I don’t understand this argument, as they seem incredibly impractical for that. There is very little space for ‘stuff’, there is only the uncovered bed which is relatively small. The bed is also at an awkward height so very impractical to get stuff in or out. Since the bed is open, you always have to take all your ‘stuff’ out, you can’t leave tools in there or anything of value or it will get stolen. If you put a hard cover on. it leaves even less space. And since a large part of the vehicle has no roof you cannot have a roof rack.
You do not see these used by people in construction or other trades here in Europe. They use vans. An (extended) van has an ungodly amount of lockable storage space, easily accessible with side and back doors, with a floor at a reasonable height and if that isn’t enough you with a roof rack you can strap a lot to the roof as well.
I really don’t see how something like an F-150 is more practical for ‘hauling stuff’ than something like a Mercedes Sprinter.
I did look up some numbers (used the most capable configuration I could find for each of the vehicles):
Max bed length for an F-150: 247cm Max cargo space length for a Sprinter: 481cm
Bed/cargo width: F-150: 126cm, Sprinter 178cm Bed/cargo height: F-150: 54cm, Sprinter: 200cm
Max. payload capacity: F-150 : 1106kg, Sprinter 1477kg for the extra-long version, 2447kg for the long version.
It isn’t the only way but yes a truck is very practical. That’s why they are used so much in the US. The difference between the US and the EU isn’t just arbitrary either. In the US gas (sorry, petrol) is a lot cheaper, roads are bigger, wider, longer, and sometimes you need to tow a large trailer. I tower a 3 ton excavator with my truck to build my home office.
People who need a pickup bed for work usually buy those that come with the chassis of a commercial VAN which have a much bigger bed than you'd ever dream of on a Ford F series.
The rest are simply getting delivered or using trailers, either rented when used sporadically or bought. A trailer is usually at a more decent height and you don't have to carry the weight and have to manage a huge vehicle when you actually don't need all the space.
Basically I can tell you that yes there are a lot of advantages. Another thing is carrying things like fill or gravel. Good luck with a van on that one. And while delivery is an option it depends on how accessible the area where you want it delivered is.
Look you are trying to convince me that there are no upsides to using a picking where I live based on how things work where you live. I am telling you from personal experience that there is tangible utility to it and you are telling me from no experience that there cannot possibly be utility to it since where you live things are done differently, discounting any notion of specifics of either place. Do you see why this is absurd?
I had no compunction to fill it with debris, earth, sand etc. but that’s not something your European tradesman does. He uses a separate trailer.
* https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/2005_Cit...