Long and short of it

Or another option for sheet goods is an inexpensive utility trailer which offers more room than the long bed. In 1995 when I switched from regular cab to crew cab pickups I decided the long bed resulted in too long of a vehicle for my use. At that time I found a nice utility trailer locally that was $100 less than what GMC wanted for the price difference from a 6.5 to 8 foot bed pickup. Since then I have owned nothing but 6.5' bed pickups.

For those few times I need to carry longer stuff (like 11 foot hardwood boards I use for woodworking) I just hitch up the trailer and the rest of the time I have a much easier to park pickup.