New Diesel Record: 4.7-mpg!!

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by drmiller100

i enjoy reading these posts - something very different than anything i've ever done.....

thanks!

You're welcome. Trucks are different. It was my hope that Q's about FE would open the door to interest of what it was like from the drivers seat. For good or for bad, even the most mechanically-uninclined driver has to learn a bit about how it works.

This map of the Eagle Ford gives some context. The "bands" of oil, or mixed liquids, or gas predominantly from wells is north/south on an east-west area of concern. San Antonio is to the north, Corpus Christi to the south.

Activity is not confined to these areas, but the amount of truck traffic is nigh unto incredible in them. One can think of TX-72 from Tilden in the west to Karnes City in the east as simply alive with drilling. At night, due to the flattened terrain and lack of light pollution one can see the lit derricks by the half dozen or more when cresting any minor grade. Unearthly.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by JasonG

Really good write up SlowMover.
After break in it should go up some more.
4.7 isn't terrible, I've been in Cats that get 5s on the hwy if going boogetty and 6 if turned down.

Above all the lowered stress from the better ride is more than worth it.
I used to drive and non CDL drivers don't get the body stress the older vehicles put on you by the end of the day . . . Best thing about it was when you shut it down and got out.

Have seen 5.5 overall trip average on a couple of days. Distances were short and idle time was low (relative on both).

Highlighted part of your quote: True of all of them. Great getting into a truck to solve the problems of road, load, weather and traffic . . better getting out of it at days end.

BOSE now has a vibration-cancelling seat ($6000) working on the same principle as their headphones. For a highway-only tractor it is now possible to have air suspension on Steer, Drive and trailer Tandem axles plus air-bag suspended cab.

Not like the bad old days of all steel susupensions, but a young man now choosing truck driving as a career takes an average of 10-15 years off his life versus his brother working as, say, County Clerk. It's also, of late , the most dangerous occupation. One wants safety then become a soldier, policememan or other media-hyped "hero". Farmers, ranchers, truck drivers (and usually worst) commercial fishermen are at the short end of that stick.

Like cars the interiors of new trucks lost of bit of styling appeal but one cannot fault ergonomics (reach, touch, control placement) and NVH with the HVAC cranked cold is also quite good. A PETERBILT is an impressive machine. After 300k of this work -- oilfield -- it may not be so as much, but for now it's great. A 14-hour day is far from the worst assignment in life when the equipment is nice. Some mud engineer wants his 23-tons of rock powder for flow control he just orders up X-number of trucks for that amount to refill his three-story hoppers. Or other products which arrive bagged or barrelled on a flatbed.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by mechman600

slowmover, PM me if you ever have any ISX or Peterbilt foibles popping up. No doubt you will. More so on the ISX I'm sure. I deal with them every single day. Major and minor.

It is an absolute shame that this is the only Paccar option for a 15L engine now.

Was thinking of you as I was cresting a grade west of Freer, TX the other day on US-59. Finally saw in excess of 30-spi manifold pressure on a long pull. CEL came on, stayed on. The shop ran the truck through a Re-Gen the next morning before my first assignment (we're on-call 24/7 for six days then with two days off) and it stayed off afterwards. Will have to get manuals back out to study more of what is what. The DIC has too many symbols for me to have so readily recalled them after first reading.

I'm a Cummins fanboy for now, was never enamored of CAT motors as I mainly ran Detroit or Cummins (12 & 14L DD, N14 Cummins) in other jobs. The C13 CAT I hated in the one job I ran . . but other drivers have convinced me that an early 3406E with a custom tune set to what the job demands can get decent mpg and great response (plus CAT longevity). I've been past RUSH Peterbilt in Alice, San Antonio, Houston, and Laredo now and I see 367's lined up in front. This may be a Texas oildfield favorite. THE TRUCK OF TEXAS (as it is also built here).

We don't have too many hard pulls (thus far), but this combination really pulls. Gearing, trans choice and motor seem very good. It's been effortless a few times. I've had to catch myself and make comparisons to others I've driven down here and make mental adjustements for gross weights. Granted we don't have the incredible grades of British Columbia, so my statement applies to local conditions.

All of you may appreciate the winds: the other day I picked up an empty single hopper to head out. Literally though it was loaded (impossible, we keep no loaded trailers at yard) since the wind was steadily 35-mph and worse. 25-mph winds are a norm here, but I was losing speed while shifting, ha!

Had a tailwind while loaded headed north the other night on IH-37, just breezed right along at an instantaneous 7-8 mpg. Empty (from 75k down to 33k gross) on the return trip was seeing 3.7 mpg. With a flatbed, ha!

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[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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[slowmover]

When you see a rig being moved, you know you just los 20-minutes on a 35-mile drive from the local road out to the Interstate. And regular downshifts to match speeds . . . no way one can afford to be pushing fuel capacity on any day, in other words. No warnings about who is doing what out there. Take it as it comes.

This is just one truck of what would likely be 6-7 in one group. Takes quite a bit more than that to move one drilling rig and appurtenances.

[slowmover]

Three months later and passed the 26,000-mile odometer mark yesterday. Average mpg is a bit higher, though not much. The job is constrained as to how much one can improve mpg: one needs about as much speed as possible while traveling (limited to 68-mph), the truck is never turned off during the workday (driver efficiency and safety compromised by high heat [110F+ on occasion, high humidity almost always]); idling is percentage of engine-on time that has to do with the particular job at hand (and the "days" are quite long . . one is "on-call" 24-6 with two days off), so the quest for improvement really has come down to knowing all the roads in an air radius of just under 200-miles, particularly along an East-West axis of a state highway (TX-72) where most drilling is occurring.

The traffic is such that if I haven't travelled one stretch for even three-four days the road surface is different (degraded), traffic has increased (or traffic type), and/or road construction is underway. Thus trip planning can be a significant aid to time/distance and FE when used well. Latest intel a major difference. We are paid on a percentage of the load (freight or waybill), not hourly or by the mile. Helps us significantly to shorten the times involved, thus miles can be played with a bit. I might "lose" ten minutes by taking a different route, but the roads chosen may have shoulders, fewer stops, etc. This leaves me less tired or stressed so that the return trip -- or the trip to get the next load -- is more easily accomplished.

I noted in another thread ("highway strategy") that energy lost is not ever regained that day and this is fundamental, not accessory, to best average mph and mpg. A clear map of the routes, the known problems, tends to afford some elbow room when the problems of that day, on that stretch of road, present themselves.

Still getting a Check Engine light on a regular basis, with no remediation by the shop or the dealer, but am told the dealer has a new service manager who may be able to straighten things out. DPF and Fuel Pressure Actuator are what come up. I then have degraded power. Have driven another truck when mine is in shop and it's a rocket in comparison (for big truck differences). Getting on the Interstate at the end of the ramp at 35-mph is one thing . . being able to wind it out to 1,900-rpm to get it back in at 1,400-rpm to really accelerate when at 74k is quite different than mine that won't pull past 1,800 and drops me like a stone down to 1,200 [peak torque]. Takes miles to get up to 60-mph in this condition. Luckily all else is excellent about driving this truck. New is great, PACCAR is better! (Except the windshield washer system). One might not consider that big trucks have handling differences . . but they do. And this one is great to drive for that reason alone. The ice cold A/C that can keep up is the other.

One of the rules on most rigs is that rig hands drink 26 bottles of water per each twelve hour shift. No more than [1] "gatorade" per three water. No energy drinks, period. And a 10-minute break in refrigerated air every hour (not just cool, but cold). I find this works well, too, on the days I am at a rig for a number of hours, and outside most of it. As well, the intelligent choice of FRC's and work shoes. I have found both to meet certification, but with hot weather pluses (I don't need boots, thus wear "steel toed tennis shoes" for when at rig. Sandals otherwise to drive. Suspenders versus belts. Inseam hem not touching shoes -- great airflow at top & bottom of trousers. Shirt tail outside trousers). Being a native Texan is one thing . . working in the heat quite another. A cool to cold truck cab is central to this.

While there might be an APU that could keep up with the interior temps, the cost/reliability/ruggedness would be another issue. I travel roads that sometimes are axle deep in water/mud . . looks like something out of a National Geographic African expedition. And no time to stop or be broken down. Drivers being felled by lack of cold (not just cool) cab air is part & parcel of being out here. I recently came across a young guy who, felled by heat exhaustion/dehydration had a temp of 102.7. Docs told him that another hour and he'd have been a goner. Heat kills not all at once, but over time. And heat deaths are greater than all other weather causes combined. I didn't have the heart to tell that young man that his natural resistance is forever changed (and it is), but it's something I'm on guard against. I already consider lack of cold cab air a deal breaker on a job (reason to quit or not hire on), and I do so even more, now.

To pick up an earlier post, I am not yet able to correlate miles and gallons so easily as I do my pickup, but the number of "trips" according to one old hand is the easiest. Daily fueling is possible, but not likely. But being "forced" to fuel by declining tankage is a constant trip plan exercise. One does not know until an hour or more into the trip (being loaded) what the destination will be. The gauge has been accurate (I'm usually within ten gallons by estimate) so the game comes down to fuel stop location. I can't fill up just anywhere, so that mental map of not only where the fuel stop is located, but how busy it will be at that time of day is crucial to a smooth day.

Load securement, gettin' gears and all the other problem solving (real time, real consequences . . this is a real job) makes truck driving fun. Yes, you office beaners, it beats cubicle land. You just won't live as long, make as much long term or have "benefits" worth the effort involved. But if you quit cubicle-land it sure beats being an hourly employee at a chain store box as the hold-over job. I've done many other things and will probably do others in the future. But for now (oil boom) it's a fair way to make the days pass and let the paychecks pile up (sooner or later I have to get to the bank to deposit the ones piling up).

As a way of becoming a better driver, there is no substitute. Race car training may be fun, but it doesn't hold a candle to controlling 35-40 tons down a highway with brain-dead commuter mommy's and impatient teenagers. It will confront one with every personal shortcoming hitherto unexplored behind the wheel.

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