I recently found myself checking out a used Sierra pickup with a stepside bed. I've been thinking about getting a pickup, and in thinking about this particular truck, I'm reminded of something I've never quite been able to figure out.
What is the purpose of the stepside bed? Don't get mad - I'm really asking. Almost every manufacturer has produced them at one time or another, so there has to be an advantage.
It seems like you get a pretty significant reduction in cargo area, and it seems to break the lines of the truck. I'm not sure about aerodynamics, but I'd guess they suffer slightly too.
I feel like I'm missing something. Is having the step on the side of the truck so big an advantage as to outweigh the disadvantages?
I searched the web and found lots of people talking about stepsides, but I couldn't find the why.