Another conversation that's way over my head. I can only hope to learn all these tips, tricks and esoteric measures.
Thanks for the info guys. Good stuff. My first trainer upshifted at 1200, from 6th on up. 2-6 shifted at 900. Downshifting happened at 900. period. We ran heavy loads, around 39K to 44K was the norm, milage was around 7 mpg, but he also had a miss that he could not get fixed (his words). Current trainer (Lease operator) is more worried about getting there above all. we run at 64 mph reguardless. Milage has been running around 6.5 or less. The last week I have been kicking it back to 60, and showing him the difference, about .5-1 mpg to the good. We also try to keep more weight on the drives than the tandems, about 400 lbs at least. Air pressure - I have yet to see him check it lol. Gonaa start looking at that this week.
One difference might be that company drivers are paid by the mile, while lease operators are paid a percentage of the load, right? If so, the mpg a company guy gets is important (there's the mileage reward, too), but for a lease operator, perhaps getting more runs would be more financially beneficial, even though he's paying for his own fuel. I'm sure IP or another LO will chime in and correct any inaccuracies.
The lease is about controlling expenses. IF you know you will be able to squeeze in another run by running at 65? then *maybe* it might work out. But controlling your fuel costs is pretty important.
For L/O this has been disproven over and over again. Fuel wasted is money lost. No amount wasted over the long run will be covered by "squeezing in another load"
Gonna have to agree with U2. Not only do we run fast, but then we sit at either the shipper or receiver "hoping" to get unloaded/loaded early. Normally does not happen. So my thinking is to run at 55mph or so, and save the money on fuel, get to the shipper a little early. Like everyone else I hate going slow, but the fuel savings can be pretty good, from what I have seen.
Do the math... Say 130,000 miles per year on the solo side, average 7.5 mpg instead of 6.2 mpg, at $4 per gallon (we're headed there.) Thats over 3600 gallons of fuel you don't buy, putting around $14,000 in your pocket. Maybe you get unloaded early 50% of the time if you run fast... and lets not talk about Walmart. Then there's more wear and tear on the vehicle - especially tires, more frequent PMs, etc. The fuel bill is the low-hanging fruit on your profit/loss sheet.
You haven't been out west lately IP, 4.15 seem to be the norm lol. I agree BTW, we are lucky to get unloaded early 25% of the time. Thanks or all the good info
Nothing not to like there. Other than traffic, but driving in heavy traffic just takes some getting used to and staying on your game. Be safe
