I'm looking to clean up the load bay in my pickup due to the fact that the last owner painted some sort of rubber non-slip stuff in there and it's now coming off in large chunks. The question is do i go for some sort of chequer plate or go for the full rubber load mat which goes over the wheel arches? Both would cover the area i want hidden and i'm leaning towards the matting because of the ease of removal and cleaning (also a lot quicker to install)
Just wondering about how the rubber mat would last in the long term out in the elements as they seem a little pricey, really don't want to spend that cash if it'll only last a couple of years.

use both.

Replace pickup bed with 5mm checkerplate and then put a heavy rubber mat over it.

The bed with take plenty of abuse and the rubber mat will deaden the vibrations.

Earlier this year covered my 90s floor and rear wheel arches with rubber matting ordered from an equestrian supplier, using B&Q aluminium 'L' profile on the edges.

Matting itself was fairly cheap (about £45), but the postage was a bit steep!

Before fitting I coated the tub with Hammerite Black Stonechip to 'tidy up and protect'

Looks pretty good (IMO!), easy to clean and apart from the vertical sides where I stuck on with spray carpet adhesive, have left it removable so I can check for damp etc,

Where I removed the front sound deadening insualtion they were absolutely soaking wet, so removable makes sense!