[slowmover]

Have had runs of late where idle time was almost nil (about an hour or so out of twelve, roughly). MPG for the trips has been around 5+. The truck is nearly always empty one-half the miles driven so this accounts for the high mpg. TARE weight (with the trailer I have hooked up in this 6-day/2-off cycle) shows at just above 31,000-lbs, with loaded weights of around 74,000-lbs.

This motor won't accelerate the load like an earlier less emissions choked engine, but it is very smooth. The engine is "smart", meaning that road/load conditions don't seem to phase it . . the throttle response is very, very consistent. And it pulls really well. I can descend one particular hill at top 68-mph Cruise and hit the grade bottom at 72-mph and it will ascend the next still at 66-67 mph, loaded or empty where, if any winds are present, they are from the rear.

Whoever spec'd the truck (owner, RUSH Peterbilt, factory) sure nailed it from this perspective.

Progressive shifting still means I enter IH-37 at about 45-mph when loaded as extra throttle and winding out the motor aren't any help otherwise. It's a much nicer day when one knows "the limits" and doesn't have to watch the tach so closely.

My thinking today is that no matter the driver (skilled or not, caring or not) the fleet mpg will likely be quite consistent for this operation where comparisons can be made. If so, that would be a great planning tool for budgets.

I'm still learning the fuel gauge as 200-gl/capacity means 80-gl/tank use-able before the low fuel warning light comes on (20-gls remaining in each tank). A "fillup" in other words is 160-gls. I occasionally have the option of energy/hours at shift end to stop for fuel (takes away 1/2-hour from total work time plus any drive time to/from that location) at one of our designated retailers, and am aiming for "knowing" where the fillup would be close to 100-gls to make it worthwhile from all perspectives. Different companies and philosophies make when to fuel a central part of operations. In hotshot work we never left the yard without full tanks. And never stopped until we had a customer signature for delivery. In this job it's simply more important to "get under the load" which means the driver has some leeway in where and when to fuel.

160-gls sounds like a lot, but if one starts the day with about 100-gls above reserve that might mean less than 300-miles where extended idling will take place . . and that itself is unknown until the moment of dispatch, if then. So fuel consumption knowledge and some betting of the odds make for interest throughout the day (and in looking forward to the next).

There's the fuel gauge . . there's experience in knowing fuel remaining according to what is shown . . and there is the where/how of predicting the point of no return. Running out of fuel is pretty much a firing offense. So, as with my personal vehicle, accurate records mean high levels of predictability. In this case it's as much how to balance times against losing another load at days end (as yesterday, where a lengthy unload worked against getting underneath another load near shift end a long distance away. But, I'm at home this morning so that makes up for a night in the truck in it's own way.)

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