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2020 GMC Sierra Denali HD
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4 New Heavy-Duty Pickup Trucks with the Highest Payload

Sometimes, a job requires the big guns. A midsize or light-duty full-size pickup just isn’t enough truck. That’s when buyers turn to heavy-duty trucks, the kind that often have multiple rear wheels on each side. Going for maximum payload capacity, as with other trucks, does require smaller cabs. Lighter engines, too, which also affects maximum …
by Matthew Skwarczek
Published on
2 min read

Sometimes, a job requires the big guns. A midsize or light-duty full-size pickup just isn’t enough truck. That’s when buyers turn to heavy-duty trucks, the kind that often have multiple rear wheels on each side. Going for maximum payload capacity, as with other trucks, does require smaller cabs. Lighter engines, too, which also affects maximum towing. But, if you’re buying a heavy-duty truck, you’ve got bigger things to worry about. Below you’ll find the top four heavy-duty trucks with the highest payloads that you can buy at the dealer today.

2019 Nissan Titan XD

Nissan Titan XD
A Nissan Motor Co. Motorsports Titan XD pickup truck, featuring a factory 3-inch lift kit and other accessories, sits on display during the Chicago Auto Show in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018. | Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images

As with the light-duty truck list, Nissan is the only non-American manufacturer here (Toyota doesn’t offer a heavy-duty version of the Tundra). Unfortunately, even with a 5.6-liter V8, the Titan XD (for ‘eXtra Duty’) is a distant last in terms of max payload. Most of the blame comes down to a lack of a dual-rear-wheel option. Less a pure heavy-duty truck than an upgrade over the normal Titan, the most the 2019 Titan XD Single Cab S (2020 specs are not available yet) can muster is a max payload of 2990 lbs.

2020 Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD/GMC Sierra 3500HD

Chevrolet Silverado HD
Mark Reuss, president of General Motors Co. (GM), sits in a Chevrolet 2020 Silverado HD pickup truck during a reveal event at the GM assembly plant in Flint, Michigan, U.S., on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. | Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg via Getty Images 

While the Chevrolet-GMC siblings have traded places in the mid-size and light-duty truck lists, their DRW-equipped heavy-duty versions have identical max payloads. When fitted with the 6.6-liter V8, Regular Cab, and DRW, the 2020 Silverado 3500HD and Sierra 3500HD both have a maximum payload capacity of 7442 lbs. Picking between the two is largely a question of interior. The GMC Sierra may be the one with a multi-position tailgate, but Truck Trend (MotorTrend’s truck-focused arm) was impressed with both trucks’ 2020 updates.

2019 Ram 3500

Ram 3500 HD
A Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA) 2019 Ram 3500 heavy duty pickup truck is displayed during the 2019 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. | Sean Proctor/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Although the Ram 3500’s biggest party piece is arguably its 6.7-liter Cummins turbodiesel inline-six (1000 lb-ft!), the truck as a whole has a lot more to offer. While 2020 model year specs haven’t been released yet, TruckTrend echoed MotorTrend in singing the 2019 model’s praises. And the monster diesel is actually not the engine to get if your aim is maximum payload capacity. With DRW and the 6.4-liter Hemi® gas V8, the 2019 Ram 3500 Tradesman 4×2 can handle payloads up to 7680 lbs.

2020 Ford F-Series Super Duty

2020 Ford F-Series Super Duty
2020 Ford F-Series Super Duty | Ford

With the 2020 model year specs recently revealed, Ford’s Super Duty trucks top this list. Ford has not specified which individual Super Duty has the highest payload at this point, though it’s safe to assume DRW will be required to reach that number. As with the Ram 3500, if you’re after max payload, the standard gas engine is the one to pick. Ford rates its 2020 Super Duty series with the 6.2-liter gas V8 with a maximum payload capacity of 7850 lbs.

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MotorBiscuit Staff Writer, Producer - Sedans & Coupes

Matthew Skwarczek

Matthew Skwarczek started blogging in 2015 and focuses his writing on motorcycles and engineering science. A graduate of Northwestern University, where he earned his Master’s in Chemical Engineering, Matthew served as an applications engineer for BASF before joining MotorBiscuit in 2019.

In Matthew’s words, the visceral nature of riding requires you to be in the moment. Combined with his fascination in the analytics surrounding the building and designing of cars and bikes, both modern and classic, you’ll find his voice blends functionality and phenomena. He rides motorcycles and bicycles often, photographing them as well.

Matthew has contributed to Oppositelock and is now an alumnus. He plays Dungeons & Dragons and reads sci-fi and fantasy in his spare time, and appreciates the works of Peter Egan, Sam Smith, Brandon Sanderson, and Alex Goy.