on smaller streets it seems likely that more pickups will increase maintenance costs for everyone else.
Yup, good point.
Also tire wear creates a sizable amount of air pollution, with heavy vehicles creating more of this pollution.
To be exact I think road wear is proportional to the axle weight to the power of four
You do realize trucks pay more fuel taxes, right? If you really want to see road destruction, look at the waves in the surface around a lot of speed bumps. Who’s paying for that? Anyways, a big SUV glides over bad pavement. Range Rovers even get a better tax treatment because of their weight. It often pays for business owners to drive HD pick ups to get the weight up and also qualify for those benefits. Amazing isn’t it?
I don't think pickup trucks are believed to have a significant additional effect on the lifespan of the pavement itself, but idiots driving around in giant, oversized vehicles with huge blind spots isn't exactly great for above-grade infrastructure like signs, utility poles, parking meters, etc.
@Nunya Bidness I never see waves in the pavement around speedbumps, only approaching intersections and maybe on bridges.
This isn't JUST trucks. EVERYTHING has gotten substantially larger for the same "extend the duration of the collision" reasons. Then for pedestrian safety you change the hood shape, but trucks are excluded from those requirements.
The car standards keep raising the bar and pushing for larger and larger vehicles to keep up safety wise. That's government pushed danger to non-drivers.
I read a good paper several years ago about how the auto industry basically abandoned the concept of "active" safety in favor of "passive" safety. Essentially a form of risk compensation from which they were able to profit.
In short, active safety is being able to prevent a collision, i.e. nimbler, more maneuverable (and perhaps smaller) vehicles. Passive safety is the resignation to a collision being inevitable, so let's attempt to lessen the severity (and then negate that by increasing weights).
Sounds like a great idea to me! So now you have the people that couldn't even handle the base machinery, so let them now tack on "systems" that they're even surely less able to understand. Meanwhile, risk compensation comes into play - in the thought that "the car will protect me, so I can take more risks." Without passive safety philosophy, we probably wouldn't have had all those Toyota Camry runaway acceleration issues, for one example. Maybe they would have just had the good sense to just shut the darn thing off.
Yet another example of America's race to the bottom.
Not just risk to non-drivers but also people who choose to drive a reasonably sized, more efficient vehicle that actually fits their needs. Normal cars are regulated to hell and back emissions, fuel economy, and safety wise but these trucks, the symobolic epitome of anti-social American excess get exceptions at every turn because reasons?
@@subaruanon I think a lot of it is just one of several symptoms of the great masculinity crisis in the US. Manhood is no longer defined by actions and deeds but rather possessions and projection/appearance.
@@sabretooth1997 Yes, that explains a lot of the gun culture as well. It is a masculinity identity crisis.
@@sabretooth1997 there is a "LONG HISTORY" of cars being "sexed" with station wagons being "female" cars and coupe / muscle machines" being very "MALE" and that MOST "CAR" and "SUV" designs are AIMED at the FAMILY and very "female" focussed and MARKETED TO women leaving the pickup as the LAST "MALE" vehicle and the styling has stayed VERY TRUE to that
look at the NEW FORD ranger it is basically the same as what is sold around the globe BUT the American version NEEDED a BIG CHROME BUMPER/ GRILL treatment VS the "integrated" one on the "global" ranger same with the Toyota Tacoma/High-lux pick ups
I lived in northern Japan for 4 years where Kei trucks are heavily utilized, and I just want to say they are superior in most ways. Far more utilitarian, lightweight, rugged, and way better in snow and mud. I was truly amazed.
No reason why a US maker couldn't make a Kei truck other than the psychology of their american consumer market.
@@gstrdmsI get so tired of hearing this. It’s the EPA. Every new generation of pickup is bigger because the epa allows worse mileage for bigger vehicles. It’s why all vehicles are bigger, including the new Tacoma.
CAFE regulates fuel economy across all of a manufacturers models, and the smaller the vehicle the heavier it is weighted. As in a kei truck would need to get unrealistic MPG to be sold, but a giant oversized pickup can get terrible mileage and still be sold.
Every year this CAFE number goes up, which is why dodge is not longer offering Hemi pickups or cars.
Besides that kei trucks would never meet emissions or safety standards. Kei trucks are city use only because they have no safety. It’s only safe in low speed collisions.
@@gstrdmsit’s because they are not safe
No American pickups are better
@@Bluebottlenose I think you've been by indoctrinated by the consumerism of the detroit brands to really believe to buy a pick up truck for your own safety only and nothing else. Yeah it's kinda true that kei trucks aren't that "safe", but for me american trucks are just bad as kei trucks when it come to safety. Well actually front/side impacts are another thing, but when it come to rollover crashes, body-on-frame Trucks/Suvs aren't great students on that and it's actually selfish to think only about your own safety rather the safety of others and the pick up you want to have as a toy is actually a deadly weapon (especially if you live in a big city) that actually kills pedestrians and drivers who drives smaller cars. American trucks are also useless moneypits with poopy reliability and they would break just after 2/3 years (unless if you are lucky) compared to japanese trucks tha can last F O R E V E R. Don't get me wrong, I like large pick up like the ford raptor, Ram TRX or even trophy trucks and they are actually fun, especially if you live out of nowhere with roads full of mud, snow or sand, i'm just telling you don't act like these people who buys pick ups just for their paranoia and their fragile ego and there's other types of vehicles you can buy when you live in a huge city.
American love for monster trucks ideally sums up the American society big, obnoxious, insecure inside.
My rule of thumb: 90% of pickup truck owners don't actually need a pickup truck.
Especially true where I live in Toronto, where there are still a huge number of pickup trucks for some reason.
Most people don't need a four door car by that logic. Get a smart car. You don't use the back seats enough in your Civic.
I'm not saying that as a insult to you. Just that most cars space does go unused for the vast majority of the time. Though have a massive truck you never used seems more of a cash drain than the back of a Corolla whose seats never get used.
@@baronvonjo1929 I like my four door because of the storage space
@@baronvonjo1929 the thing with pickups is that they generally are used to haul heavy stuff in the bed, which is something most people ever do, hell some people just rent box trucks, rendering the pickup truck obsolete.
In comparison, a 4 door sedan is far more practical for someone who does not work in landscaping, construction, item transport, etc. Since most people will inevitably have some use for those seats, such as carpooling in various types of events, or just tossing stuff into the back after buying a bunch of stuff from a store.
@@literallyanidiot2880 I find the sedan body to be the stupidest thing ever personally. Look at it. Open a sedan trunk. Look at all that wasted space. Get a liftback, hatchback, wagon, or even a crossover. Sedans are so illogical.
@@baronvonjo1929 I dont get what you mean by wasted space, I have quite literally stuffed my car with luggage before and it works just fine. Is there a particular model you're referring to?
After being in Spain for a few years, going back to Puerto Rico always shocks me: it feels like 1 in every 5 cars is a Pickup truck. And the craziest thing is: I don't think I've seen a single pickup truck in Spain.
Then you see the trend that the older and smaller the pick-up truck is, the more it works. You can go along any major road and you'll see these 25-year old clunker toy-sized pick-up trucks with a tower of plantains, horses, gardening tools or hay bales; or you can see a giant luxurious pick-up truck which occupies 4 parking lot spots at the shopping mall and rides over the curb on the fast food drive-thrus; those never sweat at all.
I will say, I just was in Puerto Rico driving my in-laws Yaris, and while I’m generally in the small vehicle camp, the road conditions in many places in Puerto Rico are pretty bad. They’ve always been somewhat bad, but really gone down hill in the last 5-10 years, and especially since Maria. I definitely found the Yaris inadequate at times, not because of size, but ground clearance. If I were living in Puerto Rico, I think I’d have to drive at least a Subaru Forrester or so. I don’t apply this to the mainland though.
That is very interesting. I guess bigger vehicles sail over bumpy terrain . We have a toyota prius and it is always a headache coming out of a parking lot and entering traffic lanes, as the bottom scrapes if you don't have the correct angle !
you can haul a significant amount of stuff in most sedans, just put the back seats down and lay a tarp in the back. my dad does a significant amount of home depot shopping, and we've never had a problem.
Hatchbacks and station wagons, the cars of the people. I’ve hauled an entire set of wheels with tires as well as half a Mustang exhaust system in my 92 Impreza. More than most modern pickups will ever do lmao
I left the US for work 35 years ago, and have been back only for short visits since. I grew up on a ranch, and worked as the family mechanic, finishing four engine rebuilds by the time I finished high school. We scrimped and clevered to keep things running decades after their trade-in-by dates, and took pride in it because trucks are work vehicles. It may sound kind of harsh, but from that experience, to me the folks driving around in shiny new spotless crew-cab "trucks" strike me as posturing idiots with more money than brains. I don't know what sort of desperate personal void they're trying to fill with all that steel and plastic, but if I ever drive American roads again I'll be sure to give them a wide berth, both on and off the road.
What’s the best way to learn how to rebuild engines, you reckon?
"They're probably indispensable if you're like a landscaper or HVAC utility"
This Pickup Truck apologist attitude always interests me, because there are landscapers, HVAC guys, and every other type of tradesperson in Europe, and they do not really use pickup trucks at all (from my subjective experience). It seems just from walking around that vans like the legendary ford transit are much more common, and frankly seem to offer superior utility as well. The ability to close the doors of your vehicle with your expensive tools and lumber and shit seems pretty valuable to me. I would be curious for some actual research on places that do not use pickup trucks for most tradespeople; its not like lawns dont get mowed, buildings don't get build, and HVACs don't get VAC'ed over here. I have also noticed for bigger haulage of raw material it is perfectly common to se a tractor driving down the city roads to a construction site. SO maybe that affects the consumer behavior, but again this is totally not imperical just based on perception having lived in both the USA and Europe. From a safety perspective vans of course offer a much similar front end to a car than a truck, so I have to image they are better for pedestrians as well.
Anyway, sorry for calling you a pickup truck apologist, I am simply curious about this point because it is one I hear a lot in the discourse surrounding pickups.
I think all that's being done there is looking for plausible justification for a pickup, not GOOD justification. The discussion around them tends to follow your argument: if you really have lots of work to do, a van's going to be better 90% of the time.
I live in the USA, and I agree with you 100%. I've owned a pickup, but it was because I was a granite installer and a pickup was the smallest vehicle that could be used to move slabs of granite. It also was great for moving boulders, but pretty much every other use case would be better served by a van. Plus a van keeps your tools safe & dry!
Besides the vans you also see a lot of trailers for stuff that needs an open bed, like gardeners or pavement workers. Cheap to own or rent and you still have a normal car (or van) if you don't need the extra space.
indeed from my experience in both italy and ireland work vehicles are either closed as in a van and do carry smaller more valuable stuff, or open as in trucks proper large size industrial heavy looking stuff, not the kind you would go do groceries with... or (and this is italy specific) a piaggio's "Ape"... the italian pickup truck i guess :P
I live in the US Southeast, heart of pick up truck land. And I see plenty of contractors and a bunch use vans not pick ups. Sure you'll definitely find pick up trucks being used by contractors, but vans are quite common.
Where trucks might have an advantage is off road uses. Visiting the big island of Hawaii there's a beach on the southern part of the island only accessible by walking or off road vehicles and by far the most common vehicle for that is a pick-up truck (often pretty old ones though rather than massive new ones). But, I doubt folks who have problems with trucks if they were primarily used in rural and off road uses.
Agree 100%. Here in the PNW I've noticed a huge increase in these monster trucks in the last 5 years. I don't mind if they are obviously work trucks, are hauling something, or even just have a tool box in the bed. But the majority I see are lifted with after-market wheels. All for show. It's the new status symbol for those under 40. Interesting to see that parking spaces are getting smaller, parking lots are getting smaller, and the turn radius of drive throughs have gotten tighter. Half these guys can't drive through Starbucks without running over the curbs and taking out the landscaping. I don't get it.
Fine the fuck out of them
Starbucks is for snooty women anyway.
Only time their truck goes offroad
I was glad to see that your informal study confirmed my choice of term for these vehicles...Airhaulers.
Given where I live, I call them Texas Airhaulers. Of course they have to be big enough to make most EVs seem cheap. 😁
As a landscaper, I've driven both big ass pickups and 'contractor dump trucks' (those flat-faced Isuzu ones). The dumps, while bigger and twice as heavy of a vehicle, are WAY easier to maneuver and park than the pick-ups! It's all about visibility and turn radius
From my experience, my 2nd generation Ford Ranger and trucks of similar size are "truck enough" for suburban and city environments.
- about as narrow as modern compact cars for crowded parking lots
- short enough to parallel park with only moderate difficulty
- despite smaller dimensions, they still have a six foot bed, more than enough for most furniture and appliances
- if it's ratty looking, you don't really care if some glue eater scratches or dents it while it's parked
Oh, and since their curb weight is less than their full size counterparts while at times being powered by similar displacement engines, they can usually carry more weight pound for pound while being surprisingly fuel efficient, (for a truck, that is) assuming you drive with whatever the opposite of a lead foot is.
Full size four door trucks with shorty beds are a total oxymorons to me because despite being thiccer, longer, and taller, my 27 year old shitbox can at least haul a family size fridge with the tailgate closed. Sure it's too old for airbags, but you cant win 'em all I guess.
On a side note, it makes me sad that the 4th generation Rangers got 1,000 pounds fatter. Take a lap, tubby lmao.
I also have a second gen Ranger (well, a B2300 but same thing). It's an extended cab with a 6' bed. The Maverick is closer to the 1-3 gen Ranger than the 4th gen. I would have bought one if it came in the same configuration as my B but the crew cab on a compact truck makes the bed too small.
That's why the Maverick is so popular, tons of city people who need/want a truck and have light hauling capabilities. If dealers weren't marking them up to be as expensive as a F-150 I'd sell my Ram 1500 for one.
Same, I have gen 3 Ranger with a 6' bed and I've never had an issue. Its big enough to fit my motorcycle and bike in the back and I can always hook up a small trailer. One of my neighbors just got the new Ford Maverick and it's so similar in size. I want to ask him if I can check it out up close and see if I like it as much.
Hydrogen foot?
There's actually a good reason for these huge, sturdy looking pickups with off-road suspension and such: the expensive, unmaintained (and unmaintainable) infrastructure in the US is crumbling away, you need an off-road ride to traverse it.
/s
Of course the infrastructure is (at least partially) crumbling away because of cars that are too heavy. How fun!
Check out the world rally championships! Gravel is fun in a small light car
@@conradbielicki774 There's actually a good reason the expensive, unmaintained (and unmaintainable) infrastructure in the US is crumbling away, you need an off-road sturdy looking pickup with off-road suspension! LOL
Or, you could just run 13-15 inch steel rims with some actual sidewall on your tire. But noo we have to have these wannabe JDM tuner alloys on everything
One of the better uses of "/s" I've seen
God forbid they scratch the liner with a real load.
I have also been known to criticize large vehicles, and I actually had a coworker at the time admit that she drives a massive vehicle because it is safer for her. At the time though, I didn't consider the fact that it is safer for her but more dangerous for everyone else. It's like a vehicular arms race!
I had a 1997 Ranger this summer and loved it. It's too bad the market moved away from even having an option for a small, 2-wheel drive, simple 4-cyl engine, manual transmission, crank window, manual heater, no AC, no carpet, manual seats vehicle.
Being in a snowy state, I'm glad 2WD is less common. All the other stuff could come back though!
@@KrystalessR Sure! I just meant 2wd with respect to the simplicity of not having a transfer case, front diff, and front axles. I commuted for 7 years in Buffalo in a VW Golf with no traction control on all-season tires. (I couldn't afford or store separate snow wheels back then.)
@@benkromphardt1916 I mainly meant trucks, because they're RWD without 4WD, those things don't drive in snow for 💩 .
I have a 1996 Ranger, manual transmission, crank windows. I love it, hope it never dies.
@@mattdodge8706 oh, it will, ford engineering will make sure of that lol. Hopefully some more truck options will be on the market by the time it does though!
Depressing content like this is exactly what I look forward to every time you post. 🤣🤣🤣
Right? His dry sarcastic tone makes my day.
He's a legend. Love his dry humour and content
It's not the content that is depressing it is the creator himself...
I read a great article on a motorcycling site about modern pickups bemoaning how they were getting bigger and had long ago gotten too big, but not from the standpoint of encountering them in traffic. The guy was pointing out that to get something heavy (like a motorcycle) into the bed of a modern truck, you essentially have to lift it to chest height, and even with ramps that isn't easy. Gone are the days when an 8 foot board would serve as a ramp and you could push the bike up while standing on the ground.
My first car was a VW bug, and my only pickup was a 1980's Toyota. Now, I live in a 15-minute urban neighborhood and don't own a car - life is good. I'm so glad that I did not joint the 'arms race' of heavy vehicles. Great video and I enjoyed your humor!
As a driver of a semi truck I can understand how those 4wheelers around me feel. I always make sure to give them plenty of space when I'm sharing the road with them, although the 4wheelers don't always give us professional drivers the same courtesy, cutting us off short, riding in our blind spots, etc. I will agree that these over exaggerated pickup trucks that are often referred to as "bro dozers" are dangerous due in part that the wheels extend out way past from the vehicle than they should. The drivers of these trucks also don't always keep in mind they are strafing across the line at times either. I own a 2010 F150 Raptor SVT but it isn't lifted, nor is it over exaggerated with the wheels, it is as it came from the factory. I use it on my farm and it is my personal conveyance when I'm not driving the semi. Because I drive a semi though, I have the background to know how to properly handle a large body pickup, and am mindful of my fellow drivers as well, especially those in smaller cars.
If you need to transport something on a rare occasion you could also just use a trailer.
Would you say there should be additional licencing & training requirements for these overly-large personal vehicles just like there are for heavy commercial vehicles?
As the attitude & (lack of) aptitude of the drivers is half the equation of what makes them so dangerous.
I think you should get a special license for pickups tbh@@InnuendoXP
Someone buying a pickup for 'practical reasons' will almost always be better served by buying a van.
Don't want a van? Maybe you don't need a pickup.
I've worked at a carshare company before. Customers overwhelmingly preferred vans to utes. When you need a vehicle to haul stuff you choose the practical option, not what looks more "powerful".
It's only when you aren't hauling that you care about looks.
Vans are kind of a city only thing, but the pickups now are just as useless. Better off getting an older vehicle.
pickups look way cooler than vans
As someone who owns a cargo van and a truck I would disagree. Yes my van can haul things but it’s much harder to load/unload because unless you have palletized cargo it all has to be done by hand, a pickup can be loaded with a tractor or loader bucket over the side or from the side in the case of flat beds. Also with my van I’m limited by height granted most modern vans come with high roofs but an old pickup can be had for a lot cheaper.
As someone who was looking for a cheap home, I looked at a ton of vans. Found a pick up with a camper on the back. What I like about that over a van is that it separates my living space from the cabin. When I'm in the camper, I sometimes forget that I'm living in my truck. No real amenities, but I can hook up power if I need to. Plus I can almost stand up completely straight in there versus most vans. On my budget, this works way better.
Loved this video and had to watch it again. I live in truck country here in the Dakotas and like to joke that the farm trucks I grew up with could fit inside the super sized ones of today. Also, I would love to see a video on best community garden/urban farm/farmers market cities since I am a bit of a community garden and urban farm nut. Keep up the great videos.
Notice how many comments here are from people who need a pickups for their everday job and now find it increasingly difficult to find a practical one because all the pickups on the market now are made for show not for actual work. Anyone who actually is loading stuff on and off theh back of the truck all day wants the bed to be lower tot the ground, not 6 feet up in the air.
I learned to drive in a 1983 Chevy Truck. It was "big" at the time and the most utilitarian vehicle ever. After all, my dad was a rancher and he needed a true work vehicle. It was actually a good vehicle to learn in since I figured out how to safely occupy my part of the road in it. It's sad to think that vehicle is small nowadays.
Despite my background, I've stuck with small compact cars and generally fuel efficient vehicles. After all, I am NOT a rancher (thank goodness). On the plus side, since there's an obsession with large vehicles, I was able to get a decent deal on a "hot hatch" recently because no one was looking for a 3 door hatchback even in this market. Now I just need to avoid be crunched by a dude in an angry Dodge.
It really struck me when I was visiting NYC from the UK a couple of years ago that basically every car, bus, truck etc in the US was MUCH burlier looking than in the UK. Now a lot of our buses etc are larger - double deckers etc. But the US buses would be fairly low capacity but very, very hefty looking and often fairly old in comparison. It was really unsurprising then that walking around the city was horribly unpleasant. Very smokey and loud, even compared to busy cities in the UK
If walking around NYC is unpleasant to you, wait till you visit any other city in America....
@@yuriydee Oh lord I can imagine! Urban design is a big part of why I could never move there. I love walking around cities; I think 90% of America I'd either get arrested for loitering or killed crossing a stroad
My mom has always liked bigger cars; her boyfriend drives a Hummer. The explanation is that cars are getting so big, they won't be safe in a collision unless they have a bigger car. Apparently everyone thinks like that, and here we are. (No thought is paid to people outside of cars, of course. Why would anyone be outside of a car!?)
@@thenayancat8802 We were hiking a bit last weekend and had to walk on a strode sidewalk for a little bit, and it reminded me how bad strodes are. It's so much louder and more unpleasant than the streets in Manhattan.
I was about to say, NY is probably the place in the US where you would see this dynamic the LEAST! But I think some of the responses below covered it. Your comment says a lot, though.
I hope this video is finally getting some love. The follow-up that you did is (chef kiss)
This is also a very America-centric problem, in places like Australia medium sized pickups like the Toyota Hilux are way more common than for example a Dodge RAM
It's a growing issue in every market, the US are just starting from a higher base line. I've seen these idiotic Dodge Ram poser barges parked halfway up sidewalks because they wouldn't have fit into parking spaces otherwise IN THE FUCKING NETHERLANDS. LIKE WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK. Can we like declare one place a yokel containment zone, put a big wall around it and deport every moronic truckbarge driver there?
It is escalating here though. The ram has sold so well that Ford will import the F150 from next year...
The disease of oversized American pickups has been spreading fast in the last few years, at least here in Sydney
In Austria, the craftsmen mostly use small vans where you can screw in shelves and tool boxes and is also protected from the weather.
Looks like Europe is being spared, at least for now. When I went to Spain I saw quite a few cargo vans, but no pickup trucks, let alone anything like an F150 or larger.
Quick note: the pickups represented as being “yesteryear’s” are not full size pickup trucks. A Chevy C/K-10 is a better comparison to a modern Silverado than an S-10, because they’re rated to do the same work. Even then, the size has increased in pretty much every way.
true. 40 years ago, the tailgate doubled as a bench. now it doubles as a ladder to get up to the tailgate.
That is my main complaint with the video. All the old trucks shown were compact trucks, and not the equivalent of the modern truck shown at all. It’s like comparing a Honda from the 80’s to a modern Tahoe, it is not a fair argument at all.
@@ianhall6614 Fax. And admittedly, a 1980 K10 is smaller than a 2020 Silverado 1500, but not the way a 1990 S-10 is smaller. I think it may be a dishonest comparison, since full size trucks were much more common back then, as they are now. It's easier to find a comparison of two full size trucks than a midsize and full size.
The compact pickup all but disappeared in the US for a very long time. The only one left from that era is the Tacoma, and even that grew to the point where it's now in the midsize range. The success of the Maverick shows there's still a market for small, cheap trucks and might mean more in the future.
@@pizzarat3275 Oh 100%. I grew up driving 3/4 ton trucks, but I think the Maverick is a pretty cool tool. You don't need 500 pound feet of torque most of the time, and especially not if you're driving to work and back, nor all 8 cylinders, so there's a big niche for truck people who like saving money to be filled.
i live in an small city in CA that is full of these things. They drive way too fast. They can't fit into most parking spaces, so they often stick out dangerously or use two spaces. Drivers are so high up that they can't see pedestrians, bikes, motorcycles or even small cars. And they barely ever carry anything. But people are obsessed. I have a coworker who turned in his fuel-efficient Corolla sedan for a massive Ram truck. He literally drives five miles to the office most days.
I'd love to see an analysis of how US cities would plot on a chart of smallest to largest average vehicle size. It feels like TX would be largest, followed by the South, followed by the Midwest, and then I'm not really sure how Chicago, the NE, PNW and California would fit. This would actually be a meaningful filter for me in choosing my next home since pickup truck culture has become synonymous for all things anti-urban.
Texas won’t cause half of its people lived in cities and most of them only get a Camry. I would say one of the Dakotas have the largest vehicle
California has all kinds of vehicles from different sizes
Largest city is anchorage Alaska
there's a lot of large vehicles in the nyc area, you'd be surprised
@@shahx1019 Now in West Texas, pickups are the norm for sure, but I don't see as many in the cities.
Nothing says Alpha male like buying a vehicle with the most jacked up price.
You hit on one of my biggest pet peeves. I had owned a pickup for 20 years, but even as a non-landscaper I used my truck for hauling stuff (all the time). Vinyl interior, basic trucks to haul toys, compost and “stuff”. My biggest truck was smaller than most big trucks these days…. I am pissed at the folks that drive pickups today…. Clearly they never haul ANYTHING so why buy one!
I heard about this one guy that said he didn't want to scratch up his bed so he didn't allow anything in it, making it entirely useless
They're not "folks." They're clowns.
All points well taken, but I feel it necessary to note that electric vehicles are obscenely heavy too and that a Tesla Model S is about as heavy as an F150 (depending on configuration).
They certainly are. Batteries are heavy. Gasoline / petrol and similar hydrocarbon fuels (notably gas, the other kind) are very energy dense.
Batteries are heavy because they need more pounds for the same energy.
Hydrogen is "heavy" because it has very low energy per unit volume and needs high pressurisation to achieve reasonable energy amounts in a car, anyone who hauled around high pressure tanks / cannisters can tell that they aren't lightweight (it *is* a big lump of dense metal).
While the high weight of battery electric vehicles is undesirable it is of course not so that they're petrol gas but heavier.
Of course, electric vehicles aren't the "answer" either, so this equivalence is sort of fitting.
Yep. I was taken aback when I learned the new Porsche Taycan Cross weighs an absolutely gargantuan 5200 pounds for a vehicle of its size. Even the final generation of GM B-body body-on-frame iron block V8 wagons, known for their impressive girth, weighs around 700 pounds less at their heaviest.
Just imagine how heavy the electric F150 will be.
@@archygrey9093 don't have to imagine. 6500 pounds, plus a 2000 pound payload.
Pick up drivers are the worst, rudest drivers. The size of the vehicle makes them more aggressive.
I’m from Brazil and, although we can see some increase in the truck sizes, it is still rare to see them in big cities. Last year I travelled to the US for the first time and was shocked because of the size of uber cars!!!! Even in NYC. They are enormous
I own a home and in the last ten years I have needed a truck four times.
Twice I just rented one from Home Depot for $25, the other two times I just had the stuff delivered. Both deliveries were free, furniture and building supplies.
I can't and won't justify a truck purchase for anything other then commercial use or if you own a ranch.
That's exactly where I'm at
Wish the rental trucks would have 4x4 so they would be safer to drive in regions with snow and ice. If they don't the trucks are always RWD which is really bad with ice. Most people who actually buy trucks at least have that included.
I always say this too - yet it's rather amazing what you can fit in a 4-door sedan (which I'll admit is even too large for 95% of my needs) with a fold-down rear seat. Sure, I can't haul a washing machine - but then again, why would I even want or need to? I'd venture a guess 99% of those types of places offer free delivery (and if they're cheating you out of that, what else are they ripping you off on?) So my current tally in 20+ years is still zero truck rentals.
Of course, this is day-to-day needs; moves not included. I have rented vans and box trucks to move.
That's you and your home and needs. But there are some other situations, people weekend taking boats and campers out, but I say if there's nothing in you bed, and never towing anything you Def don't need that truck. But I refuse to ever own a truck thay doesn't earn its insurance and fuel costs. The minute I'm not hauling and towing I'd be in a 6 cyl suv. Especially with this long ass fuel price height.
Lol
Depressing content is the only content that passes for entertainment in my life. Thanks for the vid city nerd!
I was completely shocked that he even considered this to be depressing. XD
The real life hack - Instead of spending $50k in a new pick-up. Buy a small, used pick-up for $15k and a small, economy car for like $10k. You save money, use less fuel and still have the cheap pick-up for the few times you need it.
Another option is to just rent a truck from Home Depot for $20 for the first hour! I know it's not as convenient but still a good option if you don't have the money for a second vehicle. :)
Really enjoy and appreciate your work -- even painful content like this. My wife and I have regularly decried to each other the proliferation of mammoth pick up trucks here abouts, used by people for commuting!
It's crazy stuff!
I am going to get a bit real, since this video really speaks to me. While I really think cars who's hood is more than 3 feet off the ground should need a class B license, we also really need traffic calming measures. Even a 10 year old RAV 4 is way bigger than the Honda Accord that I was in that got into a wreck over the weekend. Traffic calming would do a lot to calm people down. A line of reflectors before the blind curve that we got hit on would have saved my mom's life.
Reminds me of the time that I was walking across the street at a marked cross walk when a large truck came flying around the corner and nearly hit me. The driver swerved around me while yelling at me to "get off the road", albeit in less polite phasing.
And thays never happened with a speeding car ever? All types of cars are driven by unsafe, ignorant and irresponsible people.
@@ChesireRavenlol Of course not, the issue here though as presented in the video is that trucks are only exasperating the issues. Also, I fail to see where I praised cars. I'm all for a ruction of the use of personal vehicles of all types.
@@ChesireRavenlol It tends to be truck drivers more often, though 18wheeler drivers are nicer
@@pleasedontwatchthese9593
I think in the past they were nicer. Today, at least on interstates, a lot more of them don't seem to know what they're doing.
When you're driving 35 in a 30 in the fog at night down a 2 lane road with hairpin turns and a guard rail on oen side and a wall of rock on the other, and a guy in a pick up truck comes up behind you and starts flashing his headlights at you.
The funny part is, if auto makers built smaller trucks, I would absolutely buy one. I don't like the oversized pickups of today since I feel like they're more form over function.
I have a 2003 F-150, and the new Ford Ranger is the same size as my truck. I never really understood this. If the consumer wants the capability of a larger truck, they should get that truck. Not force the manufacturer to make the smaller truck bigger to handle that load.
This modern obsession with oversized pickups looks completely obscene.
I busted out laughing after 4:22: (as said with an engineer’s straight face) “this is what we call level of service A: a road with r lanes in each direction with no apparent traffic on it, is definitely the highest & best use of urban space”
While I like level of service A roads, what is the cycling equivalent?
I work with a retired man in his late 70s, he owns a massive ram pickup he recently bought new. Literally said he'd never put anything in it or he'd ruin the bed....??? Mind you he's pretty much retired, works 4 hours a day and lives alone and rarely leaves his house yet owns a gas hog truck for literally no reason
I see this a lot. 70-something men and women operating these tanks. People that are definitely not working in construction or landscaping or any kind of field requiring them to do heavy manual labor and haul equipment that requires a truck.
i think in a situatio like that they got bamboozled at a dealership and are a bit proud to admit it. The high profit margins mean larger vehicles prolly earn a better comission for salespeople
@@SarahKate365 “let people enjoy things!” Should only fishermen be able to own boats??
@@allsystemsgootechaf9885 I do enjoy boats, but boats are a very different story. You can't travel the ocean or out on a lake without a boat.
You don't need a huge honkin' truck to get groceries.
For the reasons presented in the video, the increasing number of mammoth vehicles, particularly trucks, out on the streets does pose many concerns. Especially when they're lifted!
@@allsystemsgootechaf9885 The fact that driving a pick-up is considered "fun" is the problem. In Vienna, driving around the block 3 times to find a parking spot is so annoying that I never drive. And that's with a Fiat 500, a huge 2 ton pickup would give just give me road rage and anxiety. I understand that if you spend 2 hours on the road each day, you want the best available option for your budget, so me personally I'm not blaming people for buying monster trucks. You might even trick yourself into thinking that being stuck in traffic is "enjoyable", still I'd rather just walk to the store and bike to work. That's even more funner.
I suspect the pickup problem will solve itself in ...50? years once the new generation of urban planners takes over and inevitably starts tearing down freeways and downsizing roads.
ESV
Emotional Support Vehicle
Picked that up from your CZcams channel…love it!
As someone who has worked construction for the last 7 years, trucks are very useful for specific things like hauling messy, irregular sized loads, and they're pretty good for towing, but other than that, service vans are absolutely more functional for everything else.
TLDR Even most professional trades people aren't driving trucks on a daily basis for work
I see the farm argument a lot. For doing truck things around the (small) farm we have an assortment of trailers. Open top with a dumper for dirty jobs, flat bed for flat things and machinery, one with a pop up cover for cleaner jobs. They can all be towed with tractor or a regular van.
To me, the elephant in the room regarding pedestrian safety is brush guards and steel bumpers. Modern vehicles are engineered with bumpers that give way to protect pedestrians in low speed collisions, but all that engineering goes out the window when someone hangs a huge bull bar on the front. In some countries, these are actually outlawed, but not here.
Also "trucks" are usually/frequently exempted from the pedestrian safety standards. Otherwise those huge flat grills at face level wouldn't pass.
@@kilpatds Trucks, in general, are held to less stringent safety standards in north america than passenger cars
Leaving oneself completely vulnerable to a ghastly collision with any of the herds of errant cattle that might wander the freeways? You environmental types sure have the wackiest ideas.
@@SofaKingShit that alone tells us everything about you. I've lived in the countryside nearly my entire life near a small rural town. And I've never seen cattle in the road before. I also travel in the highway regularly. What you have to look out for here is deer. And you're further proving our point actually. Why do you need a truck for long distance traveling on the highway? They're less fuel efficient, so you're just wasting money.
@@SofaKingShit Usually you buy them for pushing and to protect from brush, where I work not every truck has them so we have half the trucks having smashed up front ends.
People who own pickup trucks are the same people complaining about fuel prices now.
Thank you for pointing these issues out!
fun fact: the pedals on the for F-350 are spaced further apart than usual to accommodate the owner's enormous CLOWN SHOES
American roads have an arms race of getting bigger and bigger vehicles to make the driver safer and everyone else less safe.
What gets me is that buyers rushed out and bought oversized trucks and SUVs when gas was $3 per gallon.
Then they whined and complained when gas went to $6 a gallon - as if they thought gas would be $3 a gallon forever!
Some of the biggest assholes I have encountered on the road are those in those large trucks. They think they look cool, but they just look pathetic.
It is actually amazing that even professional users put up with a mostly stupid and useless design, guzzling tons of gas, wasting several feet of real estate on the massive snout etc.
Just check how much more modern and economic the majority of vehicles used by professionals in Europe is. Same vehicle length with double the bed length. And all this while using way more economical engines.
@@revivir1938Yeah, there is also not much there to protect you in the event of an accident. It also seemed silly that you had to tilt the entire cab to check fluids.
@@revivir1938 source?
Do urban golf courses next.
Nothing says "productive land use" like taking up 150 acres of city real estate that will only be used by a few hundred people per day. Especially in temperate climates where it can only be used for half the year.
didn't he already do that? i think it's his second video
He already did: czcams.com/video/Dhk7Y6NpJ9M/video.html
@@DannyLebsock I guess I missed that one, thanks!
My usual check for whether the pickup is a real working truck or what can only be characterized as a symbol of a certain kind of masculinity is:
1. Was it lifted? Lifted pickups are a significantly higher risk of rollover, and make it harder to get anything into or out of the truck bed, so in the kind of terrain near me they make zero sense if you're trying to do any work with it.
2. Is there anything resembling dirt on the vehicle? The symbolic pickups have a resounding "no" to that one.
And yes, a large majority of pickups in my area are symbolic trucks, not working trucks. As for the HVAC guys, plumbers, etc, they usually either drive a small box truck or a van, because they then have a nice protected place to put all their tools and spare parts. Landscapers usually put their stuff on a trailer that *may* need a pickup to pull well. The only professions I can think of that definitely use their trucks around here are farmers and home construction.
Nice -- I shoulda tightened up my criteria before I embarked on field work
Also check for dents near the bed of the truck. Symbolic trucks do not have such imperfections
idk how true it is but i've heard that f-150s and similar trucks from the '90s are still in high demand because farmers want smaller trucks for actual work
Landscapers can also get like a large bed on the truck for leaves and waste so they aren't wasting trailer space with waste, I also love mechanic service bodies. I'm personally tired of conventional beds myself, im to old to climb in it to get to my tool in the middle of my tool box lol.
99% of landscapers in AZ use a pickup truck of any kind with or without a trailer
Oh and another way to tell if it is actually used like a truck is if it has dents, trucks for show have zero dents along with zero dirt.
There are exceptions to this rule, I've seen shiny lifted trucks completely covered in mud and it isn't a super rare sight either.
People like HVAC technicians usually use vans, not pickups. Pickups are basically good for towing, carrying very bulky or messy cargo, and projecting an image of manliness / insecurity.
I’d blame car companies for this, too, though. I can’t imagine you’d complain about the new(ish) Ford Maverick. A vehicle so popular that Ford can’t keep up with demand.
My wife is an avid gardener, is always hauling around mulch, soil and landscaping stuff, and I’ve wanted a small, old school Ford Ranger (not the bigger newer one) or a Maverick for years now, and I really miss the old Toyota and Nissan mini-trucks.
A little off topic for this video but I love the fact that channels like yours exist on YT. It lets me know that not everyone agrees with the car-centered lifestyle that it seems like everyone in North American supports nowadays. I honestly haven’t met that many urbanists outside of the internet and although there are many articles that mention that younger generations are ditching the car, it just seems like most around me are immune to that trend. Getting back on topic, thanks for knocking the pickup truck. It seems like it’s more of a cultural need for most N Americans more than anything else.
Really? Everywhere I turn, someone's screaming in my face that I'm killing the planet if I drive anything that burns dead dinosaurs, or, increasingly often, that isn't powered by my own legs. What world do you live in.
@@mariusvanc You're obviously exaggerating quite a bit but I've been driving for years and I've never experienced what you're describing. Occasionally someone will remind me that I'm polluting the planet, and I tell them I only drive when I need to--otherwise I will bike because I enjoy biking, or I'll take public transit if it's convenient. What world do *you* live in?
@@mariusvanc sounds like a liberal city
what do you drive though
My problem with urbanists is their irrational hatred for cars. They seem to think they live in a world where either its suburban america or inner city paris with no in between. I'm pretty sure most of these guys have never rode on public transportation because they'd change their tune real fast if they knew how much it really sucks. Believe me, I exclusively used public transit for the 5 years I was in college.
3:18 "let's be real, most pickup trucks are not bought for actual work purposes..." What?!?! Every single pickup truck is driving around with a *full load* of sailboat fuel.
My retired dad swears me needs a truck his excuse is because “we have a house”
I have 6 houses and a van I can lock up my stuff and it stays dry if you are carrying sand and gravel regularly a tip truck maby but we use a trailer behind the van and can un hook it loaded and leave it on site and shovel into the mixer.
I grew up on a farm with horses, so my family had a good reason to own a pickup. But all too often one of our cars would be in the shop and we'd be forced to use the truck as a primary vehicle. A handful of times I had the misfortune of having to drive it to school. I whiteknucked it the whole way there. I hate driving in general, and my 2010 Toyota Camry often feels too big. The fact that people *choose* to drive giant trucks in the suburbs or city is astounding to me. Why???
Oh neat, now I can feel vindicated in my intese disposition against stupid, compensating, napoleon complex, stupid (again) hunks of dumb metal and the pure essence of a mid life crisis
The idea that you need to buy a pickup truck because you may have to haul something at some point really annoys me, people use the same logic when buying SUVs (that they can fit a lot of stuff in it for a trip). But 95% of the time these scenarios don't happen and the car is unutilized. This type of thinking certainly has to be manufactured by the car industry to sell big vehicles.
I believe in freedom and people should drive what they want to drive. But what I don't like is when people are coming up with bullshit reasons for driving their cars. At least be honest about it. The only reason 95% of people drive these big vehicles, be it SUVS or pick up trucks, is simply because they WANT to drive one. These cars are not necessary as a family car, neither do most people go offroad in the most bewildered places or haul heavy stuff for lets say, construction sites.
a lot of people get trucks just because they like the look of them. nothing wrong with that.
@@LS-Moto I believe in freedom too. With that said i want to drive a big tank and shoot at people that get in my way. Muh freedumbz. Was a bit of a sarcastic way to explain that freedom ends where it interferes with other peoples safety and freedom. That includes vehicles that with gigantic engines that cause carcinogenic exhaust fumes.
I am both a homeowner and a trades person. I have a real need for a pickup truck, however I am forced to use a minivan for that purpose rather than a pickup truck because I can no longer purchase one that is small enough to not be a hindrance yet capable of doing what I need it to do. Maybe it's partially my age, but I truly miss the small pickup segment
Older trucks that were once considered huge now look like midsized crossovers, that's crazy to me