People in the Third World constantly overload their trucks. They run them in the Himalayas and the Andes at 18,000 feet. The don't get much maintenance and parts are hard to find, but they keep running. Small diesel trucks run the economies of most countries in the world except the US.
One of the reasons small diesel engines will be so popular is that the RV industry has gone on a diet since the last Recession. RVs have gotten smaller and lighter. So now the trucks can also.
I know plenty of people that haul large stock trailers full of cattle or 10 horses around on terrible roads in the mountains. For those uses the big diesels are going to be best. Some people think they need a trailer over 30 feet. They fall in the same category. But for most people, lighter more manageable RVs can easily be towed with the new 1/2 trucks with 6 cylinder diesels.
A trip to Europe is very eye opening. Over half the cars are diesels. All the trucks are. They drive fast in places like Germany. People drive and pull RVs but they are much smaller than the ones here. The Europeans committed to taxes on fuel to raise the price. They have already pioneered smaller RVs and smaller diesels. The US has been slow to embrace the technology.
