Quote:
Originally Posted by fullservice
My time is worth more than a few dollars saved by going slow. If you want to save fuel keep your butt in your recliner at home. You don't get on the road to save fuel, but to go somewhere. If you want to go slow, at least get on the back roads and not on the freeways. J. B. Hunt, Swift and some more of the others are a pain, they just get in the way and cause problems. At least do the speed limit or stay home.
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Are you a professional driver? You sound like some I know. Wished I had a nickel for every supertrucker that runs up on the back of a four-wheeler trying to intimidate them to get out of the way because they are in a hurry. Usually all this is going on right off my front bumper where the four-wheeler slides over dangerously close paying more attention to the aggressive trucker and not to my Volvo 18 wheeler loaded with 45,000# of grain. And these are the guys that always tell me to mind my own business when I call them down on the radio. The trouble is, that it is my business when they put their's, the four-wheeler's and my safety into jeopardy with their immature stunts.
In the thirty years I've been on the road, I've stopped at way too many accident sites to lend a hand, only to see what careless driving can do. The flame of life is too easily extinguished. And it's a shame to see a life end because of someone else's carelessness for whatever reason. It just ain't worth it. Speed kills and so does driving too slow. There's a happy median in there somewhere.
The companies you mention mostly hire newbies where you don't want them ripping the road up at high speeds. Companies such as these limit the top speeds for safety reasons and to lower insurance and fuel costs. It's all a balance. And with fuel hovering around $4.00, you're going to see the speeds of company trucks come down even more. Swift, Schneider, JB Hunt, etc. used to set their speeds somewhere around 60 MPH but they relaxed them a bit over the last few years, especially for drivers with a record of safe driving, allowing up to 65 MPH/70 MPH. But the cost of fuel will bring most likely bring that to an end. As I understand it, Schneider is in the process of bringing the top speeds of their trucks down.
And with fuel prices going even higher, you will continue to encounter people who back off a little to save fuel. And for someone living paycheck to paycheck, a 20%-30% drop in fuel costs could make a difference, especially if they are dropping $100 on gasoline in their old pickup every week.
Hopefully you can adjust.
