2020 Silverado Diesel 3.0 EPA Rated...

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by oldtamiyaphile

50% of US fatalities are single vehicle roll overs. All those statistics bought their 'safe' SUV to protect themselves from 'the other guy'. In a twilight zone style twist THEY were the other guy...

A Fiat 500 (a basic economy car) stops in 35m from 62mph, vs 55m+ for your average pickup. A simple bend in the road can quickly become an emergency.

Driving a big vehicle is simply less safe for everyone, including those in said big vehicle.

Buyers of these tend to arrive at the conclusion and then work backwards towards their 'justification'.

50% may be solo rollovers but probably 95% of those involve no seat belt usage or drugs and alchohol or all of the above. Wear your seatbelt, don't DWI and you are are not going to die in a single vehicle rollover.

[Hersbird]

If people were serious about making safety more important than everything else they would remove semis entirely from the roads. Put a 10,000 pound overall weight limit on everything. You can say a professional truck driver has little control over what happens but that's because they are all basically driving way beyond the limits of what weight and traction allow. Thatvor limit their speed to about 45 mph

[Shaneajanderson]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

If people were serious about making safety more important than everything else they would remove semis entirely from the roads. Put a 10,000 pound overall weight limit on everything. You can say a professional truck driver has little control over what happens but that's because they are all basically driving way beyond the limits of what weight and traction allow. Thatvor limit their speed to about 45 mph

And then we all starve as the price of everything increases ten-fold.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by Shaneajanderson

And then we all starve as the price of everything increases ten-fold.

Shipping stuff is a small fraction of the cost of goods. So things take twice as long, or maybe you need 4 times the drivers. We have gotten spoiled with this I want it, I don't want to leave my house, order it today, have it tomorrow mentality.

[Shaneajanderson]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

Shipping stuff is a small fraction of the cost of goods. So things take twice as long, or maybe you need 4 times the drivers. We have gotten spoiled with this I want it, I don't want to leave my house, order it today, have it tomorrow mentality.

I think you'd be surprised what it costs to ship goods. In any case, if you have 4 times the drivers to haul the same weight (it would actually be more like 8 times as many or more if you limit to 10,000 pounds,) taking twice as long the shipping costs would go through the roof.

[Daschicken]

Big trucks should have their own highways. No cars allowed. For the last few miles to the store, sure. But highways? No.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by Shaneajanderson

I think you'd be surprised what it costs to ship goods. In any case, if you have 4 times the drivers to haul the same weight (it would actually be more like 8 times as many or more if you limit to 10,000 pounds,) taking twice as long the shipping costs would go through the roof.

It wouldn't be the end of the world if far off goods did cost significantly more than locally produced goods. If there was an incentive to group the shipped goods you did need into a few purchases a year rather than a few purchases a week. If there was a reason to increase the use of rail, etc. Anyway my point was 100% saftey is not the goal, it is a balance.

It also would greatly improve safety and quality of life if truckers were paid by the hour not the mile.

[skyking]

Originally Posted by slowmover

Percentage of engine hours being worked? The average RV’er vacations 5k miles per year. Most of that is solo. 2.5k miles of a 20k Miles annual fuel bill doesn’t pay.

Besides, most trailers don’t need a truck. The better trailers are literally more stable than a truck. The truck BECOMES the accident-initiator. And all the other annual miles for the family are in a high risk vehicle.

None of that computes.

As to a business owner, he has to have VERY high annual miles in a prescribed period before it pays to go diesel. Diesel hasn’t been the better choice in fifteen years. Fleet owners have already returned to gasoline in droves. Cheaper to buy and maintain. The fuel offset isn’t great enough.

And gassers are running higher compression than before. Turbocharging. Cylinder pressure is what makes towing easier. With the 8 & 10 speed autos, gassers don’t fall off the curve anymore. Timing and fuel delivery is RADICALLY different than in 1996 or 1976.

Yeah, this little I-6 diesel looks great. But it won’t be for a lower cost per mile with an under 200k lifespan for the original owner.

Diesel tech, like gasser tech was fine circa MY 2000. Should have been left alone. The price is far too high and the lifespan is shorter. Makes no sense. Doesn’t compute.

.

My truck tows 70% of the time it moves.

[Shaneajanderson]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

It wouldn't be the end of the world if far off goods did cost significantly more than locally produced goods. If there was an incentive to group the shipped goods you did need into a few purchases a year rather than a few purchases a week. If there was a reason to increase the use of rail, etc. Anyway my point was 100% saftey is not the goal, it is a balance.

It also would greatly improve safety and quality of life if truckers were paid by the hour not the mile.

Ok, This makes more sense. I definitely think it would be worthwhile for truckers to slow down a bit. Some do, because they realize the huge fuel savings of dropping down to about 60. unfortunately plenty fly around at 75 as well, which frankly is purely reckless.

FWIW, I like the idea of buying locally, but the reality (at least where I am) is that local products cost 3-4X as much, simply because they're 'local' which is the in thing right now. I buy for quality, whether it's made in China, or next door makes little difference to me.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by Daschicken

Big trucks should have their own highways. No cars allowed. For the last few miles to the store, sure. But highways? No.

How about we make the highways for these trucks out of metal rails, which won't be destroyed by their weight? We could even put metal wheels on them to reduce rolling resistance then, since they wouldn't be traveling over rough and unpredictable surfaces.