Being as Soup is hailing from Maine, the winter performance issues are very apropos.
Kid may feel like he is ready to be Tough Truck Guy but is he ready to put in Tough Truck Effort (like a pro would have to) in order to keep it going. The Truck won’t keep itself going with its own Toughness. Something like a V6, gasoline powered Ford F250 might be the better way to go.
haven’t seen a 6 cylinder f-250 since the 80s when the 300 inline was still in use.
I think the smallest you can get in a f-250 is a 5.4. Great motor but both version have spark plug issues.