This single tip saves 20% gas!

[RR - All the way]

If my trip is less than a 100 miles and i am alone, I'll do 55 mph. If my wife is with me, Ill do the speed limit of 65MPH. If traffic is heavy I'll do what the slower pack members are driving.since I bought the truck I have driven about 79% highway and am getting 42 MPGs over the last 31,500 miles calculated. MPG reading X 0.92

Hmm., it appears you drive faster with the wife in the car, so you have to spend less time in the vehicle listening to a possible critique of your driving?? Or you have just been married for more than ten years!!!

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[MavStangVa]

55 MPH for truck fleets is 100% for cost savings. Almost all fuel savings. Insurance may be lower too but it's a small percent compared to fuel savings. Probably fewer over heated engines and blown engines too. Probably longer lasting brakes too.

Time is not money in this case due to hours of service rules. I think it it 10 hours maximum behind the wheel? Maybe it is 12 hours.

It is literally impossible to get extra loads in per week by speeding up.
Speeding may only help on a later segment if a prior segment was unusually delayed by traffic jam, bad weather, a road or bridge closure. Pretty rare. Speeding may make up for lost time. But it does not get you more loads per week. The big boys know this.

So if the truck can travel 10 hours at 55 MPH he can travel 550 miles. At 70 MPH it travels 700 miles. A company does not want the truck stopping for mandatory rest at 550 miles if the delivery is only 50 miles away! You LITERALLY prove the point that time is money. Truck drivers I dealt with for 47 years were paid by the mile not the hour. Here East of the Mississippi I seldom see trucks going 55 in a 70 zone unless they are merging or exiting or oversized loads which are a different set of rules.
But I will defer to your expertise since you do seem to know everything about everything.

 

[MavStangVa]

Mass may kill, but velocity squared is a bitch!

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

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

So if the truck can travel 10 hours at 55 MPH he can travel 550 miles. At 70 MPH it travels 700 miles. A company does not want the truck stopping for mandatory rest at 550 miles if the delivery is only 50 miles away! You LITERALLY prove the point that time is money. Truck drivers I dealt with for 47 years were paid by the mile not the hour. Here East of the Mississippi I seldom see trucks going 55 in a 70 zone unless they are merging or exiting or oversized loads which are a different set of rules.
But I will defer to your expertise since you do seem to know everything about everything.

No. Sorry. Does not work like that in real life. Why not ask a few OTR truck drivers and see what they say vs. guessing?

Destinations are fixed in place. Not based on the number of miles you "hypothetically" could cover in 10 hours.

Better yet, ask an accountant in business office of any trucking company.

In Full Disclosure I was a business accountant for a major food distributer, ConAgra Foods in the late 1990's and early 2000's. Diesel was $1.25 and trucks were encouraged to slow down.

This ain't like a "Cannonball Run" you picture in your head.

 

[MavStangVa]

No. Sorry. Does not work like that in real life. Why not ask a few OTR truck drivers and see what they say vs. guessing?

Destinations are fixed in place. Not based on the number of miles you "hypothetically" could cover in 10 hours.

Better yet, ask an accountant in business office of any trucking company.

In Full Disclosure I was a business accountant for a major food distributer, ConAgra Foods in the late 1990's and early 2000's. Diesel was $1.25 and trucks were encouraged to slow down.

This ain't like a "Cannonball Run" you picture in your head.

Again you are 100% correct about everything. Now explain how you walk on water "The Real Maverick"!

 

[rtphokie]

In these tough times...
This single tip saves 20% gas.

Drive 20 mph slower.

Drive ~55 mph instead of ~75 mph.

I've found ~45 mph to be the sweat spot for MPG. In warmer months, rural roads averaging around 45 mph, even with some minor hills, allows you to easily average 50+ mpg.

 

[BLUEOVALRACER]

I got a warning ticket for unsafe driving 60 mph in 85mph zone on interstate 10 in Texas.

I can see that You going 60 mph a car coming behind at 85 mph will be on your tail in no time at all.

 

[First Sergeant]

During the fuel crisis in the 1970s, the US instituted a national highway speed limit of 55mph to save on fuel. My grandpa told me it was a long painful drive on I-84 between Portland and Boise at only 55mph back then! Nowadays most people are going 70-80mph on that stretch.

In the fuel crunch of the 70's and speed limits 55, many truckers and myself included, ran CB radio and "fuzz" busters. Never got a ticket. I only ran about 75 most of the time. Never got speedy in the cities, mainly out of town, then set the cruise and "let her fly". Here in Idaho most do 80, (speed limit), but there are a few hitting 85-90. I just move over and let them go.

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

Again you are 100% correct about everything. Now explain how you walk on water "The Real Maverick"!

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.

 

[BLUEOVALRACER]

Well, in my area, depending on the day and time, driving 55 on the interstate in the right line would be survivable, but 90% of the time you'd be taken out by the rat race flowing at 80+ or taken out by road rage. The minor savings is a mute point if you want to stay accident free and survive being mangled up in a wreak. I do my best to try to stay around 5 mph over the posted limit when possible but even at that it's common for even the police to pass right on by you just cruising along

X2 ,I'm the same 5 mph over the speed limit.The last couple of weeks I've been behind people going 45 in a 55 mph zone very aggravating when You can't pass them.

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

I can see that You going 60 mph a car coming behind at 85 mph will be on your tail in no time at all.

Ya. A little faster than a good jogger.

 

[First Sergeant]

Probably worth it?
Officer had a quota????
3mph… what a d***.

My best friend is a state trooper. Pulled over a guy once who asked him if he had met the quota. He said no, they did away with quota's, now I can write them all day long!

 

[First Sergeant]

Many state laws have a similar statement to this:
"No person shall drive upon a highway at such a slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, except when reduced speed is necessary for safe operation, because of a grade, or compliance with the law."

My dad once got a ticket for driving too slow on the interstate. He was 15 under the posted limit.

Some states also require a driver who is going slower than the normal flow of traffic to pull over and let the cars behind you pass if there are 5 or more vehicles behind you.

If you are driving at 55 on a clear highway where the speed limit is 80, you are highly likely to be cited for travel at an unsafe speed.

You may also run the risk of being a victim of road rage.

As far as the truck speed limit of 55.. It's a joke.
Coming back from my last trip to California, where the speed limit for cars was 65 and the truck limit is 55, I was doing 65 in the right lane and was passed by so many trucks doing 70 to 75 I lost track of counting them.
The 55 on the back of the truck didn't seem to affect the vehicle velocity.

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.

 

[First Sergeant]

I just couldn't do 55 back in the 70's fuel crunch days. Sammy got it right. Enjoy the tune!

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

Diesel (cost of all goods is going up)

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