Yeah I really don't get it.

I drive an old pickup truck with a standard sized bed. Every time I've needed the bed of the truck, I've needed it to be as big as it is. If it was as short as modern truck beds I'd be making more trips or hiring a U-Haul or something.

I get a normal, functional bed AND it's still a normally sized vehicle that's easy to drive and park. When this vehicle eats shit, whoever makes a normal sized pickup is getting my money.

A “regular bed” has always been an 8ft bed for the last 60-odd years. Look at any full-sized Ford, GMC, AMC, or Chevrolet pickup from the 70s, 80s, or 90s -- it’s nearly impossible to find one with anything but an 8ft bed. If you wanted anything shorter you went with a “toy truck” like the Mazda B2000 to B2600i, or a Toyota Tacoma.

It’s just the utter lack of 8ft beds in full-sized modern (last 10-15 years) trucks that has had the industry reclassifying uselessly lobotomized truck beds as “regular” and normal-length beds as “extended”

I had an 06 Ford Ranger (actually a Mazda). RWD with a 4 cylinder and a 5 speed. No frills at all. That was a phenomenal truck. You could put snow tires on it, throw some sand bags in the bed, and go just about anywhere.

So today's 'trucks' have just slightly more storage space than my old Mini Cooper did. Neat. Like can you legit fit like a bike or 4-wheeler in that?

Most new trucks are basically just luxury SUVs for men who stomp their feet and say they want the boyyyy car, not the mom one.

Note to any offended truck owners: I said most! Some of my best friends are truck owners! :>

Actually true! And the best part is that my truck-owning friends are petite women. But they both do actual farm work in addition to their day jobs, so their trucks are beat up and dirty workhorses.

They insist on lending me a truck any time I need to do a big lumber run to home depot. You know that old saying about instead of owning X you want multiple generous friends who own X, lol.

In addition, I have been busy this summer and I have literally spent a couple grand on lumber for what is hopefully a once in a lifetime project. Believe it or not, I'm still driving an old Mazda3 and didn't have to buy a truck! (Granted, my initial purchase was so big that I would have paid the delivery fee even if I daily drove a Canyonero with a trailer)

2 things:

1. The new truck has 4 doors. That's a crew cab.
2. Part of the reason for today's massive trucks is a change in CAFE regs starting in 2012 that bases fuel economy standards on vehicle footprint. It's easier to make a larger footprint than a more efficient vehicle.

Towing and having a real back seat. I'm really not sure what's so complicated.