If Only Logic Prevailed.(Column)(trucks and sports utility vehicle gaining popularity)

Byline: Rich Ceppos

The cards, letters and e-mails came rushing in just moments after my last column, "Get a Life, Get a Truck'' (June 12), landed in readers' mailboxes. Thank you one and all for writing-even those of you who called me an idiot (quite a few of you, actually).

Not only was my sanity questioned for daring to suggest trucks still have a legitimate place on the American road. But you also assaulted the intelligence, reasoning and morals of truck owners.

One gentleman writer called truck owners "sociopaths.'' Several blamed the government for lenient CAFE standards that enable big trucks to exist at all. Still others said Detroit's carmakers are guilty of foisting off big, dumb trucks on a witless, helpless public. On it went.

"If only logic prevailed'' was the overarching sentiment of this chorus of mewlers. "If logic prevailed, people would see they don't need these hulking, greenhouse-gas-belching, dangerous, rollover-prone, gasoline-swilling trucks.''

That's exactly right. If only logic prevailed, most of us would be making do with cars the size of Focuses equipped with tiny diesel or hybrid powertrains, and renting trailers from U-Haul when we needed to move our stuff-and liking ...