Company Drivers, How Much Does Truck Speed Effect Your Employment Decisions?

[Mike]

Given the latest news regarding speed limiters possibly being required on all commercial trucks, we are curious as to how much the speed of a truck effects you employment decisions.

Lets say you have a couple job offers.

Job A: .40/mile, trucks run 75mph
Job B: .42/mile, trucks are governed at 65mph

Do you choose job A, or job B? and why?

Vote about the importance of truck speed in our poll, discuss here in the thread.

 

[Duck]

The 75 mph truck will generate more money to the company driver.

Assuming the speed limit is 75 like on I-80 in Nebraska,

75 x .4 = $30/hr
65 x .42 = $27.30/hr.

Not to mention you can run more miles per day/week/month when you're in areas with faster speed limits.

 

[Timecook]

More than how fast any of us want to go, the important problem with this is that we will all be going the same speed... Which will cause bunching... Which is less for the populous safe than fast trucks.

 

[Mike]

The 75 mph truck will generate more money to the company driver.

Assuming the speed limit is 75 like on I-80 in Nebraska,

75 x .4 = $30/hr
65 x .42 = $27.30/hr.

Not to mention you can run more miles per day/week/month when you're in areas with faster speed limits.

This is true, if....
You are running 11 hours per day, everyday. That is rarely the case, however.

What typically happens is you get a load that has to be delivered at a specific time, and with either of the above speeds, you will be there in time to deliver it. Therefore, you made more money with the slower truck, it just took you a little bit longer to get there.

 

[Mike]

More than how fast any of us want to go, the important problem with this is that we will all be going the same speed... Which will cause bunching... Which is less for the populous safe than fast trucks.

This is the most important point, I think. All the trucks maxed out at 65mph, and the lighter trucks trying to get past the heavy trucks up the hill, only to be passed by the same truck going down the hill, not to mention the trucks running side by side and causing traffic jams.

It will result in more left lane restrictions for big trucks, and increased enforcement of the left lane laws. We will be stuck in a single file line.

 

[Duck]

This is true, if....
You are running 11 hours per day, everyday. That is rarely the case, however.

What typically happens is you get a load that has to be delivered at a specific time, and with either of the above speeds, you will be there in time to deliver it. Therefore, you made more money with the slower truck, it just took you a little bit longer to get there.

So you get there sooner and have more time to goof around online, creating content & generating more traffic & ad views for truckersforum.net.

 

[Mike]

So you get there sooner and have more time to goof around online, creating content & generating more traffic & ad views for truckersforum.net.

If your only going 65, you can just do that going down the road, walking beside your truck, LOL

 

[Sinister]

Trucks that move slower burn less fuel, but rarely does that translate into higher wages for drivers.

I really don't know how to vote here. Again, my atypical situation prevents me from having any valid input except to say, I slept until 930 today, and when I finally went out to the site, I did maybe 30 minutes worth of work, then watched TV shows on my computer.

 

[Tominator]

Time is money
Sometimes going faster can make a difference of getting rid of a load sooner and on to the next load unless it is appt only then you can follow the prime trucks.....its nice to not be with them any more

 

[Tazz]

I can't pick one because truck speed is so far down on my list when considering a job. A is total compensation( health benefits, vacation, raises, bonuses, load/unload, downtime, breakdown, layover......), age of equipment, apu, type of trailer, number of trucks, type of truck, then truck governed or not and at what.


Having run trucks capable of excess speed and hardly ever using it except in juvenile displays it just doesn't factor that high though anyone sub 65 I won't consider. That being said I don't agree with a speed limiter mandate. I just advocate an enforcement of the existing laws, and revision of penalties to include suspensions and revocations for convictions.

 

[8978]

I paid attention to my GPS a few years ago. I was doing whatever the speed limit was like 70 or 75. At the end of the day I looked at my average moving speed. I slowed down last year to a max of 65 and found that I really didn't gain that much in my average moving speed.

I'm guessing if I was the only person on the road it would pay off.

 

[saddlesore]

I do oversize loads most of the time.
The loads I transport are time sensitive and often in the millions of dollar range..
My tractor is limited to 75 altho the company speed limit is 70.
I cannot allow my tractor/load to be bunched up or in a creep-by passing situation..... the chances of having a rookie or inattentive driver next to me for miles on end cannot be allowed.
when I pass I need to have a minimum of 5 mph speed differential, and if being passed I will slow down if necessary to limit the time elapsed.

 

[terrylamar]

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[TheHasBeen]

Nothing worse than a gear bound truck that will not get out of its on way. I drove for such a company many years ago for about 4 to 5 years, our speed limit was 55, we had 13 overs with 4:88 rear-ends with tachOgraphs or what ever you call them. That was a very boring job.

Plus going at a constant set speed & having to watch your speed is a good way to put your self to sleep & be in a day dream & not having your mind on driving as you should. Yet at the same time just because you have a truck that will run 90 MPH or or even faster does not mean you should drive real fast.

Most all cars will run faster than the set speed limits on our highways & so should all trucks.

 

[Injun]

*hands TerryLamar a Kleenex to wipe his streaming eyes*

There are a lot more factors that go into a choice of employer for me than speed and rate. You can have the best rates with ungoverned trucks, but you need to have the freight to go with them. There are a lot of drivers who run high-dollar loads in fast trucks who make less than I do at the end of the week because they sit so much.

 

[Duck]

Nothing worse than a gear bound truck that will not get out of its on way. I drove for such a company many years ago for about 4 to 5 years, our speed limit was 55, we had 13 overs with 4:88 rear-ends with tachOgraphs or what ever you call them. That was a very boring job.

When I was a teenager my dad gave me his old 1979 Dodge pickup.

It had a slant-six 225 and a 4:11 or something like that. I don't know what the exact axle ratio was but it had a 3-on-the-tree converted to floor. It would be screaming at 55 mph, but it would pull anything we hooked it up to.

Now he's got a '77 F-100 with a 300-6 and the same 3-on-the-tree that still works. It's also geared like a farm tractor. A few years ago I put new bushings on the front end and replaced a steering coupler that was worn out, and I took it out for a test drive & was going 40 mph getting my doors blown off in a 55 zone because when I actually went 55, it sounded like the engine was going to blow up. There's no tachometer, so I don't know how high it was revving but it certainly sounded like it was screaming.

 

[DubbleD]

This is the most important point, I think. All the trucks maxed out at 65mph, and the lighter trucks trying to get past the heavy trucks up the hill, only to be passed by the same truck going down the hill, not to mention the trucks running side by side and causing traffic jams.

It will result in more left lane restrictions for big trucks, and increased enforcement of the left lane laws. We will be stuck in a single file line.

Does Conceal and Carry insure PRIME will comply?

 

[DubbleD]

Time is money
Sometimes going faster can make a difference of getting rid of a load sooner and on to the next load unless it is appt only then you can follow the prime trucks.....its nice to not be with them any more

I added 1200 miles to my month already because I could.

Load I brought up from TX arrived 2 days early so dispatch sent me to IA and ND in a 48 hour span... I call that a bonus.... except for the weather.

 

[DubbleD]

This is true, if....
You are running 11 hours per day, everyday. That is rarely the case, however.

What typically happens is you get a load that has to be delivered at a specific time, and with either of the above speeds, you will be there in time to deliver it. Therefore, you made more money with the slower truck, it just took you a little bit longer to get there.

Running 11 hour days is pretty typical for me. But you are correct.. dont' do it everyday... just most of them.

Today is a good example.. ran over my 11/14 by 7 minutes. I lost 4 hours from my 14 sitting at two receivers so by the third stop that was a drop n hook, and hammer down into a snowstorm I was delayed for arrival at my pre-arranged parking spot by that length of time.

Sue me.

 

[bullj21]

if cars can run 75 and 80 as posted and a truck can only run 65,the car will come on a truck very fast and it would not be safe.those who sit in chairs and come up with this are fools and have no idea the harm it will cause on the roads.i parked my truck after 42 years of trucking and i do not like trucking of today.