Assuming there is ZERO idling, what's the reasonable average speed for long haul / regional / local trucks in North America? I'm not a North American trucker, so I'm curious about how much speed you guys could pull off in your country.
In my country, these are basic environment;
And these are some data;
- almost all trucks (i.e. big and not super old) have speed governors set to 90kph (55.9mph)
- highways do not have a lot of entry/exit ramps (maybe one entry/exit per 10-15 mile on average), mainly because all highways are tolled
- traffic is bad overall
- warehouses/factories are often located in very tight area (tight road, etc)
- many warehouses are 10 stories tall (100m or 330ft height) and you gotta climb it on small ramps
- 54.2km/h avg speed (33.6mph) / 241,879km odometer (150,328 mile) / 4,461 engine hours / 551 hours on idle clock (any engine running time with zero speed counts toward this clock, including traffic stop) - mostly long haul (but not exactly long haul in NA standard since it's only 200-300 mile run), ZERO intentional idling
- 47.1km/h avg speed (29.2mph) / 57,592km odometer (35,793 mile) / 1,223 engine hours / 164 idle hours (same here. even a traffic stop counts toward this idle clock) - mostly medium distance trips (around 100 mile) with some occasional short and long haul, ZERO intentional idling
- 38.5km/h avg speed (23.9mph) / 392,467km odometer (243,919 mile) / 10,188 engine hours / this one doesn't have idle hour meter - mostly short haul (around 50 mile) but still this truck usually doesn't go into city core area (if it does, average speed would be halved at least), ZERO intentional idling
What's the reasonable average speed for trucks in North America?
Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by fourbugs, Jun 20, 2025.
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Over the course of 9 years and about 1 million miles my gps has always shown average mph @ 65.
I mostly run night time, I don’t deal with traffic and I’m able to log 700-760 on a 11 hour clock if I so feel inclined
I could absolutely never drive a 55.9 mph truck…I’d commit suicide after one shift. I once had a bicycle that would do 40 mph.
Running across South Dakota @80-85 mph (last truck) makes me giggle, lol.Sons Hero, bryan21384 and Numb Thank this. -
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