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[MavStangVa]

It worked like this 20 years ago.
Why would it be different today?

Imagine I have a load of beef to move from Omaha to Chicago. I have a look up table and the truck drivers have the same look up table.

It says: Omaha to Chicago pays 480 standard miles and you are allowed 10 hours.

The driver can take any roads he wants. He can stop and see his girlfriend along the route if he wants.

He's paid his contracted rate for exactly 480 miles. The expectation is he gets there in 10 hours. If early, no bonus. If late, possible penalty but rare.

Paid by the mile yes, but not EXACT miles. It is a pre-determined set amount. And the time allotted is a reasonable time on a set timetable. Usually based on something like 45 MPH to allow for rest stops. I forget the exact formula.

There needs to be no incentive for speeding and no incentive for lying on your hours behind the wheel.

So why do some trucks go really fast?
Honestly it's mostly the independent owner / operators who are running one truck. Like some owners here; they don't pencil out the math in great detail. It's not the big corporate drivers that drive fast.

And there are some unique cases.
I can't speak for all, just the general rule.

Hope that helps.

First let me apologize for my tone. Old ways springing up and I am trying to change my behavior. So I apologize.
Second my experience with truckers and shipping is heavy iron not food. East coast not west. Industry not retail.
Third I am not disputing in anyway your information of how trucking works for some or maybe most large companies you dealt with.
Fourth by personal experience every time I travel I-95, I-85, I-64 on the east coast trucks are NOT going 55 in a 70 zone. Some will be that slow for unknown reasons, most are doing +5 to 10 of speed limit. Same with commercial buses. If I were to drive 55 in even the 65 zone on I-95 I would be putting my life at risk. So saving a little gas really isn't worth dying for.
Fifth I like good MPG and my EB gets it at 70 to 75 better than at 45. No theories needed to change my mind. I know for a fact based on how much gas I buy.
So if getting the most MPG enhances your life I am happy for you.

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[Mavster Mechanic]

Before I left Colorado in 2015, the state passed a law if you were driving the speed limit and all, or most of the traffic around you was exceeding the speed limit, you would be ticketed for impeding traffic. The idea was the traffic was moving smoothly and YOU were the hazard. Try to beat that one in a court. Crazy.

On state roads, they have the power.
On Interstates, which I think the state only has three, not so much.

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

First let me apologize for my tone. Old ways springing up and I am trying to change my behavior. So I apologize.
Second my experience with truckers and shipping is heavy iron not food. East coast not west. Industry not retail.
Third I am not disputing in anyway your information of how trucking works for some or maybe most large companies you dealt with.
Fourth by personal experience every time I travel I-95, I-85, I-64 on the east coast trucks are NOT going 55 in a 70 zone. Some will be that slow for unknown reasons, most are doing +5 to 10 of speed limit. Same with commercial buses. If I were to drive 55 in even the 65 zone on I-95 I would be putting my life at risk. So saving a little gas really isn't worth dying for.
Fifth I like good MPG and my EB gets it at 70 to 75 better than at 45. No theories needed to change my mind. I know for a fact based on how much gas I buy.
So if getting the most MPG enhances your life I am happy for you.

Thanks for the message.

I find it odd that so many people are scared of 10, 15, or 20 mph collisions that almost never happen.

You're going 55.
Next guy is going 70 in the same direction.
That's an approach speed of 15 MPH.
On a road with multiple lanes with room to go around.

Not scary to me.

 

[Cherokee]

So which 1 do you prefer to rearend you? I will take the Civic myself.

I was rear ended by a 1968 Mustang once. She was doing 55 mph, I was stopped in a Buick Electra 225, big car. It freakin hurt.

Next time I was rear ended by a 1967 Impala.
I was in a 1972 Plymouth Duster,
That hurt a shit ton more.

Fawk yeah I’ll take the civic !
:’P

 

[samspritzer]

OP created quite a thread!
Just don't impede traffic. Find a slow truck in the slow lane and set the ACC if you got it.
<snip>

 

[Cherokee]

Still, ain’t no freakin way,
I can’t drive 55
:’P
I should have bought a V-8,
I once had a 1974 Olds Delta 88,
King of the road with a 455 ci engine,
Putted along nicely at 90 she did.
Got a respectable 18 mpg on the highway and a very surprising 15 mpg in town.

She’d kill anything that she hit.
Scattered a deer all over the place once.
Ran on regular gas,
The 4 Barrel Carb sounded so freakin cool
When those back barrels opened up.

Took it to 115 mph once, speedometer was almost buried. :XD

It had more to give but I chickened out.
That two lane was mighty narrow at that speed.

 

[Aherpa]

Apparently, the gas mileage figures the government accepts for 'highway mileage' are attained at 48 MPH (that's what mt dealer's shop foreman says). If I drive at 45 MPH to town (with no-one behind me to get annoyed), I get low 50 MPG. If I drive the same road at 60 MPH I get 35ish MPG.

 

[Fcnrwy]

Jerry

 

[James K]

Poor guy, of course he is right…remember back when congress set it to 55 nationwide? If you can do it great , your truck may last longer and hold up. If you drive like you stole it, more freedom to you.
Now let’s pick a topic we all agree on, 89 or 93 octane…synthetic or part-synthetic…

Chocolate

89 octane. 93 is a scam if there ever was one IMO. Definitely full synthetic. Why go half way with the most important maintenance item. My son needed a valve cover replacement on his 3 series at about 250K miles. The cams/shaft looked new. Full synthetic always!

I have pretty thick skin, so I'll poke the bear. For me the most important maintenance item is the brakes.

 

[Pointyears]

I was rear ended by a 1968 Mustang once. She was doing 55 mph, I was stopped in a Buick Electra 225, big car. It freakin hurt.

Next time I was rear ended by a 1967 Impala.
I was in a 1972 Plymouth Duster,
That hurt a shit ton more.

Fawk yeah I’ll take the civic !
:’P

Haha. I was rear ended in a 1973 Dart Sport (aka a Dodge badged Duster). Guy ahead of me stopped hard, I stopped harder, and the two behind didn't stop at all; they were husband and wife returning from the car dealership where they just picked up the new car which the wife was driving. The wife in the rear was screaming at the the husband, "You SOB, your brake lights didn't even flash!" all while the county cop was taking notes. In my memory the new car was totaled.
Just crumpled the bumper and a quarter panel a bit on my Dodge. That thing was built like a tank.

 

[CaliMav68]

						Love that movie! Spielberg at his best

 

[Meeka]

Ha, Duel! That was a great movie.

 

[CaliMav68]

Chocolate

I have pretty thick skin, so I'll poke the bear. For me the most important maintenance item is the brakes.

I agree with you. If everything is pristine and the brakes are garbage then it's all for nothing.

I really need to do rough drafts for this crowd. What I should have said is "the most important maintenance item for your engine in the interest of longevity."

 

[DaddyDan]

I agree with you. If everything is pristine and the brakes are garbage then it's all for nothing.

I really need to do rough drafts for this crowd. What I should have said is "the most important maintenance item for your engine in the interest of longevity."

It takes hundreds of bolts to put a vehicle together but just one nut to scatter it all over the highway.

 

[Timothyd]

Chocolate

I have pretty thick skin, so I'll poke the bear. For me the most important maintenance item is the brakes.

There are few mechanical items unimportant.

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