GM changes pickup payload formula to match competitors after complaints

Last week, we told you about a brouhaha among Detroit's pickup builders over the practice used by General Motors and Ford to boost payload ratings by shedding some basic parts. Today, General Motors announced it would no longer use that trick — a move that will make for easier comparisons, but lower payload figures for all of its pickups.

While maximum payload statistics are just one data point in a bushel of numbers truck buyers consider, they're one of the key marketing points dealers use in the fierce battle among Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra, Ford's F-Series line, Chrysler's Ram division and the light-duty pickups of Nissan and Toyota. Only Ford and GM used the practice of setting a published payload figure by "minimum" curb weight — a number that raises the payload figure by deleting items like spare tires or the back bumper.

Ford and GM have defended the practice, saying their customers could order trucks without those features and that they were transparent about the process. While Ford uses the practice only for heavy-duty pickups, GM had applied it to both heavy and light-duty trucks for 2015. Today, GM said it would stop doing so for all 2015 pickups, both light and heavy-duty — and will apply the standard to the upcoming Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon mid-size pickups as well.

"This will make our curb weight and payload specs more consistent with those of most other truck makers, making it easier for customers to compare vehicles," said GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson.

It's not clear yet just how much the change will lower the published payload ratings on GM's pickups; the company said it was still calculating the changes. The move affects only the standard figures published on stat sheets and across the Internet; it doesn't change the custom payload ratings on the labels in every truck's door sill based on that vehicle's options. Along with the move by the automakers to adopt a single standard for measuring towing ratings, the change gives pickup buyers better information and a clearer way to compare models — a good step, even if it does mean some short-term embarrassment for GM.