Driving slow on fast freeways?

[Deleted member 9101]

Germans: (joke)

But the Aussies top out for trucking large loads:

But yeah we have large loads this side of the pond, particularly in Northern and Easterns Europe, and as for distance theres some crazy long routes up into Russia and down into the middle east. The Russian routes can be over 2000 miles.

I think thats Western Star... if so..its an American truck...lol.

As for the loads, from what I remember...European trucks rarely hot 70-80,000 pounds, and thats what most American trucks run at daily.

 

[JayGannon]

Anecdotally I would say ypur right that most EU trucks haul about 40,000 lbs over shorter distances more frequently. But in reality we can actually haul larger loads than the states.

According to the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, one of the driving forces behind the pitch to increase federal truck weight limits is the desire to "match up" with the rest of the world, as the 80,000-lb. (36.3 tons), tractor-trailer weight limit in the U.S. is below Europe's limit of 97,000 lbs. (44 tons); Canada's average of 103,000 lbs. (46.5 tons); and Mexico's limit of 107,000 lbs. (48.5 tons).

We dont haul large loads in short distances prefering to split them into multiple smaller loads, but we can haul really large loads outside of urban areas.

198 416 lbs in Denmark.
120 ft long.

and then we can loads of weird inter country loads like this

 

[haven]

This is completely off-topic, but with a few experienced truckers
reading this thread, I'll ask.

In USA, the typical heavy truck is a tractor with relatively short
wheelbase, towing a long trailer. In South America, the heavy
trucks frequently have a long wheelbase, so the cargo is carried
on the truck rather than on a trailer.

Why would a long wheelbase be advantageous? If the roads are rough
(major roads in South America are often poorly paved and filled with
enormous potholes), is it possible for a big bounce to unhook the trailer?
Or are tractor/trailer setups more expensive to buy?

Another interesting difference between trucks here and in South America
is that their trucks almost always have CTIS to keep the tires inflated
properly while under way. I think this is primarily for economic reasons,
since a deflated tire can wear out more quickly, and a tire with a slow leak
will stay inflated without the need to stop to change the tire. Comments?

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Vic,

As you head west, here are some things that could be passing you.

States that Allow Longer Combination Vehicles....


Watch out for the speeding triple trailers passing you in a high wind. That rear trailer will be swinging back and forth.

.

 

[PhulesAU]

This is completely off-topic, but with a few experienced truckers
reading this thread, I'll ask.

In USA, the typical heavy truck is a tractor with relatively short
wheelbase, towing a long trailer. In South America, the heavy
trucks frequently have a long wheelbase, so the cargo is carried
on the truck rather than on a trailer.

Why would a long wheelbase be advantageous? If the roads are rough
(major roads in South America are often poorly paved and filled with
enormous potholes), is it possible for a big bounce to unhook the trailer?
Or are tractor/trailer setups more expensive to buy?

Another interesting difference between trucks here and in South America
is that their trucks almost always have CTIS to keep the tires inflated
properly while under way. I think this is primarily for economic reasons,
since a deflated tire can wear out more quickly, and a tire with a slow leak
will stay inflated without the need to stop to change the tire. Comments?

Without a Pic, I'm guessing it just might be. That might be all the roads can hold. Width wise and turning radius. There's also the keep it simpler factor. Straight trucks are easier all the way around.

 

[VicHanson]

In Peru the trucks in the mountain areas are almost all straight, cab over trucks. They have comparatively short wheelbases with a long rear overhang because the roads are narrow and have lots of sharp turns as they go up and down the mountains. They often have to back up one or more times to get around the hairpin turns. The semis are mainly on the Pan American, but lots of straight trucks there too, sometimes with a full trailer behind.

They pass anytime they want to, same with the inter-city buses!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Nice selective information there Kurt!

Selective? I don't see how the rest of the law has anything to do with my comments. I could post all of Section 41 if you think we need to be thorough

As I remember the initial local media flurry on this topic, you can still legally 'impede' traffic and yet still be over the minimum speed. Regardless the only routes in Utah that have a minimum posted limit are multi-lane (each direction) and in that case I could care how slow you drive in the right lane. But get on one lane highways that intersect our state and I can absolutely see the merit in ticketing those that impeded traffic. We need the income from the out of stater drivers I kid but honestly 95% of those I see driving 'slow' in the passing lanes or one one lane highways have out of state plates. Maybe their local traffic enforcement or speed regulations have them a bit on edge? We honestly have pretty lax enforcement... 75 limit = 80-85 without too much worry as they are hanging out for the 90mph guy with tinted windows throwing bags of grass out the window.

The law is vague and open to interpretation... which law isn't? We have an entire industry dedicated to interpreting the written law, nothing new there.

The 80MPH limit and impeding verbiage changes have been discussed for several years, I think Jenkins actually proposed it in 2007. I applaud our states efforts to keep our highways moving fast and given the proportional increase in auto safety, road conditions and mpg ratings of a 2010 model car versus even a 1980, I think 80 is completely reasonable on rural routes.

 

[kerry]

They pass anytime they want to, same with the inter-city buses!

Your time in Peru may have colored your decision to drive at 55mph on the interstate

 

[VicHanson]

Kerry - Hahaha! Nope, it is only colored by my finances! Social Security income is $1110 per month, and my fuel budget is $250 per month.

Kurt - My point was that the law about impeding traffic specifically refers to the left lane, not the right lane. If someone is above the minimum in the right lane they are not legally impeding traffic.

Vic

 

[cruiseroutfit]

...Kurt - My point was that the law about impeding traffic specifically refers to the left lane, not the right lane. If someone is above the minimum in the right lane they are not legally impeding traffic...

Correct, on multi-lane highways. Impeded traffic on a single lane highway and you could be ticketed. You can't get to any of the popular recreation hotspots in Utah without extended travel on a two lane highway. While often they have passing lanes they could be 10 or 20 miles apart and its not at all uncommon to see a couple dozen cars backed up behind a single slow moving RV on 191 into Moab or SR10 into the Swell. I can lend some sympathy if they are pushing it as fast as they can go and rubbing the right barricade to let people pass over the dash lines... but if they were slowing down that many just to keep their mileage in check I would pat the patrolman on the back personally

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

I just drove my camper from Florida to Minnesota and didn't have time to go slow and sight see, so was on freeways most of the way. I can cruise at 60 or 65 with my Isuzu NPR camper but the fuel mileage is terrible, especially if there is a head wind, so I drove 55 mph almost the whole way (2000 miles). If the road was rough or with a head wind I sometimes slowed down to 50. The only problem I had with that is that the semi trucks would come up on my tail very fast and then sometimes couldn't pull over to pass due to traffic. This made me a bit nervous, especially if I hadn't noticed them coming up behind me.

I averaged about 15 1/2 mpg for the 2000 miles, but did have a tail wind at least half of the time. I paid from $2.89 to $3.11 per gallon for diesel, which was 20 to 50 cents higher than the price of regular unleaded!

I was thinking that some kind of a sign on the back that says I am driving 55 mph might be good. Has anyone done anything like this or how do you deal with this situation?

I'm also thinking about trying to seal the space between the camper and the cab to improve the aerodynamics. Of course it still needs to allow for the cab to tilt so not sure how to do this. Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks,
Vic

"Driving slow on fast freeways?"


The OP's first post...see above.

This thread is not about driving on two lane highways. Let's please be aware of this and respect the OP.




Off topic merged idea's only lead to thread topic confusion, and randomness. (Even though they might even be good idea's too).




.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

...This thread is not about driving on two lane highways. Let's please be aware of this and respect the OP...

..... life is not a cookie cutter .............. threads morph and this is as on topic as talking about the day rates of a trucker. They only get confusing if you can't keep up

If the OP has issues with the conversation he can redirect it as needed. The point stands, if you can't maintain 'regular' speeds on a multi-lane freeway your surely not going to be able to do it on similar speed single lane highways. If travel on these type of routes is expected I would investigate upgrades to the rig rather than upgrades to the bumper sticker collection. Split rear axle? Gear ratio change? Trans upgrades? Aerodynamic improvements.

P.S. Pot meet kettle

 

[VicHanson]

Yes, this thread has morphed quite a bit, but I found the truck part interesting and even participated in it. In my recent experience, most 2 lane roads have a 55 mph speed limit, so unless there are hills I shouldn't have much trouble with them. My camper handles pretty good so I can usually keep up with the posted speed limits on curves. Sometimes on rough roads I will slow down a bit it it is too bumpy. If the 2 lane roads in Utah have a speed limit higher than 55, I will have to take the conditions into consideration. If there is too much traffic and it's going faster and unable to pass, I will use all available pullouts and if needed, speed up.

Vic

 

[goodtimes]

I applaud our states efforts to keep our highways moving fast and given the proportional increase in auto safety, road conditions and mpg ratings of a 2010 model car versus even a 1980, I think 80 is completely reasonable on rural routes.

It's not so much what the cars can handle (even if you ignore the fact that many older cars -- which don't handle or stop nearly as well as newer vehicles), it is what the drivers can see and react to. Speed limits take into consideration, among other things, visibility (hills, corners, etc), shoulder width (ability for a disabled vehicle to get out of the traffic lane), surrounding objects (trees, houses, driveways, cross streets, etc), . . .

Also, consider that 80 mph works out to about 118 feet per second. Your low beam headlights only illuminate in the neighborhood of 150 feet* in front of your vehicle. You will blow through that 150 feet in less than 1.3 seconds (at 80mph). Then consider that you need in the neighborhood of 400 feet to stop at 80mph* . . .

(* -- illumination and stopping distance numbers were pulled from random websites, and are intended to be used as 'ball park' numbers for the sake of conversation only).

Doing the math, if you illuminated 500 feet of the road in front of you (over 3X as far as your average car/truck), at 80mph you would have less than one second to react to anything that required you to stop (deer in the road, fallen tree, etc).

Based on that, I have to disagree that 80mph is a reasonable speed on rural roads.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

I applaud our states efforts to keep our highways moving fast and given the proportional increase in auto safety, road conditions and mpg ratings of a 2010 model car versus even a 1980, I think 80 is completely reasonable on rural routes.

What increase in MPG ratings? The real average fleet MPG ratings haven't increased at all. I had a small 1989MY car that could easily do 40-50mpg for $5000 new. I can't buy a car like that now.

IF you can't do the min speed limit get off the freeway, but at the same time truckers don't have the right to set the 'appropriate speed' either.

And what about trucks that can't maintain the MINIMUM speed on a divided highway going up a grade? And then you have trucks that can, but get stuck behind one in the right lane and slow below the minimum speed, but as soon as a gap opens up in traffic in the left lane, the "faster" truck whips out into the left lane and then attempts to accelerate up the hill. You now have two trucks side by side going under the minimum speed on the highway.

Yet these same truck drivers would suggest THEY have the moral right to decide who should be driving at what speed on the freeways?

I deal with this on a daily basis.