I'll 2nd the get a commuter idea. The newer DEF diesels just don't like short trips, I had a new 2015 Ram for a couple years as a tow rig/commuter but I had a 60mi commute on the highway so it got good and warm every day and got 40k miles on it a year. Only used DEF from fresh boxes, which apparently was important. My father had a 14 Ram he used bulk DEF from a station once and had DEF issues until trading it in on a 20 Ram.
After 2 years got weary of emissions and hated the payment to value ratio when my 99 7.3 Super Duties would out tow it and didn't have a lingering $4k emissions bill at any time. Ended up trading a 2 year old truck in on a 97 F350 Powerstroke and have loved it the 4 years I've been driving it.
To do it again I'd happily take a gas 3/4-1ton truck without the worry of diesel emissions, I tow under 12k lbs so realistically a newer half ton would be fine but I like solid axles. That gets us into the "everyone who tows anything needs a 3/4-1T truck" which is the norm now...
