> realize how many semis on the road are entirely empty
I'm sure semis are empty after they've dropped off a load at a destination and there is no commensurate return load back to where they came from. But given that semis are very expensive to move down the road, both from a human resource cost and an energy cost, I suspect the market is far better at optimizing that than you or I or any central operator could do.
Everyone I know that owns F150s use their truck beds or use their hitch to tow. I'm not sure what the big controversy is, except there seems to be a class of urbanites that are convinced they know other people's own needs better than they do. "They don't need a truck," says the Brooklyn blogger, who then proceeds to snark about a foreign micro truck that's normally used to skirt through the narrow streets and alleyways of Tokyo. The blogger has prob never owned acreage, cut lumber, smoked a brisket on-location, or hauled a load, but they know for sure that these silly Americans don't need a truck that's any bigger than a Prius.
Trucks are great. Unparalleled utility when you need it and comfortable to drive. Comes in handy often as a homeowner. Its not surprising people in a dense city wouldn’t want one but obviously they have lots of utility.
And most people rarely need a pickup truck for its specifically design utility. They likely just want a safer car which is essentially an arms race at that point. I think less pickup trucks on the road would be a good thing considering how the majority of people drive.
Semis/tractor-trailers are still a problem. Sure, they can make them run off batteries, but you have to forgo a lot of cargo capacity to do so, which makes the economics tough.
Sounds like you'd find cars more 'usable' and don't need/use trucks for the unique things they offer, which is towing and hauling things bigger than groceries.
Most people don't need a truck, maybe, but the three top-selling vehicles in the US are trucks. And in 2017 only 35% bought cars, with the rest being trucks and SUVs.
We don't need to own the exact same car. However, unless it is absurdly cheap a car with 100 miles or less of range is unlikely to sell in sufficient numbers in the United States to be viable to produce.
A car is an expensive enough purchase that most consumers want a vehicle that will cover as many of their potential use cases as they can afford. This is why you see a lot of suburbanites buy pickup trucks. They don't need it for 99% of the year, but it comes in really handy for that 1% of the time where they are buying lumber from Home Depot, throwing an already put together barbecue grill in the bed (because why not, it costs the same as the one in the box with the barely written in English instructions), or going off the beaten trail to go deer hunting with your buddy from college.
Urban person here. Anything I go on a trip or go camping (many times a year), or have to move or help someone else move (unfortunately also many times a year), I wish I had a truck. I'm paying for a vehicle anyway, why not have one that does everything I need?
They are also useful if you own your own business that requires moving things around.
Note that I do not own a truck, I just wish I did.
The parts used to make your car were likely delivered to the factory by a semi truck, and not by another car. Should you buy a semi truck to go to the mall then, since even the carmaker thinks that cars aren't good enough? Obviously not. Different requirements are a thing.
> The majority of people need a truck a few times a year at most.
There's a big grey area around the word "need". The list of things that can be done with a truck, that can't be done with a strong-ish car/van and a trailer, plus elbow grease and planning, is almost certainly tiny. The availability of a truck, though, will change (and probably simplify) a LOT of that marginal problem-space, even if it isn't strictly needed.
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