That said, my favorite parts of the truck have less to do with raw power or hauling, and more to do with the "always on" parts of the truck owner costume. (The author's point about "all cars are drag" really resonates with me).
1) Cabin room. The bench seat in my truck is effectively a couch. I'm a heavy guy, and while I have no trouble fitting in something compact like a VW Golf, the truck is a different experience. It's the only class of vehicle where I feel that I have room to stretch my legs a little, literally. The bench seat doubles as a cargo space and lets me haul more fragile things with my arm around them, which I do considerably more often. The Dashboard shape and UI is straightforward and uncluttered, there's no bulky center console or strange contours the way you'd find in a modern vehicle. It's roomy in a way that goes beyond utility, and into more of a mental feeling of unrestrictedness that I really enjoy. It's more like a living room than a cockpit. I have found no other class of vehicle that does this. If I could get a BMW 3 series with the interior proportions of a 2008 pickup, I would be very interested.
2) Similar to that cognitive effect, I find that one of my favorite parts of owning a truck is the idea of "the answer's always yes".
It's a constant surplus of optionality. If I find a cool piece of furniture, someone's giving away something interesting at the office or on the side of the road, there are various "once in a lifetime" or just "right place right time" things I'm always allowed to consider. I say no to most of these anyway, because they're silly regardless of whether you can actually pull off the logistics. But the times I've said yes have come close to paying for the truck with just the cash value of what I've picked up. When this is good, it's really good. Having a crappier truck helps too. I beat the hell out of it with no remorse. Scratched the paint loading a grill the other day. Glanced to assess the damage, moved on. That's what I bought it for. This isn't truck exclusive, but it's peaceful.
3) Being "that friend with a truck" is kinda nice. Sure it's a pain in the ass to be asked, and worse, expected, to help with so-and-so's move by some coworker you've hardly ever spoken to. But many of my more urban friends are really kind and generous to me in ways that better suit their ways of life – inviting me to events or consulting on hipster things that are out of my wheelhouse. I feel like a bit of a misfit sometimes, since my hobbies and ambitions are decidedly more redneck than most of my friends. So I appreciate that I have something from the other side that I can offer in return. Junk removal especially – random crap piling up seems to be a legitimate stressor on a lot of my friends and their relationships. Pulling off a dump run is a big feat for them, and it's simple for me to do for free. I'm amused by how grateful some of these people are. You'd think I paid for their kid's college when all I did was make a chair disappear. This dynamic probably disappears in rural america, but it's nice in a big city.
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If I had to do it over, I'd buy a smaller truck, like a vintage tacoma or raptor. If this size of truck comes back, electric or otherwise, I think there's a lot of demand.
As car sharing gets really good, this might get easier. Sure I can rent a pickup from home depot for $20/hr, but that requires getting to home depot, filling out a bunch of paperwork, it's a whole affair that feels very constraining. As this friction is innovated away, I definitely see "truck on demand" as a function of the gig economy, and I look forward to feeling like this this is a thing I don't need to own full time.