Truckers slowing down to save fuel

[diesel_john]

we can't easily redesign all the roads.

how deep does the road bed freeze in Australia?

longer is in the right direction.

the slower trucks go, the more trucks we need.

the smart trucks shift up and "rack" back, i know a 12 liter CAT that gets 7MPG. grossing 80,000.

[RH77]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Sure, when the trucking industry starts paying their portion for the road damage.

Amen to that. One of the only places I see triples or "Turnpike Doubles" (2 full-length trailers) are on the pay tollways. They really tear-up the highway, and the toll system seems to generate the revenue per axle to offset the damage.

I counted this on friday: the triple setup has 30 tires: 10 on the tractor: trailer 1 is king-pinned to the tractor (+4), a dummy kingpin/axle on each other one (+8) and two more trailers (+8) = 30 tires / 8 axles. A driver told me that there's virtually no control over that third trailer No abrupt movements...

RH77

[Peakster]

Yikes. How would you reverse if there were 3 trailers?? I don't think I've ever seen more than 2 trailers on a Canadian semi truck.

[Red]

We'd need the entire highway infrastructure rebuild if we went with road trains. Then again, it would be nice to drive on a nice heavy duty road for a change instead of the "5 yr rebuilds" we have out here

[RH77]

Originally Posted by Red

We'd need the entire highway infrastructure rebuild if we went with road trains. Then again, it would be nice to drive on a nice heavy duty road for a change instead of the "5 yr rebuilds" we have out here

Exactly -- we need long term, durable, and thickly constructed roadways akin to Europe. Here's the problem. We have so many roads, surface area, and infrastructure, that affording an Interstate System that lasts longer than 5-years would tax the budget.

Some states like Missouri, Ohio, Minnesota, and California have extensive transportation systems from roads, rail, and maritime operations, that the tax-base would be stressed to the point of "uncomfortable tax implementations" to maintain the infrastructure. Perhaps the Pork could be reduced and the necessities handled. Uh-oh -- Warning -- Political content.

Sigh -- at least...

RH77

[tjts1]

Originally Posted by Red

We'd need the entire highway infrastructure rebuild if we went with road trains. Then again, it would be nice to drive on a nice heavy duty road for a change instead of the "5 yr rebuilds" we have out here

Why? The weight per trailer or per load bearing tire doesn't increase. You spread out the load over a larger number of tires. If anything, the wear on the roads would decrease because there would be fewer tractors pulling the same number of trailers.

[Otto]

Seems that there is a huge aftermarket potential for aero refit mods for such trucks. NASA and DOT did some research on this a few decades ago, but not much evidence is seen among the tractor trailer fleet: We still see the same clunky, squared-off shapes, lack of wheel fairings, and severe wake turbulence.

[Harpo]

Originally Posted by diesel_john

longer is in the right direction.

the slower trucks go, the more trucks we need.

That might be an answer in some parts of the country, for some roadways, but I drive on I-75s most dangerous section. I've seen several dozen tractor trailer wrap ups collecting others in their wake with single trailers, following too close at 5-10mph over the speed limit. I've been stopped twice in the last 12 months less than a mile from my exit for over 3 hours on both ocassions while they cleared burning tractors and vehicle they in turn collected. A longer vehicle would only add to our miserable traffic metrics down here. I've all but quit driving I-75, even though it's a shorter and quicker route. Probably a few tenths less efficient as well.

The fleet drivers of UPS/FedEx and such have been trained well. I see them yeilding plenty of room, and maintaining safe, economical speeds. I commend their efforts and cannot imagine a more time sensitive service.

Sure, we all want our fresh meats and produce, but do we really have to have the foriegn made plastic, aluminum and pot metal trash that every department store gets daily that quick? I'd submit we all need to look at our utilization that drives JIT demands before adding one more vehicle to monitor.

[Big Dave]

With double or triple trailers, you don’t reverse. These truck trains operate strictly terminal-to-terminal they are then taken to their destination as singles.

The advantage of doubles or triples is that you can spread the load out to more axles. Most trucks “cube out” – that is they fill the trailer volume with a load weight less than maximum. so doubles and triples often are not as heavy as they look.

At the other extreme, ever seen the “Michigan centipedes?” Michigan limits the weight of load per axle but not overall. So you see single trailers carrying heavy loads with 40 wheels under them.

Actually a pioneer in aero trailers is Wally World. The reason trailers have not received much aero treatment is that truckers usually drop off a box trailer and pickup another, so he has no investment in it. With Wally World, they own all the trailers and the trucking operations so they have really good reasons to dictate aerodynamic trailers and have the wherewithal to make that work.

[MetroMPG]

Another story in the news about truckers slowing down:

Truckers ask other drivers to take go-slower approach
A truckers' group says energy independence depends on a 65 mph speed limit, but will other drivers go along?

The American Trucking Association has called for Congress to set the highway speed limit at 65 miles per hour nationally -- 5 mph below what's now allowed on Minnesota interstate highways outside the metro area. But a mandated speed-limit rollback will be a tough sell, only 13 years after the widely flouted national 55-miles-per-hour standard was lifted.

Source

There's also a poll in the sidebar: have you slowed down to save fuel?

Results are here:
Have you reduced your speed to save gasoline?

60.7% - have slowed down
39.2% - haven't

810 votes counted