Our trucks have been turned down to...

Ah - you beat me to it. Just got back from a 48 run - Denver to Erie to Boston to Philadelphia to Pittsburgh to Portland to Oakland and back to Denver. In less than a week. At 62.

One thing I noticed was that I was being passed repeatedly by the same trucks. AND they were pulling into the truckstop for the night after I was shut down and playing computer games.

Absolutely this ain't the case for probably most of the faster trucks, but it was certainly common enough for my trainer and myself to remark on it. Just in the last leg (Oakland-Denver) we counted 87 repeat passers. (to qualify, you have to pass me 3 times - a second time could be the result of a fuel stop, etc). Further, I stop every two hours or so for a.. break.

So.. why are these drivers always falling behind?

 

I was passed by quite a few trucks, But I guess I don't really pay that close attention to memory of who I pass / who passes me. But today for example, a JCT truck passed me, warned me about a deer and we talked on the CB for a few minutes. He was set at 70, Im at 67. Just a FEW miles less. I kept passing him goign up hills, he would pass me on very long stretches or going down hill.

Then we got to the sisters and I started going up the long steep hills. I passed him and kept on going for the rest of my run home (.....east of the sisters, lol) for quite a long time, and he never got close to me again.

So lots of people seem to gripe about being slowed down and all, but the only and I mean ONLY way that the argument of losing miles (and "money") will stay true is IF you had the exact same run, in the summer months, with no breakdowns, same weight loads....etc to infinity.

That and the fact that the money that one saves with slowing down and getting better mpg will more than make up for a 'lost load' or whatever people claim.

 

lol - if you were doing that Thursday afternoon, you probably passed me, too.

But what I meant was that They're passing me multiple times, and I'm NOT passing them on the road. They pass me, vanish out of sight... then pass me again. I can count on the fingers of one thumb the number of trucks I passed on the road Thursday.

I don't THINK they're circumnavigating the globe.. but I could be wrong.

 

That's more of the truckstop cowboys flying down the road so they can get to the next truck stop and swap lies with their buddies/waitresses/newbies/etc.
Then they get back on the road and fly to the next t/s and repeat.

 

yup. And complaining that they can't make any money, too.

 

I talked to some May drivers a couple of weeks ago when I pu a new trailer from their drop yard in Auburn Wa and they told me they were only doing 60mph.

My Knight Trans insider told me they are cutting their trucks back to 63 if they do not average a 10% idle which is almost impossible with the heat lately in the southwest and no source of AC other then the engine idling.

My truck is not Governed but I have no reason to speed anywhere because I am not paid by the mile anymore.

 

Our trucks have a computer program in them. If we do not avg 6.7 mpg gallon we are limited to 65 mpg. Anything above and beyond that we go back up to 70 mph. I try to run mine loaded at 62 mph and 60 mph empty. My OOR is always under 10% and so is my idle time.


OOPS I just saw you typed May I thought it was Mav LOL

 

lol - Baaaaad notarps!

May has their trucks turned down differently, depending on the division.

Western 11 is turned down to 60 - though, if you can keep your mpg up, you can improve your mph up to .. 64, I think. I forget, and I don't have the chart.

Reefer is being turned down to 61 (from 62.. makes all kinds of sense, ne?). same rules apply.

Drove part of the way back from Payette to Denver. Truck turned to 61. MPG close to 8. Were running 64mph most of the way.

Still sucks on hills, though.

 

I don't know what happened but yeah I sure got that one wrong. But to figure any loss is just hypothetical anyway. You won't drive 715 miles at 65mph a day and you won't drive 682 miles at 62mph a day every day. So the only way to tell is to match your logs after a time with the ones before. But then again that will only be a guess unless you're running exactly the same as before.

If I had the choice to have a truck turned down and have a fuel bonus or keep the truck turned up with no bonus I'd be in the slow lane. Besides you have states that only allow trucks to drive 55 or 60 so that cuts more into your pay. You've just got to keep the truck rolling or be smart and get a job that pays by the hour.

 

last time I checked mine did 94 with a third of a pedal left