ungoverned trucks
Discussion in 'Motor Carrier Questions - The Inside Scoop' started by uplander, Jun 25, 2018.
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My truck, but 98% of the drivers out here would destroy it in a few weeks.
There is a good reason for speed and power restrictions, if company trucks had 600 plus HP the truck stops would be littered with driveline parts from trucks trying to slide their tandems, don’t want to think about the carnage on the highwaysjust_sayin, reefer75, Bean Jr. and 1 other person Thank this. -
Hit the bottom of milesburg grade on I-80 in PA at about 121 or so (Slowed from 135 due to curve at the bottom) halfway up still doing 85 and 65 over the top loaded. It does not get you over the road any faster or make you any earlier.
What it will do is attract all sorts of attention and cause the State Police to drop everything and anything to get you specifically stopped. Don't think they wont.
I am not here to be negative. But the one lesson pounded into me over and over again no matter what with that 135 mph tractor trailer loaded or empty you are still late. IF you are late too many times you get fired.
I did not get fired but what happened was the shop discovered through the new computer system they bought just how high my tractor's averages were in speed. They put a 60 mph governor on it. The immediate result was that you did not have enough torque to stay in top gear (Around 950 or so) and you had too much to stay in 8th gear (Short throw rockwell 9 gears total) at about 2300. so you ended up constantly flipping the top two gears to hold 60, ending up slowing to 53 every shift. Until you built the speed back up again until the pump quit at 60. Every little hill you hit in Ohio even if its flat caused you to be knocked down to 48 or so to build it all back up again using 7th gear. and lose it all at the top gear back to the 8th. Around and around.
Solution? Paid 500 dollars to a shop to unlock that speed governor. Cash. This was the early to mid 90's mind you. A little bit of satellite and little bit of the new computer stuff. But nothing like what they have today. Not even close.
then you made sure to stay away from the actual company yard with the shop. You carried 6 months worth of forms with you so you never see them at headquarters for any reason among other things.
Finally one day the annual inspection due date came up for that tractor. I had it done at the 76. The shop yelled and screamed when the received the long form version of it. Saying it was not enough. So they demanded I bring back my unit to the HQ yard to be examined front to back. And sure enough they discovered that the engine was wide open as always.
By the time they governed it back to 60 I was in another tractor and gone. =) Some more yelling.
Fast forward to today. What I am now these days is a complete and total opposite of the child I was in the early 90's In those days I had no morals no compass no respect for anything except the appointment time in NYC or some such place. I treated everything and everyone, particularly suits as BS.
What I had become today is a stone professional who actually advocates a ungoverned rig capable of matching any of the highest speed limits that are legal in the USA plus 5 mph, in this case Texas has a 85 mph, add 5 for headwind purposes etc and you have a 90 mph truck capable of making time. Our own rural roads are going from 55 to 65 now. Especially the newly widened and rebuilt 64 freeway going to 65. Interstates will go to 75 as soon they get around to putting up signs.
If you are still governed at 61 or whatever on our roads per company BS policy, you are going to get someone killed or hurt bad. Or worse you contribute to herds of trucks eastbound on 40 past Memphis unable to untangle yourselves until at least Nashville where the hills will break all of you up.
IF they do continue the governing polciy nationwide, higher speed limits will just get car people killed against the slower moving trucks all over again. Just like the old split speed limits did in their day. It serves no purpose.
There is one more reason I advocate a totally ungoverned and unrestricted truck. Off Road Lumber, Oil Rig, gas Rig or similar work. You are fixing to go into places where you need all the finesse you possess with all the the range of power made available to your use in situations that are quite dangerous.
I for one would be first in line to be dealing with that.
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When I was leased onto Triple C there were no limits.
When I was leased to Michael Most, there were no limits, and that truck would do 94.Oldironfan Thanks this. -
TGUNKEL and Diesel Dave Thank this.
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the thing im sick of most is being acceleration limited to 1 mph per second. it takes forever to get going and almost need a traffic light to stop traffic to be able to pull out onto it.
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x1Heavy Thanks this.
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The real problem is the loss of speed going up even small hills. These stupid autos just chase their tails. I am always in the way. I hate this truck.
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I was remembering back in the 80's where I think the 425 CAT were the biggest then available to some (And what engines they were whoo....) and even the older Detriots and so on which just wont quit. Some of these engines should be preserved and run as a living history to show today's younger truckers what was possible with them things when loaded to 80,000.
The fast engines and empties went into the front door while the averages were in the rocking chair. The drags were in the Caboose end and all three had a job to do, looking out for drivers who might be a little bit sleepy than they were supposed to be or perhaps the Law might be in the weeds at the 114 mile marker or wherever.
And the cars flowed freely. We had really no problems in those days. I miss them.
I-40 today sometimes has away too many trucks at 61,62,63,64 etc all bunched around me trying to get by. (I don't know what is the matter with me in my basic car if i cannot do anything worth while with all of these trucks making sure the interstate highway is no good to everyone.,
One little mistake and no one is going anywhere for a good many hours today.
I leave the dumb companies with one question, what will it take to stop that BS. WHAT?!
I do have one solution, it involves moving away from the US and interstate highway system so far out remotely that I might run into and say hello to one truck per week maybe.just_sayin and Trucking in Tennessee Thank this. -
I'm an old guy. I remember when traffic was sparse. Now it's packed night and day. Where are all these people going?
x1Heavy Thanks this.
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