What Is A Truck? (According to the EPA)

#ACwJ
What is a Truck, at least according to the EPA and NHTSA?
To most people, a truck would have space for a driver and an open bed for "stuff".
But with the rise of the SUV and CUV, as well as smaller work vans, the definition of what is a truck has gotten increasingly complex.
So, the government has come up with a simple 9-step flowchart to determine if a vehicle is classified as a "truck"
And it's critically important for automakers, as the emissions standards are much easier to meet for a truck than a passenger vehicle. That means more profits and more executive bonuses!
Spoiler alert - your mom's minivan is a truck.

Here's the EPA Automotive Trends Report if you want to read it:

[AllCarswithJon]

If you're curious to look up your car and what it's classified as, here's the link to the 2024 EPA Fuel Economy Guide:

[TheGOM-bk]

Calling an SUV a short bus is the most accurate description yet!

[maxswagcaster]

Asking the EPA to define a truck is like asking the ATF to define what is and isn’t legal

[davinp]

The CAFE standards is one reason Ford and GM don't want to make cars/sedans and minivans. They canceled them and only make SUVs and trucks. The other reason is those cars less profitable then trucks and SUVs

[sailingspark]

It's funny. My Landrover, a heavy body on frame SUV with four wheel drive, a V8, and good off-road capability, is considered a Station Wagon by the EPA, but the PT cruiser, a car based unibody with front wheel drive, no off road capability, and an almost inadequate engine, is consider a truck. Oh, and my Landy gets 13 mpg while the PT gets 24.

[nlpnt]

The '70s definition of "truck" was a cargo bed (could be enclosed like a van) *OR* 4-wheel-drive, and "corporations meddling in government" has a name, regulatory capture.

[FeatheredDino]

The EPA's strange classsifations of trucks is why some of the fastest cars sold in America in the 70's 80's and 90's, were infact factory hot rod pickup trucks.

The shining example of this being the Dodge Lil' Red Express.

[johnwrobel]

I remember when a full sized with passenger windows was a station wagon and without was a truck. In Michigan truck plates were considerably more expensive. There were a lot people using "station wagons" as work trucks. Government is good at making a mess. In my opinion, a CUV will always be a car.

[galaxieman]

I'm from the Govt. and I'm here to help. Great addition to the vid.

[carlpeters]

I once, as a single man, owned a minivan. It was the most versatile vehicle I've ever owned - and was most often used as a truck.

[jdgimpa]

I spent 45 years in the vehicle repair business. When Chrysler introduced the mini van in 1984 we got people coming in complaining that they didn't know that they had, by government standards, bought a truck! The same thing was true when the Jeep Grand Cherokee came out.

[benhonda]

The 90s ranger, s10, nissan d21 and Toyota pickups would cost about $20-$22k if sold today...but the epa standards make the less profitable...so now a "small" truck starts at $30k.

[robertallan]

Since several of us are former truck owners as personal vehicles trucks to us were a minimalist basic vehicle that was simple to operate, uncomplicated to fix, durable & long lasting that had a great deal of utility. Today's trucks are not defined this way. Rather they are overly complicated, luxo boats with very small beds and thus limited utility. What a pickup truck is today is very different than it was in our day which is 1950 to about 1985. All of us very much liked your video, Jon. As usual a great job in depth and insight. Thumbs up! We would like to ask that you do a video contrasting what vehicles meant to different owners of different eras. Today's pickup truck owner and his/her expectations are way different than ours were of our era. And, then ask and answer the question - Why?

[samcooper]

Thanks Jon, I have a 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan but have been kind of wanting some kind of truck lately. Now my wife will look at me every time I mention a Truck and tell me I already have one!

[roadtripboy]

The PT Cruiser was based on the NEON. I don't why people refuse to admit that.

[jamesmisener]

That was a wacky ride through governmental bureaucracy. Cheers 🇨🇦

[daveallen]

As far as I'm concerned, it it doesn't have an open load bed, it ain't a truck.

[SpeedyJourneys-td]

Great video, I think it deserves to be more known

[johnrobinson]

The government has defined the products that the customer doesn't want. Abolish NHTSA EPA CAFE etc. What a bunch of regulations for nothing

[jeffstellish]

Unintended consequences due to many factors. They (lawmakers) were attempting to allow trucks (like the Ram 2500) to exist with big engines and pulling power for farmers, contractors and citizens that need those trucks for various reasons. When Chrysler designed the PT Cruiser with a flat load floor to get the truck classification, they were simply using the law to help their CAFE numbers. The unintended consequence is this: the regulations encourage auto manufacturers to produce bigger vehicles. The laws make it very difficult to produce a high quality small car with high fuel economy, low emissions, high safety, high reliability and affordable price. When Chrysler was producing the Dodge Dart (2014), Chrysler 200 and Jeep Cherokee at the same time, they made a higher profit on the Cherokee and thereby dropped the other two to produce more of the Cherokee. The largest of the three (all built on a similar CUSW platform) and the one with the lowest overall fuel economy. We own a 2016 Jeep Cherokee (bought new) and love it, but I know people that would rather drive a Dart or 200, but those went out of production years ago. I don’t believe that this was the intention of the regulations. JS