9 - 10 mpg

it's not perspective, it's simple math. I ran 59,844 odometer miles last year. I'm definitely not running like a dog. I spend a lot of time at home and try to maximize my time out to create the most NET when I do work. It sounds like you have a great fixed gig, so the only way to increase your net is to spend less. That's doesn't work for everybody's gig.

 

yeup. well put there mr. qulphauler. cause that's the basics of this whole MPG thing. i guess everybody in the left lane has flexible receivers that will up and unload at the drop of a dime, but since most business's don't operate like that it doesn't make sense to me that 75% of us live in the left lane.

 

The situation determines whether I smell the roses or diesel smoke. Sometimes there is a late decision made and they need to be at the sale barn at sale time. The rate always reflects this. Others its a got to get these here and off to load here by x time. If I have time to burn I get off that super slab and slip along on the black top out of sight out of mind. I do agree we have to share the hammer lane, and we all don't need to use it the same day.

 

Let's take this one step further....

To keep the fantasy rate quotes out of this I will use the national rate per mile for dry vans per CCJ magazine @ $1.76 per mile and let's say both truck's goals are to make a conservative $130,000 gross profit per year after fuel cost only that will show how many miles they would have to drive to attain that.....

5 mpg truck = $0.80/mile fuel cost ($1.76 - $0.80) = $0.96 gross per mile
9 mpg truck = $0.44/mile fuel cost ($1.76 - $0.44) = $1.32 gross per mile


5 mpg truck to attain $130,000 gross profit = 135,417
9 mpg truck to attain $130,000 gross profit = 98,485

Difference of 36,932 miles in a year that it is not hard to figure which truck will get more home time and that does not even factor in the higher maintenance cost of the 5 mpg truck or the extra down time related to that too. That is also over 37% more miles than the 9 mpg truck will run to just attain a conservative $130,000 gross profit before wages, taxes, insurances, permits, tires, lube, maintenance, etc. come out of the gross profit.

Let's even break down the driving hours with legal speeds in most of the country.

5 mpg truck drove 135,417 miles @ 70 mph = 1,935 hours driving
9 mpg truck drove 98,485 miles @ 55 mph = 1,791 hours driving

144 hours difference that allows the 9 mpg truck over 14 more days at home than the 5 mpg truck considering speeds and gross profit goals.

The last thing to look at is the in-frame overhaul time in years to say at 1,000,000 miles that is pretty much the average even though the slower truck would go a lot further.

The 5 mpg truck will need overhauled in around 7-1/4 years compared to the 9 mpg truck lasting over 10 years that is a big difference too.

Now the difference of the MPGs is not just conservative driving habits alone, but also a serious program of mechanical changes to the truck including aerodynamic, rolling resistance and friction reduction to freer flowing exhaust systems and cleaner fuel modifications and better ECM programming.

Before everybody jumps on the rate I used that is a national average, we are all better negotiators than the other and actually a higher profitable cash flow per mile allows a the 9 mpg truck even more patience to negotiate a much higher rate than the desperation to get loads as fast as they can with the 5 mpg truck needing to keep a decent profitable cash flow on a weekly basis.

Truck Smarter
Not Harder

 

No way the difference between doing 70 and 55 is 4mpg with the same load in the same conditions with the same truck. Difference ranges between 1-2mpg TOPS.

 

Nobody said it was!

Read it again and you will see I clarified that statement, but thread is about 9-10 mpg trucks and the post compared with was a poster getting in the 5 mpg range.

 

Especially when those same trucks pass you 2 or 3 times a day to end up at the same truck stop for the daily sleeper berth break.