Sure this is true, but living in Texas I can tell you most people do not need them, and pay for them as status symbols. There are more trucks today than there have ever been, and fewer people working jobs that need them. The explosion in growth comes from marketing.
As for just truck-centric solutions, I'd say there needs to be a minimum bed size limit and some sort of ratio for bed size to cab/engine size. There is no reason that 2/3rds of the truck is not bed. Trucks should be at least 50% bed. If a truck is a utility vehicle it doesn't need to look sexy, it can look like a Kei truck.
Trucks should also have height limits and be tested for visibility. If you cant see a child or a coupe next to your truck, it is too high. Not to mention that high beds suck for utility compared to low beds.
I think trucks should be designed so that the only reason you would ever own a truck is if you needed to move things. If you want something "manly" trucks should be so utilitarian that they don't even factor into consideration.