New To Trucking Realistic mileage in 11?

JimTom

Active Member
In your guys experience, how many miles can a driver expect to drive in 11 hours out West? Do all of the up hills slow you down a lot, and doesn't governed trucks make it impossible to make up that time? Assuming mostly open road.
 
About the most you can hope for is around 800 miles. Anything much over that doesn’t look realistic.

Chances are, on good days, you’ll average 5-700 miles per driving shift, if you’re logging legally.
 
I guess that you could really make time in AZ and UT since such open country. Do you have to stop at weight stations and DOT often? How long?

Depends on your carrier's safety rating with DOT, whether your carrier is paying for one of the scale bypass transponders, and whether your carrier has you driving a POS that's an inspection magnet.

But, many trucks are governed at less than 65 and loose so much speed on the up hills out west.

It also depends on backups due to traffic and construction, whether you get shutdown due to weather. Your carrier will probably give you a "fuel route" as a company driver that they expect you to run, with a fixed mileage. Many times you have pickup and delivery appointments that you're expected to be on time for, and some give target fuel economy figures you're expected to achieve. All this, and you have to fit mandatory HOS breaks into it.

However you go about it, you'll probably average 10% less than what you set your cruise control to. The asteroids running, the higher this discrepancy is.
 
Depends how much power ya got and how heavy ya are as well. Those long steep climbs can be mighty slow.

US Xpress trip plans a driver from East to West at 45mph average.

My average at work is 46mph, but I'm also local with a 60mph governor.

Every stop requires time to get going again. Eg a 5 minute bathroom break is actually more like 10-15 minutes of lost travel. You're not on the drive line for the time on the toilet but you are for the long slow grunt getting up to speed.
 
Driving as an employee is different than diving as an owner...
Not even talking about being an owner.

Mndriver says quit the company because the truck is governed.

I say 🏇 💩. It's about money when you're an employee. As long as the money is there, the truck don't matter.

I'd rather make my 80k at 60mph than take a pay cut just to go 70.

Besides ALL that, even @Mike talks about deliberately taking it slow. Other owners do the same. Might as well save fuel when you've got plenty of time to get there.
 
Yeah because climbing hills and cruising fast is the end all be all of driving truck. 🙄

You keep harping at people for focusing on $/mile. Time to start harping on people who focus on mph.
It's not about speed. It's about using your time wisely and a castraded truck isn't efficient.
 
It's not about speed. It's about using your time wisely and a castraded truck isn't efficient.
If you say so.

The more fuel you burn the more work you gotta do to pay for it. It's all about balance. Get there on time without wasting resources.

5mpg 5 hours early for a live ain't efficient compared to 7mpg 30 minutes early. Only way that works is if they take you early and you can boogie to the next gig.
 
If you say so.

The more fuel you burn the more work you gotta do to pay for it. It's all about balance. Get there on time without wasting resources.

5mpg 5 hours early for a live ain't efficient compared to 7mpg 30 minutes early. Only way that works is if they take you early and you can boogie to the next gig.

How about 5 Mpg day and a half early?
 
Apparently he didn't see the speed I run at.


Must be going at light speed for him if I only drive 66-67 mph.

Having the power to not slow down on hills must be a foreign topic to him.
 
I guess that you could really make time in AZ and UT since such open country. Do you have to stop at weight stations and DOT often? How long?
If your with a company that has a good safety rating UT and AZ as well as most others you will just roll through the scale.
If your company has prepass and good safety rating often times you won't even have to do that you'll get the green light on your prepare transponder and just roll on by the scale.
Climbing hills can eat into your mileage a bit , not a whole lot though.
With the exception of a few places like I70 west of Denver where all you do is climbing all day. I freaking hate that end of 70 it's also not a fuel efficient route. Because of all the climbing.
 
Only way that works is if they take you early and you can boogie to the next gig.
When it commonly gets you 2-3 extra loads a week, yeah it makes a difference.

When you can earn enough revenue in 12-13 days instead of 18-21. It makes a difference.

But all you want to do is tell us how we can't do it, while we're sitting here doing it.


And you wonder why I roll my eyes at your comments all the time.
 
But, many trucks are governed at less than 65 and loose so much speed on the up hills out west.
I would average around 60 MPH In a 65 MPH truck.
I would only stop at rest areas for bathroom breaks so you get in and get out and back on the road without messing around with truck stop traffic.
Keep the doors closed and try to hammer out that 11 hours in 12 hours.
Plan ahead and make the most out of those ridiculous 30 mins that you must take. Set up your coffee to brew while you take care of natures call.
60 MPHx10.5 hours driving 630 miles.
 

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