[Big Dave]

Aerohead:
We are thinking very close. I start with three things.
1.Lengthen out my 80" box to 100"
2.A diamond plate load deck and side walls
3.A transition bulkhead to present the cleanest possible transition from the cab shape to the "squashed oval" before you reach the wheel wells

At some point you have to make a shape for a job. Pickups are designer nightmares because of the wide range of missions they are asked to do. Caps are popular, so I deduce many people can live without the open bed, but the classic pickup mission is 4x8s. If you can haul 4x8s, you've got a truck.

Got a question. My C-pillar wil induce a vortex. Would it be better to use metal "fences" to pin the vortex on top of the bed or would it be better to quickly toss it to the side. I'm thinking the forner but mostly intuition. Aircraft use fence to pin the votices on top of the lifting surface, but then they are looking for more lift. Winglets are nothing more than fences that hold the tip vortex on the wing. Whaddaya think?

Jamesqf:
I'm a Kelly Johnson kinda guy. Keep It Simple Stupid. Electrify the main lines and Interstates. That is where the high load-high speed (ergo high fuel consumption) action is. Let the IC engine do what it does best, providing flexibility. I remember the old urban trolley catenaries. I also remember people hated those things.

BTW trains have been doing pulse and glide from the git-go. An engineer will run his train under power til he passes the "ruling grade" of the segment then he coasts the rest of the way. Sometimes the ruling grade is the next division point but that means the train going to opposite direction passes his ruling grade at the yard limit.