I contend, knowing farmers who use their trucks for work every day, they can’t do their job without them.
So the question becomes, do we need regulation about who can buy a big truck? I contend that no, regulation just creates loopholes.
Did I say "no more trucks?" No, I didn't. My complaint isn't the existence of trucks. My complaint is trucks that are MASSIVE for no reason.
I would also hazard a guess that the same farmers you're talking about have driver's licenses that cost more money and require more stringent testing to get, which is suitable when they are regularly driving vehicles like tractors, that can pancake a standard car. And like, at this point, you really should need a CDL for anything larger than an F-250.
I would also hazard a second guess that your farmer friends would find their trucks easier to use if they were lower to the ground and had smaller wheels, as pickup trucks did in the 80's and 90's, before the CAFE standards the auto industry begged for went into effect and allowed them to make the land mammoths that are now common in suburbs all over the United States, owned by not-farmers.
> So the question becomes, do we need regulation about who can buy a big truck?
No, we need regulation that states how big a truck can be and still be a consumer vehicle. And, we need an end to the subsidies in this country both on fuel itself and on the engines that it operates in vehicles people buy that make them financially feasible in a way they wouldn't otherwise, and failing that, there needs to be steep increases in gas and registration taxes and fees to account for how abusive these vehicles are to the roads they operate on and the communities they operate in. And once they actually cost what they should, the market can decide. If our accountant is just THAT COMMITTED to his F-350 SuperCrew with the 8 foot bed that he uses to buy groceries, that's completely fine! Assuming he can pay for it.
Farmers with penis extension trucks, ute's, oversized bull bars, vanity spotlights et al are a thing .. but those vehicles are not essential for farm work .. they're there for the circle work.
We have farm vehicles, actual three trailer semi prime movers for road trains, modified nine tonne trucks, two storey high combines, chaser trucks for binning grain, ex military trucks for off road fire protection, etc.
These are not the road trucks the GP comments are rightfully complaining about.
They are not necessary for farming, it's commonplace to farm without them.
If US farmers are overly attached to a penis extension with dog balls and claim they are unable to live without them then that's a pathological condition, not a fact.
[1] within reason, not to the point that it blinds aircraft, neighbors, etc.