Passing etiquette....

I have steel wire to hold my rack lever at a steady position on my mechanical Caterpillar. I keep 'em all cornfused. One minute I'm doing 50 up a slight grade then next minute I'm doing 65 on the down side all while my feet are propped up on the dash.

Even the air pressure difference when a truck pulls up besides me will let my rig roll another 2-3 mph faster than when I'm pushing that wind all by myself and they think I sped up on purpose.

I bet 90% never ever drove a mechanical diesel. They just wonder why that Semi Crazy truck is being an A-hole!

 

Ok well the truck I drive is governed at 65 I go back and fourth from Colorado Springs to Denver and during the day it is usually full of 4 wheelers and trucks. when I'm coming back empty I know were the ant hills are and were I can pass if need be. But it seems like when I do get passed by a truck going 68+ most of the time I pass him when he gets pulled into the scales and I get the green light. That is true victory there! My feeling on drivers that don't look over at you its because they know they are in the wrong or they are to busy on there cell phone. All this talk about passing I think I'm going to jump on my Harley and go pass some 4-wheelers

 

Well, First off he get's a "Snoobie Snak". Then he get's to chase down some "Haji" Then get's to romance "Trixie" and he's good!!!

 

I always love the guys who are doing like 1 mph faster and take 30 miles to pass. I am like what is the point, why bother passing. In a day you would only be 11 miles ahead. They stop for a piss and then they have to do it all over again. There are days that some driver will fly past then a few hours later he is flying past again. Have had some do that 4 or more times. Just makes one wonder what is going on inside their minds. If someone wants to pass and they dont have the power to do it back off and let them go, if you get some nut case who does it more than once stop for a coffee break and let them get some space. Dont stress there is another nut just around the bend.

 

Let's be reasonable. If you arrive at truck driving school at 21 without etiquette and responsibility, it's pretty unlikely a truck driving instructor is going to impart either in 4 weeks, or 6 months, or a year.

The major principles of truck driving are covered in basic Driver's Ed. Unfortunately, Mommy and/or Daddy have had the previous 16 years to teach that that education is irrelevant. It doesn't matter if you don't signal, it doesn't matter if you don't stop before that RTOR, it doesn't matter if you stop behind the stop bar, it doesn't matter if you never comply with speed limits, it doesn't matter if you follow too closely, it doesn't matter if your phone occupies half your attention.

"Do as I say, not as I do" is always expected to work, this time, because they're my kids, despite there being not a single instance ever recorded of it having done so.

 

You're pretty right. A well-modulated R foot can easily outperform CC in the mileage department, but a company driver has little if any incentive to learn or practice it.

And "training" doesn't work on drivers, obviously, they already have plenty of training they ignore. Another gauge to not look at isn't going to change that.

 

There is a significant difference between the old engine with mechanical govenors and the new electronic engines, in the old 653,671,and 692's the Cummings 250,and 350's you could with a worn govenor run the engine up to where it would start running in reverse. Today's engines you can use your lower rpm and gain from your bottom end torque, the old engine had no bottom end torque hence the use of twin sticks in alot of the older rigs. Some things you can learn in driving school, other have to be learned in the real world.

 

Trucking is my early retirement plan. I have a completely clean driving record, yet, I've always allowed myself to get pi##ed off at all the self centered idiots on the road. I've been working on not getting upset, and instead just being aware of them. I can't control the self centered idiots on the road - only factor them in to my own decision making - that lesson was a long time coming for me. I'm much more relaxed after driving now.

As a future driver, I've already benefited from attempting to think like a driver. It is curious to me that some truck drivers who drive all day, would still choose to be hotheads. Maybe there should be some sort of a test for this in the CDL process in order to weed out these dangerous folks. I'm not speaking of occasionally getting upset, but rather the "full of rage" type drivers.

 

I use cruise all the time, 30 MPH is the minimum limit. I get really good fuel mileage. I don't have to worry to much about speeding, I set it and forget it. You have your opinion and I have mine, but cruise does not use any more fuel in the mountains. If I cancel the cruise, I go full throttle. If the engine goes into full boost and I'm losing speed, well its a pretty steep hill and if you don't keep the throttle mashed you're going to lose speed rapidly. For most hills, the engine with the cruise set can climb the hill just fine. I probably notice 1/4 or 1/2 boost. The truth is, if you're losing speed, by your words 'feathering the throttle' to keep speed maintained and boost down just doesn't make any sense.

If the engine is losing speed on cruise control, which would mean the engine is already under full throttle, how do you expect to maintain speed by feathering the throttle and giving less power to the engine? It's possible you can climb the hill with less throttle, sure you will lose more speed, but the name of the game is getting over the hill as fast as possible to avoid losing momentum and maintain the maximum road speed. On the 10 speed with a 400 ISX, I've gone down from 10th to as low as 5th gear on some of these hills, if I didn't keep on the throttle I'd end up lugging the engine, dropping more gears or stalling out.

I own a 6V92T, an 8V71N and a Series 60. It's full throttle every where with the 6V92T/8v71N which are both coupled to an Allison HT740. They don't have cruise. The cruise on the Series 60 is currently inoperable. There is no such thing as a Cummings engine.

A well modulated right foot can and will control fuel mileage. This is more essential when starting off and shifting through the gear. Shifting at high RPM's, WOT starts when empty, etc. There is a time and a place for everything, point is the right foot is a huge contributor to MPG. How ever, when I get on the on ramp, I don't put put around, I give it all the power to safely attempt to merge. I see many drivers take their sweet tea time trying to merge and making it unsafe for everyone, so they can 'save a little fuel.'

Moral of the story, there's plenty of ways to save fuel. Driving like an old lady on a mountain, or entering from an on ramp holding back on the power are not things I would do. Driving any where in a two stroke Detroit like that are clearly wrong, you won't go any where fast. Those engines don't like to be lugged. They don't make much if any power driving them light footed.