Do any drivers go the speed limit?

My experience, after very careful observation, is that most truck drivers, like most care drivers use a psychological speed limit and ignore the speed limit signs. Routinely trucks maintain the construction zone speed limit well after the constrcution zone until a car or truck attempts to pass and only then do they resume the normal limit.

Among my favorite all-time most uselss CB questions is "what's the speed limit?" Well, that sort of depends on where you are at. A blind transmission over the airwaves of "what's the speed limit" is as useful as asking "what's the price of that" (what, where, when?)

It;s your license at risk drivers, it's your job to look for and find the speed limit signs, all of them. It's not a nice thing to do if you have nothing else to do, it's a minimum requirement of the job. It's also good to use your cruise control as often as possible so you are freed up to watch for speed limit signs. That doesn't mean operate the cruise until the moment of impact and it doesn't mean save the cruise until you are dispatched from NY to LA and on the interstate. Every time you turn onto a road make it a priority to find the speed limit sign and then decide what number you will set on the cruise. This "go with the flow" is how functional illiterates and full-time phone molesters pretend to be involved in driving. It's an excuse for driving distracted or letting others make important decisions best left to the professional driver.

 

There are times when you just plain forgot to look for a speed limit sign, thats when it's nice to have the GPS turned on and most of the time it's right there.

 

I sure wouldn't depend on the speed limit being anywhere near what a GPS says it is. I've seen them off anywhere from 5 to 15 MPH. Sure, MOST of the time they are right on. But I'm not willing to take that chance.

 

I run 5 over the posted on big roads. towns, rural roads etc. I do the posted speed. In heavy traffic and flowing traffic I keep my opening.

On the big road keep right pass left. Especially if your goverened, and cant do the speed limit. If the roads empty and you want to ride the "smooth lane" have at it!

 

I run the speed limit what ever it may be, my truck can do the speed limit so when the speed drops i have no need to try to make up for anything.

Most truck drivers are idiots, plain and simple, i'll explain before everyone jumps all over this:

If your a company driver: Going the speed limit keeps you from getting tickets, which will save YOU money, and will save YOUR driving record and CSA score. Also most companies base their Fuel bonus off of idle time and mpg's so by going the 65mph speed limit instead of 70 your saveing fuel and increasing your chances of getting your bonus. (will also allow for more idleing) SPEEDING WILL NOT GAIN YOU ANYTHING, the math has been done over and over the only way you benefit from speeding is to do 10+ over the speed limit, which is a HUGE ticket and points on record and CSA, as well as will hurt your resume BIG TIME. ALSO IF you cannot LOG speeding so if you log driving from Noon to 10pm and the speed limit was 65mph the whole way you cant LEGALLY log more then 650miles (even then any cop will call BS because and AVERAGE speed means you had to have eceeded that speed at some points) so if you did 70 he whole way you would have done that in roughly 9 hours and 15 min but you STILL HAVE TO LOG 10 HOURS so WHAT did you gain??????


If your a O/O or a L/O: all the of the above applies to you AND YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THE EXTRA FUEL YOUR BURNING!




When other drivers want to speed and waste there fuel and get tickets it dont bother me as thats THEIR problem. BUT when SWIFT blows my doors off in a 55mph zone and then I have to pass him AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN all freaking day because everytime the speed limit drops below 62 i slow down and he keeps his foot to the floor makes me wanna knock them the f%^#^ out!


But i do enjoy watching drivers get tickets for speeding though! Especially if they just blew past me I always congragulate them on the CB and wave as i go by!





American Trucker

 

I slow down to 55 if the roads are icy. I could not imagine going 55mph all day long across montana in nice weather I would go nuts. and die from boredom... I will run 5 over unless the speed limit is 75 then I never go over, in cities and towns i always drive less than the posted speed, especially in residential areas. but honestly it depends on alot of factors. Road conditions, weather, how im feeling, where im at, etc

 

IMHO knowing the GPS is available to tell you the speed limit makes it seem less important to find the speed limit sign. The GPS speed advisory won't help in court. It's a gimmick and makes it easier to keep bad habits.

It's like the comedian making a point about airbags in cars. He says, airbags don't make driving safer. If you want people to drive more safely put a big steel spike where the airbag is located. You tell me driving with a big steel spike pointed at your face or an airbag to cushion your noggin, which makes you pay attention?

Of course, we all sometimes forget or miss the speed limit sign, but if you make finding that sign part of your self-disciplined habits you are better off than relying on archived data in a magic box.

 

ok, modify my post...
if in town; I'm just under whatever the posted limit is. but no more than 5mph under. if I miss the sign, I assume is 20mph residential, and 30mph thru town...tho it's usually higher speed limit when I do find the sign.
on the dirt roads, county roads, lease roads; mostly I do the speed limit, some cant go speed limit due to condition of the road. some I'll admit, no one around, no dirt trail so positive no one around, and is a good road, I'll speed on it.
state highways; I run the posted speed if I can (depends which truck I'm in and how loaded it is). and I set the cruise just under the posted limit just in case speedometer is wrong in the truck I'm in that day. very rarely do I speed when on state roads, do not want to risk ticket, or 'just pulled you over for inspection'...I do not want that on my CDL.
I dont live near, or drive on interstate highways, so that doesnt apply to me currently. but I would treat interstate like a state highway if I did. (maybe someday I'll be there)

if I know I'm overloaded, or truck I'm in that day that cannot pass an inspection, I'm 5mph under speed limit all day long, paved or unpaved, avoid the paved as much as possible, do all I can to not draw attention to myself.

 

with the exception of one, all the states I run are 75 mph states, my truck is goverend at 76 mph. On a 75 mph road, the cruise is set to 76, on a 65 mph road, it depends on traffic and road conditions, but I'll generally push 70 mph. Construction zones and in town, I do the limit or less, generally less.

 

I drive based on the fuel economy monitor that I have on the truck.

After all, fuel out the exhaust pipe is something I can control.