Truck governed speeds
Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by truckntim80, May 4, 2006.
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They are all different, so I can not give you a decent answer to this question. But I can say I have ran truck's set at 62 mph and I have drove truck's that I did not find the governed speed. Even some of the truck's from the factory that I now drive are wide open.........well fast enough that I don't want to know how fast they will go anyway. 8)
Different companies have different speeds as has been discussed several times on here. -
My truck will run 66-67 before it hits the speed limiter. Most times I run 60-62 loaded at most, and will go up faster when empty and I have shed 50,000 pounds of rolling resistance. Making good time isn't as much a result of top speed as it is a willingness to forgo hanging out in the truckstops and keeping the truck rolling. Then you make good time at aslower speed. Stop and goof off, and you get nowhere and it takes a long time to do it.
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There are times when I will run right on the limiter loaded. I run from Kalamazoo Mi to Omaha. Preload the night before and go home, leaving a 600 mile trip to make. I leave early enough to get aorund Chicago slowdown, and run across Ill and Iowa. Running hard and going non stop, the extra 5-6 mph accumulates and becomes a 50-60 mile difference at the end of the day. That means I get there and unload and have time to pick up a return load before crashing out for the night.
Running slower, I would not be able to unload until the next morning and wouldn't get as early of a return load.
But unless I can run the full time frame available, it doesn't work and there's no advantage to going faster. If I run a more typical load, and mine average right at 225 miles, then I gain very little going faster. And I really like to have people passing me, rather than being the fast guy of the group. If John Law shows up, then he tends to notice the fasted dudes, and leaves me alone. -
When I drove, my companies seemed to fit an inverse speed 'law', save for one.
The faster my trucks went, the lower my pay was per mile when I did the calculations. The companies whose trucks were governed at 65 paid way more than those companies whose trucks were governed at 80 or even ungoverned. The reefer companies I worked for usually had faster trucks, but again, they offered lower pay per mile.
Swift didn't fit this law, of course. They had some of the slowest trucks on the road AND didn't pay worth a crap. Plus they treated drivers like dirt there.
One company I worked for (for only ten days--one load was enough) based out of Ontario, California had me pick up a load in Chula Vista, California, just south of San Diego, and deliver said load to Hunt's Point Market some 50 hours later. The truck I was driving, a beautiful Peterbilt 379 with 18 gears, would do 85 (at least), and the company wanted it running wide open all the way, no matter if I was in Arizona or Ohio. When I first picked up that truck, I wondered why its exhaust stack tips were blue. I found out in a big hurry, boy. I made it to Hunt's Point a day late, but all was well. I got my load off and headed for a pickup near Giant's stadium and then made a beeline for L.A. When I was done with the run, I think I made about 18 cents per mile for that company when I calculated my final pay rate after taxes. Yeah, ten days was all it took with those guys.
I noticed also that the nicer the truck, meaning cadillac-Peterbilt vs. run-of-the-mill Freightliner, the lower the pay was per mile also, but that's another post. -
Seemed like I read some where that all Trucks were going to be governed sooner or later. I can't remember where I read that article at to go and fetch it.
But anyways........The Company I work for, the trucks are governed at 65mph. -
From a mechanics standpoint a Peterbuilt or a Kenworth are not that great of trucks. They are all flash and bling bling. A few years ago Mack was the truck to have, espessialy an R-Model they were really hard to kill. Ford used to make a good truck in their Louieville line, they probably built one of the toughest cabs on the market. And for years IHC has built a good product. Paccar products were not really built to be serviced as easily. For example back in the 90s they still used fueses instead of breakers. Hook up to a trailer with a short and you had better have a box of spares or you were waiting for daybreak. -
What's your opinion of the newer Macks, such as the 460 model, JoeMech?
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To tell you the truth I really don't have much experince with them. When I look at them they really don't seem to be the superior truck that Macks used to be. But like I say I really haven't had that much first hand experince with the newer ones. I have been working for a all IHC fleet for the last 10 years, and they have been mostly vocational trucks. I have a friend that owns a a fleet of 50 tractors hauling freight and he has been buying all Internationals and Freightliners for the last few years. He has been doing this a long time and knows what he is doing. I would trust his judgement.
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