I live where it seems more than half the vehicles on the road are pickup trucks. Agriculture is the primary industry around here, but many who are driving trucks definitely don’t need them.

There are so many excuses it’s almost entertaining to ask people why they chose a more expensive, less efficient vehicle when they use the ‘truck’ function less than once per year.

“But snow…”, my outback does just fine. “But yard waste (and/or any material one would only very occasionally haul in the box)…”, ever heard of a utility trailer? And the worst one, “but it’s safer…” right, it’s easier to roll, heavier so takes longer to stop, light in the rear so easier to lose control, and more blind spots.

I feel this is an unintended consequence of fuel efficiency regulations, and you can see it in the vehicles offered by manufacturers. Trucks were deemed ‘commercial vehicles’ so had less strict efficiency requirements than cars, therefore manufacturers found it easier to just sell larger vehicles than to try to meet the difficult efficiency standards for small cars.