speed governed trucks

If you're audited and show average speed over 70 mph you CAN be cited for speeding . Mike_MD can confirm this . This is what got U.S. X a documentation falsifiction violation in 2006 . Too many 68 m.p.h. trucks speeding in 65 m.p.h. zones . I loved it . Their CEO Pat Quinn was pushing for speed limiters as ATA chairman at the time .

 

You could be right driver, I don't know on that one.....I never claimed doing it legal !!


I can tell you this for the last 7 years I have been in the Landstar system and have logged 70 mph in the 75 mph states and 63 mph in the 65 mph states and never heard a word about it.....not yet anyway..

GP

 

My carrier has a company speed limit of 65 m.p.h. . They will let you know you are speeding if you average 60.2 m.p.h. . They know my truck is governed at 65 m.p.h. because I run in Ontario . I can still average 62 m.p.h. on straight runs between fuel stops and terminals when I'm deadheading back on the second day of a dedicated run .
Am I losing money with a governed truck ? Not when Canada runs pay me $.50 a mile as driver .
I looked into Speedpass Pro but Mack is the ONLY model engine they don't make it for .

 

On a 500 mile trip I can ####, shower, and shave. Fuel, eat diner, do my paperwork, and turn out the lights for the night before that 62 MPH truck ever even gets off the road. Those of you fooling yourself need to do some simple math. That's well under 7 hours at 75 MPH. That's over an 8 hour run at 62

You leave Flagstaff at 62 MPH, and have to shut it down west of Amarillo, I am already in Ok for the night. Another way to look at it; Seattle to Miami, the 72 mph truck will be there one whole day earlier than the 62 truck. That's going to equal dang near an extra pay check each month.

 

Just be advised FMCSA auditors (and investigators for attorneys ) no longer just look at average speed for the day . They use ProMiles software to check speed between points t duty status changes .

 

They don't wanna hear that driver !! I do what I do and could care less what the slow drivers think, I do get comments on the radio once in a while " look out for Landstar" "Landstar will show us how its done" etc......I just reply with "f-off"....

 

Please don't be fooled into thinking that a slower truck is just as productive as one just a little faster. When you drive at a slower rate- you get paid a lower rate.

I posted a thread a while back ago with computer data that showed the difference with a week driving governed at 70mph and the next week governed at 65mph.

Here are the screen shots.







My hourly productivity went from a 57mph average to a 49mph average in mostly southeastern and mid western states. It gained the company 1 extra mile per gallon of fuel.

I realize there are a thousand ways to Sunday on how to analyze this data but I've found a simple way to think about it- My truck is like a machine on a production line, limited ultimately by how many hours there are in a week/year. If I can gain productivity of a meager 15mins in only 4 out of the 6 days of the week I work on average, 1 hour per week can equal somewhere around 50 hours per year.

I think it reasonable to compare that to 1 or 2 extra loads a truck can profit on throughout the year. How much profit verses savings in fuel is key to why a truck is/isn't governed I guess. Think about that... how cheap is the freight your hauling? You wanna make more behind the wheel of a truck- hauling dollar store freight is not where it's at.

I quit that place and found a better company to drive for. They are out here.

 

Depends on the company. If they have a good fuel bonus program, you can get paid more for slowing down a little and being less stressed. When I was paid that way I paced myself. When I did not get bonuses I hammered down looking for that extra mile.

 

Okay, but as mentioned, most companies are "set at 65" so could you actually tolerate going from a 65mph truck down to a 58mph truck?

 

A couple of miles per hour WONT make a big difference ..... I just read a case study of 2 trucks making a 1000 mile trip one going speed limit the other going as fast as conditions permitted. The speed limit guy made the same trip about 17 minutes behind other guy. But the other guy had a lot more wear and tear on the brakes and the truck.