Drafting a Transport Truck ... Am I Doing It Right?

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Titanium

I have a Class A CDL and I drive the big rigs 5 to 6 days a week. I have been doing it over ten years. I had a line driver I work with tell me a scary story. He said he seen a car follow a truck for thirty miles on a hot day and one of the rear tires blew on the rear of the trailer the semi was pulling. The tire decapitated the driver of the car following the truck. This story shocked me because I am a driver and it is a true story from someone I personally know who has been driving over 25 years.

I never heard of something that extreme, but I wouldn't be willing to try it...

Not all Class A CDL driver are good drivers. Some of these drivers weave out of their lane, tailgate cars like nobody business while hauling 80,000 LBS and pull triple trailers with the heaviest trailer on the rear of a set which causes it to weave like a snake while going down the road.

I'm well aware that some commercial drivers are not any good. Search for "quebra de asa" on YouTube and you'll see what some irresponsible truck drivers do in my country.

Many trucking companies do not maintain their trucks very well and they are running OLD equipment with BAD TIRES on the truck or trailer. Everyone has seen truck tires that blew all over the roadway. It happens. My neighbor was passing a truck two summers ago while a truck tire blew and it dented their car. They got lucky that's all that happened.

I have already seen many pieces of tread that detached from tyres. Even when they're laying on the road for a while, it may still be dangerous.

Following a big bus would be even safer because of the way the rear tires are mounted on the bus.

The fenders are also usually bigger on buses, so it may retain the tread of a damaged tyre more effectively.

[oldtamiyaphile]

I'd imagine the likelihood of a bus shedding a tread is much lower as if that happens with passengers on board it wouldn't be good for the reputation of the bus company.

[gone-ot]

If you're NOT ending up with the trailer as a hood ornament at each stop sign, you're doing something right.

[Xist]

I once had one of the duellies blow on my bus. I did not have passengers and it was anticlimactic. I once clipped a curb in a parking lot with passengers and they demanded to know if I was trying to kill them.

[Titanium]

Originally Posted by oldtamiyaphile

I'd imagine the likelihood of a bus shedding a tread is much lower as if that happens with passengers on board it wouldn't be good for the reputation of the bus company.

I have driven passenger busses also. The bus company I worked for ran older buses, but the tires on the busses had very nice tires in great condition on all of the busses. My experience is bus companies transporting people are far more concerned with tire quality that your typical business running semi trucks are.

Yes I would say the percentages of busses having tires completely blow up and rip apart are far less than the semi tucks mostly due to the busses not running worn out tires in the first place. A good percentage of tires on semi trucks are not in the condition I would want to be driving on.

I delivered a load of new tires this summer to a gas station that also services trucks broken down on the highway. The guy who received the tires said you would be suprised how bad the tires are on some trucks.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Titanium

My experience is bus companies transporting people are far more concerned with tire quality that your typical business running semi trucks are.

Of course. Setting lawsuits after an accident with passengers is far more complicated than dealing with insurance for cargo.

[slowmover]

Drafting is for the stupid. Have a look in the mirror if you draft. Thats the face of supremely stupid.

[Piotrsko]

Most states in the US have strict requirements on bus tires that freight doesn't have.

[gumby79]

Thats when you shake the leg of a sleeping passanger wille hitting the brakes and screaming..... LOL
I have found that drafting influences start about 1300' (1/4mi) to 2/3mi behind the large rig(RV , semi, bus) edpendent on how dirty the aero is on the lead rig. I showed Aerohead some videosof trucks,cars, and pickups w/ w/o trailers , that diminstrated how far back the draft works .
With my 1/3 -1/4 mile interval I find that I get sucked into the pack, when a truck travling at a slightly faster than the leader replaces me as rear gard.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by gumby79

Thats when you shake the leg of a sleeping passanger wille hitting the brakes and screaming..... LOL
I have found that drafting influences start about 1300' (1/4mi) to 2/3mi behind the large rig(RV , semi, bus) edpendent on how dirty the aero is on the lead rig. I showed Aerohead some videosof trucks,cars, and pickups w/ w/o trailers , that diminstrated how far back the draft works .
With my 1/3 -1/4 mile interval I find that I get sucked into the pack, when a truck travling at a slightly faster than the leader replaces me as rear gard.

I haven’t tested for it, but it sounds interesting.

I’ve found that NOT passing (no lane changes; thus no related accel/decel events plus steering corrections) pays best.

On a known road (all conditions; familiarity) it is choice of a cruise control set speed just far enough below truck traffic that on a 700-mile day I may not pass more than one or two other vehicles. This is at about 62-mph. In the Kenworth.

When in the Dodge, whether or not I’m pulling the 35’ travel trailer, 59-mph is best “fast” speed for economy.

58-62/mph pretty well covers FE, and staying out of traffic. About all I need to do to get a 65-mph governed truck around me is to cancel cruise once he’s in the passing lane. Drop back off to about 52. That gets him well out ahead of me in short order.

Manage the problems first by avoidance, second by shortening those remaining.

It also allows no real penalty with the assertive almost aggressive programming of my cruise control. I’m still far below the maximum weight expected for that pickup.

IOW, a set speed 2-mph slower means I don’t have to cancel cruise as I would at a higher set speed to offset that assertiveness. That extra fuel. More work for no real gain.

As before, if one isn’t using average mph as a tool for trip analysis, you haven’t understood what I just wrote.

Use it

.