Thats a nice truck. If you want the truck to warm up faster, get a exhaust brake. Cummins says that they can reduce the warm up time by half and reduce wear on the tranny and brakes. Also, this site will help you with starting it in cold weather: http://dodgeram.org/tech/dsl/FAQ/cold_wx.htm .-that site has so much info about diesels that its like having your own mechanics guide to Rams.
My dad owns a 01 ram 2500 diesel that we drove out to cali from Texas in about 3 days since we bought it through eBay just a month ago. You'd be suprised at how many diesel trucks there were compared to regular compact cars over there.
hell, even the smallest volvo prob outweighs a half ton...
at any rate, it was more of a comment about the absolute indestructability of a volvo. My older sister owns a really old (18yrs) 240dl station wagon. It has 350+ thousand miles on it (we went cross country a few times), and it still runs well. I own a 850glt, and well, they're just awsome cars