Driving the speed limit... does anyone?

Do you know how many trucks I see hear with missing mud flaps? Lots and lots and lots. Guess if your not from around here, they (state troopers) make up for the ones they don't pull over who drive locally..

 

I was one of the slower truckers, and never received a speeding ticket. Most trucks passed me, and I probably wore out a few headlight switches giving them the courtesy signal. I generally drove about two mph over the legal limit except in Jackson County, Michigan, where there is no tolerance. The same hot dogs passed me several times per day. I liked to drive relaxed, but the actual speed limit was boring. I did not constantly monitor the CB for smokey reports.

The truck seemed to ride better and the job felt more productive if there was some bounce and vibration. It was easier to maintain alertness by pushing the envelope slightly without arousing any officers of the law.

Trucks are geared to operate efficiently at a certain speed. The driver has to maintain enough speed to avoid downshifting for every upgrade.

Having said that, I usually passed those hot dogs whenever the snow was deep or the road got slippery. Newbies drove like they were afraid of it, in bad weather. I was still relaxed and on schedule. It only takes one vehicle to slow the entire convoy in bad weather. Then, it is time to pass them all.

 

I regularly drive the states you mentioned . The 55 m.p.h.speed limit in Ohio isn't enforced . The trucks in the right lane generally run 60 m.p.h. . What's irritating is the trucks passing and going even faster (65 m.p.h. + ) belong to the companies that signed the speed limiter petition . (Jet Express , U.S . Xpress , Schneider ) I have been driving the 65 m.p.h. speed limit in AR and IN and passed by the speed limiter cosigning companies . When I am tailgated it is most frequently by a truck out of Ontario .
Now in states with 70 m.p.h. speed limits I see very few trucks passing . Many in fact are driving under the speed limit .

 

I will just say I can't drive 55........... so call me a speeder I guess but its just somthing I can't do.. (unless its threw a city)

I have spoke to several Ohio DOT and State Troopers and they all told me we will let you go up to 65MPH but the second you go over that your getting a ticket... Ohio also has a few counties that are just out to get trucks.. if you get into that country and going over 60 your probably going to get a ticket, just need to learn the counties that do that in Ohio.. I know I70 like the back of my hand and can pretty tell you every area they sit and how fast they will let you run.....

 

Watch the highways in Ohio, though. I used to drive 65 on the freeways and always got away with it. So I got ####y, of course. I was doing an overnight load from Toledo to Columbus and back. I was tired and wanted to finish quickly so I could get to sleep. Going through Findlay on US15, a municipal cop pulled me over (it was night, I didn't see him) I got my first and only speeding ticket.

Oh, and I learned a lesson, too. If you're going to speed, do it during daylight hours!

 

One simple line sums it up pretty well:

If you ain't speedin', you're impedin'.

 

Running in steady traffic with several other trucks is one thing , running over the speed limit with no other traffic is another . Same thing happened to me in IL about 3 a.m. going about 62 m.p.h. . The trooper gave me a break and wrote me up for a log book violation instead .

 

Hence the term: Lead, follow or get out of the way.

I''m not a trucker, but help plenty. I don,t mind the trucks going in excess on the interstates or the larger state roads. As a society, we are always wanting it faster and faster and we needed it yesterday. So, who are we to complain if the truckers are trying to appease the general public. I think it's very noble.....LOL

Now, when the truckers used to do 60 on PA 291 right past my house in the 35 MPH zone and then try to jam the brakes as the light turns red making an attempt to avoid the minivan who has the green light and the right of way....Well, I have a problem with that.

As for myself, I get on time constraints sometimes. However, I refuse to speed in the residential areas. I think things change when we have kids of our own....

 

In 30 years of trucking I got 1 ticket each in NY, Ind, Wisc, Calif, and Tn, and 15 in Ohio. Beware of Radar Valley on I 71 between Ashland and Mansfield. I was running uphill with 48,000 on in a truck governed at 62 mph and got a ticket for 69 in a 55. Rt 23 between Marion and Upper Sandusky is another place to be carefull. Got 1 there for 66 in a 55 in the same 62 mph truck.

 

Truck drivers speed....4 wheelers speed....just the nature of man...yes, they are usually on a very tight schedule and you have no idea what problems they may have encountered that have caused them to be "running late." Should they be speeding, no...but there will always be those who do.

Riding close to your bumper is a sign of an unprofessional and dangerous driver. Best thing to do is slow down or pull over at the next safest spot to do so, and allow them to pass.....they give us all a bad name.