I spent the better part of last week in Amarillo, TX at the Cliffside Helium Enrichment Plant. This plant was a major source of the helium in the U.S. and my company (Messer) is currently working on an O&M contract with the BLM to get it back up and running properly. The BLM is
looking to sell this property, so obviously we have a big incentive to get it up and running and then eventually put in a bid for purchase since helium is a huge market for us.
The US produces 40% of the world’s helium supply, with the majority coming from the Federal Helium Reserve (FHR). The FHR has reserved all the helium molecules found on federal land since 1925, and purchased crude helium extracted by natural gas producers for storage at its facility in Amarillo, Texas. The FHR is currently the only helium storage facility in the world and has sold crude helium to private companies since 1996. Gas from this plant was historically used in airships, nuclear reactors/facilities, and spaceships, but today is used in more common applications like MRI machines as well as in chip and harddrive manufacturing.
I had what many would consider the "king of the baby truck" market for a few days on my trip; I can say without a doubt, I'll never own one, and especially never a Gladiator. After two decades of trying, I still don't see the appeal for baby/midsize trucks...
For starters, I'm just too damn big...
Second, they just aren't as comfortable. The seats are truck-like but not truck sized, so certainly nothing comparable even to the base model 1/2-ton. Now granted, I'm a big dude and have some bias there, but my wife's Grand Cherokee is similar in size but is way, way more comfortable (did 14 hours on our trip to Myrtle Beach without a single sore spot - I drove this thing from OKC to Amarillo and was dying to get out!). I've driven a number of other midsize trucks as well (Tacoma and Frontier) and they all follow this trend of "meh" seating.
Third would be gas mileage. Over 4 tanks of gas, I averaged 16.7 mpg (per the dash gauge) with this stock JTUR. The Ram Rebel 5.7L Hemi that I drove from DFW back to Phoenix was around 18 mpg, with considerably more space, HP, and torque.
Fourth would be parking. They're really no easier to park than a 1/2 ton and I had to back into a number of parking spots (I back in anyways for company policy, but 90% of the spots I parked at would have required backing in no matter what).
Fifth is the ride. This thing rode no smoother than my LJ. Steering was somewhat vague at speed and feedback was poor. It is a pickup truck and I suspect some extra weight in the bed would help smooth things out a little bit, but this was beating me up on the backroads.
There were some things that were nice - like the factory backup camera being so clear it looked like a photo and the ZF transmission was VERY NICELY programmed, with no annoyingly early/late up or downshifts. The 3.6L is decently tuned as well and with the ZF behind it, it moves nicely. But overall, the JTUR was not impressive to me especially considering the cost of these things new. Even if I fit better and it had better ergonomics, I don't know as I could deal with one as a daily driver. Not ragging on the JT, just saying it (or any baby truck to date) isn't something I'd own
Now with that, when in Rome (or in this case Amarillo)...
Even got "ducked" while grabbing dinner with some coworkers...