I had a 09' Cummins with a 6 speed manual and had a similiar commute. Ran it in lower gears, ran with the exhast brake on, the truck was in the shop more than I can remember. Turbo cleaned, turbo replaced, 2 EGR's replaced, 02 sensor, check engine lights... etc all within 12,000 miles. Got rid of it and went with a 5.7 2500. Understand though my diesel was pre DEF so that didn't help.
I guess my opinion would be to go with the 6.2 or similiar gasser if it were my money and I wasn't towing a large 5th wheel. The current crop of gassers, although they certainly aren't in the same league as the new diesels for towing, still get the job done and they do it well. In my opinion they make for better daily drivers, just let em rev like they were designed to.