Driving for fuel mileage

April fool's is over. Seriously, your vast experience in this industry is showing through. You just don't get it.

 

A couple thoughts:

1. If your truck doesn't get better fuel mileage going slower then your rear gear is wrong.

2. These guys that say they "drive 75", I don't know where you drive but it's not in the northeast. If you try that in traffic all that's going to happen is you're going to spend money to get on someone else's bumper...tailgate for a while.....spend more money to get to the next bumper.....repeat. You might *think* you're driving 75, but you're only driving 65. Might as well drive 65 from the get go.

3. Speaking of wear on the equipment....it's much harder to dodge pot holes at 75.

4. I bet the fast lane crowd blows alot of tires. Especially in the summer. I heard this on the CB ~25 years ago and I never forgot it.....
Driver 1 (young guy): "Aw %^&* I blew a tire"
Driver 2 (old guy): "Of course you did dumb ###. 80 mph, 80,000 lbs and 80 psi. What did you think was going to happen. See ya!"

 

Thats why there used to be a night shift! Truck stop cowboys always been the dummies speeding from truck stop to truck stop, you can hear the hot rubber slapping the pavement as they pass.
Thanks to the new HOS laws nobody can really afford to even stop and take a whiz unless it perfectly aligns with our DOT preplans!
I get pretty decent mpg just using the torque band as intended and not running the jake on the rolling hills. This is a great thread, thanks!

 

I normally run 62 - 63 (and get passed by everything). Today, I tried it a little bit different. Got 42000 in the tube. Headed east from Kimball, NE on I 80. Slight tail wind. Was keeping it fairly steady (+/- 4 or 5) at 68. Not using the cruise. Boost was consistently at or under 15 psi. People net was showing between 10.2 and 10.6, but mostly at 10.5 mpg.

Now I contribute that to alot of variables. But every little bit adds up to decent mileage for today.

Like I said, people net showed. In reality, it's off by around .6 or so, too high. Either way, high nines is phenomenal for me. I'll take it. Cause tomorrow, I may have a head wind....

 

Some people will absolutely NOT pass you on the left. They will stay behind you for miles and when a turn or merge lane is long enough,.. pass you on the right. I see it all the time. I classify them with the same people that ride with their left foot on the brake pedal while going down the road, making the brake light on the whole time. Darwin will eventually catch up with them. Heard will be that much healthier with out them IMO.

Hurst

 

I just saw a Swift driver getting 9 mpg at 52 mph in the TA parking lot.

 

I'll tell you the main one:

Kimball, NE 4715'
Omaha, NE 1090'


You could turn around in Omaha and head west on what appears to be a flat interstate, going 55, getting 7mpg and tell yourself "see, I just knew my truck was meant to drive 68mph."


There are lots of reasons to drive fast, good fuel mileage just isn't one of them...

 

If not on elogs and driving slow.... that 30 is pretty easy to log without actually stopping.