The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is a weird little truck that’s more of an SUV than a truck. I say that because it feels a lot like its Tucson stablemate — which rides on the same chassis – but has the added utility of a truck bed. Nonetheless, I put my unique Santa Cruz Limited tester through its paces by helping a friend move a dresser. Fortunately, it worked, but not without a little help.

The Hyundai Santa Cruz’s bed size is small, but it gets the job done

If you’re thinking about comparing the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz to other trucks like the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier, think again. The Santa Cruz is much smaller, which means that if you’re looking for a five- or six-foot truck bed size, then you’ll need to get a bigger truck. According to Forbes, the Santa Cruz’s truck bed is 48.4 inches long – or a little over four feet – which isn’t that much space.

In fact, I found out that it’s barely enough space to fit a three-drawer dresser. I helped a friend move this small piece of furniture to the donation center and upon loading it, I was surprised that it almost fit. The dresser’s legs hung out of the bed by less than an inch, which meant that I couldn’t safely fold the tailgate up and secure it.

And while the Santa Cruz’s built-in tonneau cover is really handy, I found out that it can’t be removed from the bed, so it eats up some space when it’s retracted. Overall, the whole ordeal wasn’t that much of an issue as we were able to use a tie-down strap to secure the dresser in place.

There are other handy storage solutions for other stuff

In case the Santa Cruz’s truck bed is too small, there are other places to put stuff. There is a small in-bed trunk area that can house a few small items. There’s even a drain plug-in there so that you can use the trunk as a cooler for drinks and then drain the water afterward. If you need even more space, then you can utilize the Santa Cruz’s rear seat area as I did.

The rear-seat cushions fold up to reveal a storage bin that can hold loose items like groceries. Also, when it came to housing larger items, like the three drawers for the dresser I moved, the rear-seat area accommodated everything very nicely.

The Santa Cruz is a small truck, but it works

Overall, it might take a little “furniture Tetris” to get your large or small cargo to fit the way you want it. But with a little patience and creativity – not to mention a 1,500-pound payload –  the Santa Cruz can transport almost anything you need it to. It might not be the biggest truck in the market, but it’s safe to say that the 2022 Santa Cruz is there for you when you need it.

But if what you need to transport is too big, then you can use tie-down straps or perhaps opt for a larger truck. Otherwise, the Santa Cruz has everything you need in a compact truck/SUV.