Poll: Truck Owners Are a Loyal Bunch

In a survey of U.S. truck drivers, PickupTrucks.com found that 40 percent buy only domestic nameplates, 37 percent have a nickname for their pickup truck and only 41 percent think sex is more important than their truck.

While the majority of truck owners — 57 percent — say they “buy the truck that best fits my needs, whether it’s an American company or a foreign company,” 40 percent say they will only buy a U.S. nameplate. Three percent of those surveyed say they only buy foreign-made pickups.

The online survey of 1,068 truck owners age 18 and older was conducted in August.

In findings that may concern the Detroit Three automakers, the survey found that truck owners ages 18-24 had the least loyalty to U.S. brands with 30 percent saying they’ll only buy American. Pickup owners ages 55-64 were the most loyal with 46 percent saying they’d only buy Detroit’s trucks.

There was a similar age gap when looking at those owners who create a nickname for their ride. Overall, 37 percent of drivers say they’ve got a moniker for their hauler, and roughly half of all owners ages 18-34 have one; two-thirds of all drivers 35 and older said they didn’t name their trucks. For those older than 65, 80 percent said they didn’t bother with a nickname.

Staying with the softer side of truck owners, 64 percent said that they think their truck is a reflection of their personality. Again, younger drivers were more likely to say that (73 percent for ages 25-34) than older drivers (only 55 percent of drivers 55-62 agreed with that statement).

Perhaps one of the ways owners show off that personality is to sleep in their truck beds. Overall, only 35 percent claim they’ve done it, but for those owners 18-24, fully 50 percent claim to have nodded off in the back. Most telling is that 45 percent of drivers in the West said they had, but in the rest of the country, no region had more than 34 percent of drivers who had slept in the back.

Finally, we know trucks are important to their drivers, but the key question is, how important. We asked, “Which of these are more important than your truck?” We let respondents choose up to three answers, but the top four stood out:
1.    Spouse: 72%
2.    House: 60%
3.    Sex: 41%
4.    Dog/pet: 39%
5.    TV: 21%
6.    Sports team: 10%
7.    Other: 22%

It’s encouraging to think that truck owners are more concerned about their hubby, wife or significant other, and that they value having someplace to call home. But really, 41 percent see sex as more important than their truck? Priorities, people. It’s heartening to see that Fido gets some respect, too.

There are some real truck diehards out there; 2 percent said nothing — nothing! — is more important than their truck.

We’re pretty sure those guys are our readers.