Another MPG thread

You get some kid that goes through a trucking school, goes to work at Moron Trucking, has to ride around with a "certified trainer", gets done with the dumb and dumber program, gets into a lease truck for his piece of the American dream, and then he has to train in order to make enough money to pay for that truck. It's a pyramid scheme. Ever had a friend get involved with Amway? "Hey buddy...want to own your own business? The top seller at Amway makes a million dollars a year! I quit my factory job, so I can devote all of my time to Amway! I'm gonna be rich!"

I have these guys come up to me to rub elbows, "I drive for them too. I am going to do the lease for a year and then I will get my $4000 completion bonus, and probably use that as a down payment to buy this truck."

you sure you want to do that, amigo? It's a fleet truck. 450hp and a 13 speed from the factory, converted to a 9 and detuned to 350 HP. Are you sure you want to buy that truck?

"We'll, my credit isn't the best and...."

You don't need credit to buy a truck, you need down payment money. I had a guy a few years back that was waiting on his completion bonus, aka $70 a week, to put down on a truck. I showed him the numbers, and how much more money he would save if he had leased a truck from one one of those buy here pay here places that advertise in the truck paper. You will save your $4000 in six weeks.

"Really?"

Yes. My buddy went and got a truck from Lone Mountain, $4000 down and his monthly payment, not weekly, monthly was $800 a month for a truck with a 515 Detroit and a 13. No more weekly payments, better fuel economy, worlds stronger truck, better performance. And at the end of it all, he has a 2 months payment for a balloon. It's like he just gave himself a $50000 raise. Win WIN.

"We'll, I only have 6 months to go til I get my completion bonus...can't leave $4000 sitting at the table."

Stupid. They're stupid. I don't even bother anymore. What's the point? If they weren't stupid, they wouldn't have been talked into doing a lease where you pay out the nose for a bottom end castrated truck, that keeps you out on the road, starving, and away from the house.

 

I've been working on my mpg, because there aren't many areas I can improve my net profit and fuel mileage is the main area. And, it's big dollars. I've made a lot of gains. I just made a 4,900 mile run from El Paso, TX to Boston, MA area, then Boston area back to Laredo, TX. Going east, I had 20,000lbs in the box, coming to Laredo, only 11,000. So I was light. Otherwise, average conditions, wind, hills, traffic and construction, weather, standard and average. My final calculations just showed an average fuel consumption of 8.5mpg for the 4,900 miles. I'm almost done. I've been experimenting with the Lucas top end/injector cleaner additive, and will probably use it a little more. I can't say I believe in snake oil, but maybe the Lucas product is more than that.

DD60, 14L, 760K, 3:36 gears, 9-speed.
Tractor tires, 105psi cold.
Trailer tires, 110 cold.
Cruise speed 1,280rpm, around 61-62mph.

I use "progressive shifting," 1,300rpm on flat ground, gears 1-5, but how many hours/day am I really shifting? Usually, only until I get on the highway. So I don't really consider it too important. I just do it because my truck seems to like it.

I plan to add some Lucas oil treatment on my next PM, and when I get home, put my truck in a shop and get my valves adjusted, "top end." That's about it. I'll live with what I get after that. In about 30,000 miles of experimenting, the major element of fuel economy is the weight of the load. If I get a 45,000 cargo, drive into a head wind, and have a lot of climbing, I won't be getting 8.5mpg. That's fine, it's an annual average anyway. Tax time, I want to show some after-tax profit.

 

You lost me at the statement 'in the box'
You know what forum this is right? Box jockeys should always get better mpg.. Less wind resistance than a lot of open trailer loads, less weight, and so on.
See ya

Martin

 

After 5 months and 57,000 miles I averaged 7.08 mpg (05/01/13-10/01/13)......

Then I had new drive tires installed, got my first tankful of winter fuel, bundled out in Vancouver and drove to Calgary.

5.75 mpg. Sigh.