It all started on a Monday morning in Gardena, California. On the flatbed gooseneck trailer hitched to the back of my 2025 Ram 3500 HD Laramie dually were three pallets of heavy-duty horse mats and a Chevrolet Colorado ZR2—altogether tipping the scales at nearly 15,000 pounds. My job? Haul this load over 2,300 miles to MotorTrend’s satellite office in Royal Oak, Michigan. The deadline? Four days.
Now, I’d heard the buzz about Ram’s 2025 refresh—especially the beefed-up 6.7L high-output Cummins inline-six diesel, pushing out 430 horsepower and 1,075 lb-ft of torque. That’s 30 more horses and 75 lb-ft more twist than before. The upgraded ZF TorqueFlite HD 8-speed automatic transmission was supposed to handle all that muscle without breaking a sweat. But talk is cheap. I wanted to see how this truck worked when the pressure was on.
We had the 8-foot bed, dual rear wheels, four-wheel drive, and a factory-installed gooseneck hitch—good for a maximum trailer weight of 33,890 pounds. While that number doesn’t quite catch Ford’s monstrous 40,000-pound claim, it comfortably beats GM’s 36,000. But let’s be honest—most hotshot haulers don’t max these trucks out every day. Fifteen thousand pounds was plenty to test real-world capability.
And that’s where the Ram 3500 shined.
On a steep climb near Davis Dam, I floored it. The Cummins roared to life. The ZF box didn’t hesitate—it dropped gears decisively, unleashing torque like a locomotive. This wasn’t some twitchy, confused transmission trying to second-guess the driver. It felt mechanical, confident.
One of my favorite upgrades? Ram ditched the rotary dial gear selector and brought back the column-mounted shifter. After a 47-point turn to line up the trailer in the cramped yard, that column shifter felt like a blessing. There’s something deeply satisfying about snapping it from Drive to Reverse over and over, just like the old days.
The first leg of the journey was 235 miles. I topped off with 26.2 gallons of diesel and did some quick mental math: With a 32-gallon tank and 10 mpg under load, I could reasonably expect 250 miles between fill-ups. Of course, mountain passes and headwinds would tank that number—and they did, occasionally down to 2 mpg. But on flat stretches, cruising with the adaptive cruise set, the number returned to a steady 10 mpg.
New Mexico was chaos. High winds, bone-dry air, and an accident ignited a brushfire that shut down I-40 in both directions. Smoke blanketed the horizon like war fog. I crept past smoldering cars and emergency crews after a two-hour delay, reminded again that trucking life isn’t always under your control.
When the road finally opened, I started seeing Buc-ee’s billboards every few miles. Whoever runs their marketing department deserves a raise—those signs made me crave brisket sandwiches halfway across Arizona.
Through the Midwest, the truck practically drove itself. With adaptive cruise, lane centering, and a smart exhaust brake system, I found I could keep my foot off the pedals for hours. The exhaust brake responded smoothly on downgrades, and the lane centering didn’t bounce the truck around like lesser systems do. Speed changes were handled with a quick flick of my thumb on the steering wheel buttons.
After multiple five-hour driving stretches, I came to appreciate the interior more and more. The 8-way adjustable seats could go from upright hauler mode to full-on recliner in seconds. Ram’s team clearly put thought into layout, too—every control for tow/haul, transfer case, exhaust brake, and climate is easily reachable. Even the wireless charging dock held my oversized phone case without slipping.
Noise and vibration were impressively well managed. Even when I leaned into the turbo or engaged the exhaust brake, the cabin was surprisingly quiet. At times, I almost missed the raw diesel clatter of an old-school big rig—but I sure didn’t miss the fatigue.
I do have one gripe: working from the truck stop with my laptop was a bit awkward. Ram’s center console doesn’t fold flat like Ford’s, so I had to slide over to the passenger seat to type up reports. It’s not a dealbreaker, but for $90,000+, you start noticing the little things.
Once the load was dropped off in Michigan, we took the truck to the test track. With the trailer unhitched, I did what any red-blooded tester would do—I mashed the throttle. The big Cummins spun all four rear tires with zero traction control interference. Sure, that’s not how you hit the truck’s official 7.0-second 0-60 time, but it’s fun to see what it’s capable of. For best results, hold the revs at 2,000 rpm and ease off the brake. It surges like a freight train.
Braking was equally impressive. At 135 feet from 60-0 mph, it stopped better than many of its competitors. The Silverado 3500 HD needed 139 feet, and the F-350 Super Duty? A whopping 162. These rigs are four-ton monsters, and it shows when it’s time to stop—but the Ram still comes out near the top of the pack.
So, what did we burn over 2,342 miles? A total of 251 gallons of diesel—about 9 mpg while towing 22,500 pounds on average. And we squeezed about 300 miles out of each gallon of DEF. Not bad, considering we crossed mountains, deserts, and half a continent.
In the end, is Ram the best hauler? That depends. All three brands—Ford, GM, and Ram—have turned their heavy-duty trucks into luxury towers on wheels. Ram leads in standard adaptive cruise, while Ford charges over $5,000 extra for it. Whether your style leans cowboy or contractor, you’ll pay big money for these rigs. But if your loyalty lies with Cummins—and you want comfort, brains, and brawn in one clean package—the 2025 Ram 3500 HD is a hard truck to beat.