Prime Flatbed Divison Info

Sorry but on the surface your statement is correct, if someone hits you from behind it appears to be their fault but in a court of law things are not always the same. I'm out in the truck right now so I don't have the resources with me to cite exact cases.

If it can be proven that the vehicle was being operated too slow for prevailing traffic, weather and road conditions the driver of the slower vehicle can be held liable for the accident. Ever noticed the minimum speed limit signs on certain highways? Have a rear end collision where you are driving below that speed and see what the jury says after you have spent the last 2+ years of your life in litigation not to mention the financial hardship (ruin) placed on your family.

I have a close friend who 22 years ago was pulling a hill in a loaded cattle truck at about 30 mph in a 65 zone. He was rear ended by a young lady with a child in the car. She was more than double the limit drunk, suspended drivers license for DUI and both were killed. Her family sued the company AND the driver. Even though she was drunk, the driver was legally (Logs etc.) on the road and she clearly rearended him he wound up broke and broken over the whole deal. The insurance company had the best lawyers money could buy defending themselves (the trucking company) but he was also named personally in the suit and had to get lawyers to defend himself which the company "helped" pay for but the end result, he was cleared of liabilty, the company lost to the total of $10,000,000.00 and he was totally bankrupted and broken as a human being.

This guy did absolutely nothing wrong, was doing his job legally and correctly. Just think about what it would do to you as a person if your driving along at 53 in a 70 (where the cars are running 75+) and some young family dies as a result. Yeah, your comapny was getting a mile to the gallon better but what will happen to you that night when you go to bed and try to go to sleep??

65 in a 70 zone where cars are travelling 75 is a 10 mph front end collision and most likely survivable but increase that to 20mph or more and the resulting injuries and possible loss of life goes up exponentially.

I'm not trying to talk anyone into driving faster and not trying to make a case for carriers to have the trucks run faster either, just pointing out what can happen with larger gaps in speed and more important what will it do to you as a person if your in the drivers seat when soemthing like that happens.

 

Let's inject a little realism into all the kvetchin' going on over in the flathead world...

First the speed limits on the interstates have both an upper and lower end. Now I'll agree in very heavy traffic it is better to try to run with the flow as best you can. Out on the rural interstate with lower traffic densities its a different matter.

We slowed down in '08 when fuel spiked above $5 a gallon. Somewhere above $3 per gallon the number one expense of all trucking companies becomes fuel, exceeding even that of the paychecks of our estimable company-side comrades. For me it runs about 35% of my costs, expressed as a percentage of gross revenue. Want to cut costs? The fuel bill is the low-hanging fruit. So... why haven't we speeded up? Because the only place fuel prices are going to go (with some seasonal ups n' downs) is UP. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you - so remember that when you go vote. Since the only place fuel prices are going is UP, we may as well get y'all under control now - its less painful than when they start firing people for not toeing the fuel economy line when fuel costs spike again. Fuel is what ran thousands of small and medium trucking businesses into bankruptcy a few years ago. Those trucks are not ever going to be on the highway again.

The number one way to cut the fuel bill is to slow down. That's the bottom line. Now you guys can complain all you want, but Prime was one of the few carriers that expanded during the recession. Why? Because our owner has gone through this before, and knows how to stay in business. And there are thousands of drivers who were thrown out of work because their carriers couldn't get a handle on the fuel bill, i.e. instill the discipline on their drivers to get their right foot backed off of the throttle. The acquisition of the Pittston location from TRL, and its complete remodeling was started during the recession. The expansion of the tractor shop and tire shop in Springfield was started during the recession. The 28 and 29-series reefer trailers were acquired during the recession. Why? Because we had the CASH to do it, and it expanded the business.

Since Prime slowed down, the rear-end DOT-reportable accident rate has gone down well over 20% - part of that is due to the anti-collision systems we have as well. But Prime's overall accident rate per million miles is the lowest its been in corporate history - and its been bad at times. That friends, is why we don't spend very much time in the coops any more. DOT has bigger fish to fry. More over, the violence involved in large truck accidents is much lower simply because there is less energy involved - and that should concern you guys a lot. Why? Because those headache racks aren't going to stop much except some of that foam you dislike pulling. So the numbers tell us that we are in fact safer by running slower.

Next, all y'all are low-time drivers, and in my opinion, don't have the skills necessary to handle 70 to 75-mph trucks. How many times a day do you overcontrol enough to fishtail that trailer behind you over either the zipper line or the fog line? Bunches I'm willing to bet - because I watch that from the front seat of my office all day. Add a lot of speed to that, and you're going to get trouble - in the form of more accidents. It takes experience to get the precision control necessary to handle these vehicles all day long in a manner that allows you to be safe at higher speeds. Then there's the decreased reaction time available when you're moving along that fast. It puts you in bad places a lot faster - and the decisions low-time drivers make tend to not always be the best ones.

Lets get to the "puny truck" issue. I've been hearing that from low-time drivers since I got here. Torque - not horsepower - is what gets you over hills. Our trucks have just as much as everyone else, except we limit the amount of horsepower you have available in certain speed bands. Why? Because when you use too much of it (instead of gearing down to climb a hill sensibly by multiplying the torque available through your transmission) all you do is pour buckets of fuel through the engine. Mostly to stoke your egos. Remember the part about fuel economy? It's all about the bottom line, making sure Prime stays in business, and making sure that we have more freight to pull than all the rest of those jokers who don't mind bankrupting their employers.

Keep in mind that many of those trucks passing you on the grades are EMPTY. That means they can convert all that extra torque into speed. And there's a bunch more that have loads filling those vans from nose to tail that don't weigh much more than 20,000 lbs. Underwear, socks and plastic boxes bound for Walmart don't exactly weigh anything close to those coils you're so fond of hauling. Be happy you get to pull real loads.

 

I don't want anyone to take my previos post the wrong way, I'm absolutely not advocating for faster trucks in any way shape or form. I was simply pointing out that a rear end collision can be put back on the driver of the slower vehicle and that a bad rear end collision can break a driver.

I understand the reason for driving slower and see it all the time in my truck. I haul mostly oversized oddball crap that can best be described as lightweight drag chutes. I just hauled a 737 wing 1200 miles, it only weighed 7020# and even though it's aerodynamic and I was in 55 mph states running 50 to 60 my fuel mileage sucked because of the extreme wind drag.

I'm very fortunate to run for a company that does not govern it's trucks and my 06 Volvo with it's ISX 475 will run well into the 90's (I've never had it there but the math says it will). We don't have a fuel bonus either because of the odd stuff we haul. Pulling one of our curtain sides I can get into the mid 7's but I've only had the pleasure of pulling one of those once. On the "super" loads I average 4.5 to 5 regarless of speed because of the aerodynamic drag.

 

Our company guys don't have any choice in the matter. Its toe the fuel economy line or go drive for Swift.

Speaking of Swift... those guys are always against the ECM speed limits which burns a lot more fuel than backing off a mph, and they raised their speed limits a year or two ago. Guess what? On revenues of 826 million dollars, they could only manage to turn $0.007 - yup that's less than a penny - of every one of those 826 million into profit last quarter. That is piss poor.

BTW, any time you're operating under the minimum speed on an interstate or just going a lot slower than traffic, its time to turn on the four-ways.

 

I tried to run for a whopping 5 miles today with my rpm's at 1000. 46 MPH is what it was. Nope, not gonna do it. Extremely unsafe, not too mention embarrassing.

 

You guys get a longer leash on that. Management recognizes that your loads aren't aerodynamic enough to match the performance over in reefer division.

Yeah, but you can sure have fun with some of the people stuck behind you! JK