Diesel fuel sure has gone up a lot since I bought my first big truck in 1975. In Wyoming I was paying $0.34 a gallon for diesel. Yes I am older then dirt.
I bought that tractor to do a job and it did it very well. I ran coast to coast and border to border for 28 years. So you could say it was my DD.
You don't buy a diesel truck to get good fuel mileage. Its a tool to do a job. In my case it was tax deductible. As they say,you have to pay to play.
I also owned two diesel pick ups,a 99.5 ford F250 CC LB 4x4 7.3 and a 2006 F350 dully 6.0 . The 99 was for my truck camper and the 06 was for my fifth wheel.