GOVERNED AT 65 mph

Many O/Os are voluntarily slowing down. It's nothing to see them run 65 or below. It does save fuel and wear and tear on equipment. And by the way, the newer trucks could achieve that. If not for the emissions standards on the engines.

 

I try to find the balance point between running slower for more pennies per mile profit and getting there quickly to get miles per drive shift for max revenue per week.

My truck the governers are set to 100+. My real governor is my wallet/accountant.

 

It is a safety issue and it's also a fuel issue. Everyone gripes about the price of fuel but fuel mileage is 5 times more important to your bottom line.

Computers cannot overcome the laws of physics.

 

The difference in fuel mileage is all in your right foot. My previous employer had all trucks set at 65 with autoautoshift transmissions. They learned that that the driver made the differencein their operation. One driver could get decent mileage, and the next guy driving the very same truck would get nearly 1 mpg less. It was determined the driver getting less mpg was holding the pedal to the metal all the time. The other driver drove like a normal person.

Setting a truck at a governed speed does help somewhat though. But the biggest factor is the driver.

 

My buddy's prostar was set on 64 mph. Now 68 mph. Avg 6.5-9 mpg.

 

My truck is a 2011 Prostar with the ISX 400 Cummins governed at 70mph. Over the past three months my mileage was 7.9mpg and my average load was 37k all dry van. I generally set cruise between 64 and 68mph and I will sometimes get sporty with the pedal just for the fun of it.

I have noticed a drop in mileage if I run up against the governor. I think it's the cruise saying go and the governor saying no causing a constant attempt to accelerate. This may be why some of the trucks set at 65 don't get good mileage.

The other detriment to good mileage with a 65mph truck is not having the speed to get the turbo fully spooled up before the first grunt part of hill climbing. We all encounter trucks we're passing downhill going far faster than their governed speed. Not only are they out of control but they have no acceleration until the speed drops below the governed speed and cannot do anything except downshift while I'm still accelerating. Obviously the longer in top gear the less fuel burned.
Frank

 

Our company is governed at 65. I run the cruise at 64. Seems to get better fuel mileage. Seems to run better too.

 

My governor is what my specs let me get up too. The real limiter is my bottom line and freight. If a customer asks to do two more runs of liquid asphalt on top of the one I did, then slow is not an option. I usually run about 70ish and heavy still getting 6.5. I do not believe the safety bs. It all depends on the driver and how confident they are.

 

I don't buy the safety bit what safe about a truck not bein able to get out of the way if you can't. Handle goin the speed limit then there is a problem on the other hand it depends on what gears you got if your low geared or pullin gear and you crank a lot of rpms then yea your gonna kill your fuel mileage and again if your to tall and gotta lug the turbo all the way up the hill same thing