The Hidden Danger of Big Pickup Trucks

Full-sized pickups command the marketplace. The three best-selling vehicles in the U.S. are trucks: the Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado, and Ram 1500. Pickups now count for 1 of every 5 new vehicles sold. Within the segment, full-sized trucks have become even more popular than compact or midsized models. Full-sized trucks, such as the F-150, Silverado, Ram 1500, Toyota Tundra, and Nissan Titan, hold 79 percent of the pickup market as of 2020, up 12 percent from 2000.

Safety advocates say that truck designers could lower hoods or reduce weight, but automakers are reluctant to do so because pickups are a major source of profit. Industry analysts say that offering bigger trucks with imposing front ends has been a factor in a winning sales strategy.

“Trucks could look less tough, but you don’t want to be the one to make your truck look soft,” says Tyson Jominy, vice president for data and analytics at J.D. Power. He estimates that an automaker might make four to five times more money on a pickup than a sedan, partly because manufacturing a truck is simpler and because buyers will pay more for a pickup. “You can charge a lot for the capability, for the image.”

Automakers are also selling a lifestyle, says Angie Schmitt, founder and principal at 3MPH Planning and Consulting, a firm focused on pedestrian safety. She points to ads with trucks at construction sites, hauling massive trailers, and racing over sand dunes. “They’re not hiding the fact that they’re marketing these trucks as being really macho and a display of masculinity or prowess,” she says. “That’s a big part of the marketing, and I think that it works.”

Trucks with luxurious amenities and prices north of $60,000 can also be status symbols. “They’re absolutely not typically a choice for the average American car buyer,” says Bernard Swiecki, director of research at the Center for Automotive Research. He estimates that the typical pickup buyer’s median household income is $60,000 a year higher than the average American household’s income.

And the government provides incentives for purchasing larger trucks. They aren’t subject to gas guzzler taxes, heavy-duty trucks are held to looser fuel-economy standards than cars and smaller trucks, and small-business owners get a bigger tax write-off for buying a heavier vehicle—even if their work doesn’t require it. “There’s no shortage of accountants encouraging this loophole,” says Dave Cooke, senior vehicles analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists.