most trucks only do 54 on the gps anyway.
Steve-o:
most trucks only do 54 on the gps anyway.
Thats because of the time lag between the satnav plotting your location and calculating the new location.
Smart Mart:
Difference in fuel is 2 gallon= approx £10
More like £7.70 approximately!
I do apologise, Mr Smart,
as I said, it was an approximation, as was the difference in time figure (£5), refering to the hourly rate paid to the driver.
When you are forced to drive slower there is a feeling of there being nothing to do so you look for something like check your notes or fiddle with your radio and generaly go of the ball.Also when you come to a hill you have to change down,more noise more fuel waste of time.I expect an engaged driver with a positive attitude to be safer than a frustrated driver who feels very annoyed about circumstances beyond his control.
alamcculloch:
When you are forced to drive slower there is a feeling of there being nothing to do so you look for something like check your notes or fiddle with your radio and generaly go of the ball.Also when you come to a hill you have to change down,more noise more fuel waste of time.I expect an engaged driver with a positive attitude to be safer than a frustrated driver who feels very annoyed about circumstances beyond his control.
Like I said before it’s phsycological and there is a more interesting fact = someone with an outgoing personality will get bored quicker than someone who most would regard as ‘boring’
ROG:
alamcculloch:
When you are forced to drive slower there is a feeling of there being nothing to do so you look for something like check your notes or fiddle with your radio and generaly go of the ball.Also when you come to a hill you have to change down,more noise more fuel waste of time.I expect an engaged driver with a positive attitude to be safer than a frustrated driver who feels very annoyed about circumstances beyond his control.Like I said before it’s phsycological and there is a more interesting fact = someone with an outgoing personality will get bored quicker than someone who most would regard as ‘boring’
thanks rog!! i hope your not regarding me as boring 
Seriously, those that have an outgoing personality need more stimuli to keep the concentration going.
I meant the ‘boring’ comment to be tongue-in-cheek 
Hombre:
Steve-o:
most trucks only do 54 on the gps anyway.Thats because of the time lag between the satnav plotting your location and calculating the new location.
Really?
I had a 2004 Mondeo and if you pushed and held the trip reset button when turning on the engine and starting the car the display would go into some sort of diagnostic mode. One of the displayd values is the speed of the vehicle accurate to 0.x mph. Funny how the speed shown on that is the same as on the GPS and the same as the speed detection signs that show your speed.
If sat nav says 30, sign says I’m doing 30 and speedo says 33…who’s right? Me thinks there’s ■■■■ all lag long enough to show the wrong speed on the GPS
I am on another forum where this was discussed and there were experts on that site that stated the GPS is accurate to something silly like 0.0001% as long as the vehicle is on a flat surface.
Apparently, ground that rises or falls does make a slight difference.
i wonder what jds mpg figures are?
i mean he can only do 48mph, thats about the same speed as a jcb fasttrac LOL
gogzy:
i wonder what jds mpg figures are?i mean he can only do 48mph, thats about the same speed as a jcb fasttrac LOL
milk floats have been know to overtake JD with a head wind 
His truck hasnt needed a re-fuel since it rolled off the production line in 2004 
.
I know its a lot more than just about speed limits but in terms of road saftey, was prior to the introduction of limiters really such a dangerous place out their on the roads? Is it safer now with limiters or really the same to no difference?
What kind of mpg would you get doing over 60 in a typical 1970’s 80’s truck compared to what, average of 12’s? at 56mph today?
Non truck driver here btw 
gogzy:
i wonder what jds mpg figures are?i mean he can only do 48mph, thats about the same speed as a jcb fasttrac LOL
Aww that’s not nice…
P.S. must be ■■■■■ having tesco motors fly past you haha
Steve-o:
gogzy:
i wonder what jds mpg figures are?i mean he can only do 48mph, thats about the same speed as a jcb fasttrac LOL
Aww that’s not nice…
P.S. must be [zb] having tesco motors fly past you haha
lol i used to have a 7.5 tonner than jd could pass
it wouldnt go past 45 if i psuhed it down a hill with a 200mph wind pushing me
The only time lag with gps is when accelerating slowing down etc, When run on limiter i would trust gps readout over speedo most trucks i have used do about 54mph my current one does 55 and i pass quite a lot, My mates GPS shows 56mph and it makes quite a impressive difference. Also when running through the specs on m1 etc i set my cruise control with the gps never had a ticket yet seem to be travelling faster than most
danny_mk2:
Also when running through the specs on m1 etc i set my cruise control with the gps never had a ticket yet seem to be travelling faster than most
The SPECS cameras would not catch you travelling at only a couple of miles over the speed limit — which is the difference between GPS devices and most speedos.
If the limit is set at say 50 then a camera wouldn’t trigger until around 57mph.
So you’re unlikely to get a ticket anyway. 
We have had this 52-54-56 discussion before with tiredness and fuel saved…
The company I work for reckons they are saving a lot of money having the wagons knocked down from 56mph.Speedo says 54mph and GPS says 52 mph.The true speed is anyones guess.
Tiredness is not phsycological as ROG says.
I can run at 56 mph and not get tired as I have something to do, overtaking etc and have to keep aware that I will be overtaking.I can run all night.
With the trucks knocked down it is boring as hell.You don’t overtake anything, even the shopping trolleys overtake us.It’s crap, boring and the drive is less involved.
The driver switches off and soon gives up on flashing overtaking trucks in as that becomes an annoying chore.Try 4 hours on the M5 with every man jack overtaking you whilst you trundle along.You will get tired as you are not stimulated at all.
ROG your view in my opinon is a personal one, a vast majority if not all of the night drivers at my place of work are sick to death of the knocked down vehicles because of the tiredness and more than boring trundling along.
You could argue as I know you will with your instructor head on that the drivers should always be alert no matter what the speed.
Well in the real world with real drivers and real trucks that are slow as hell the drivers get tired and start switching off because of the night after night constant trundling about.
i wondered when my name would pop up…
now then i have a 430 bhp 6x2 daf cf and yes it’s limited to 48 mph 
on general local containerwork im getting an average 8.2 mph and as it is auto i drive steady away and try and keep it in the green band. now we have a daf 95 xf an o5 reg which we sometimes use and i had that a few weeks ago and i drove the same as i do in mines but at 56 mph and i got 9 mph out of that.
we used to have fuels charts up at the end of each week and as it so happens my truck is at the top most weeks, but they are a sneaky 3/4 lorries still set at 56 mph in our yard and they are still in exactly the same position as when all the lorries were at 56 mph.
now my manager has admitted he isnt best pleased cos our 48 mph lorries are driving an average 1 hour more per day due to slower speeds. although due to the work i do im reckon im losing 1 1/2 hrs which is overtime money roughley about £18.00 per day.
i do collections at newton aycliffe and the journey from leeds should be 1.15 mins door to door but now it is like 1.35 mins and then if i run the box down to doncaster railport that is adding an extra 35 mins to that journey as well.
freightliner are being stubborn and refusing to admit they are wrong so its still steady away for the next 18 months then lets hope the new ones are back up to speed.
I know what you mean about boredom! My unit used to run at 59mph. You spent most of your time in the middle lane passing everything in sight. Was great! Nothing held you up on the road… I was alert and moving!!
Then…
The company in their wisdom knocked it down to 54mph. The lorry I was in was an R500 V8 Scania. Whenever it was slowed down it literally ran like a pig.
Hills I could get up without dropping any gears now required a half gear and more acceleration.
The lorry burned more diesel.
Running on the motorway you were on and off the cruise control as you were being slowed up and then overtaken with lorries running with different speeds and weights… overtaking was a complete nightmare.
It became so tedious and boring.
Yet the firm still wanted me to be in London on one card coming off the boat at Carinryan. At 59mph I could stop once at Lymm for a 45 break and be at Heathrow in just over nine hours total. (Give or take 5-10mins… Hope I am not running bent…ooooooooohhhh!!)
At 54 I could only make it as far as Charnock Richard then Had to take a second 45 at Oxford to go to a 10 hour drive. Then I was hitting all the morning traffic on the M4 whereas before I was at my destination…
They could not get it into their heads that the extra few mph made a big big difference on a long run. Was the difference between beating all the early morning traffic and getting tipped first or arriving an hour and a half later (45break and rush hour) and being at the back of the queue. So instead of me getting tipped and getting out the gate at half eight it was now closer to lunchtime before I was out…
Then I had to find somewhere to park… (and the laybys are all full with the foreign lads who got tipped ahead of me)
Heathrow Airport, Horseshoe. You all know what it’s like around Hayes for laybys!
Take my 9 hour break…
Meant I couldn’t start to stupid o’clock the next day…
All for the sake of 5mph!
I left that job shortly afterwards…
If you drive at a lower speed than the maximum for which your truck was designed i.e. 56mph, then it’s advisable to drop a cog so that the engine is turning at it’s optimum speed (the so called sweet spot) however it isn’t just the lower revs that improve fuel consumption, most of the power from your engine is used to make a hole in the air, so by lowering the speed you lower the wind resistance & improve the mpg.
The thing is, most of these ‘spotty oiks’ haven’t got a clue, they want maximum economy from their equipment but they buy what the manufacturer wants to sell them & expect the drivers to make the most of it. If they spent a bit of time thinking about their purchase they could improve their fuel figures considerably without being thought of as ‘spotty oiks’
There are many options for gearing in gearboxes & rear axles, an overdrive top gear (or two) will generate driveline losses of up to 8%, spec a direct drive top gear & the corresponding rear axle ratio & you get an instant reduction in fuel use 
Order tyres with a low rolling resistance, they may be more expensive & wear faster but with high fuel prices the fuel savings far outweigh the extra costs & monitor pressures & wheel/axle alignment
Use synthetic oils, possibly with an extra filtration system to extend their life, they reduce internal friction dramatically & have the added benefits of not depleting the Earths oil reserves & are more environmentally friendly
These things can all be specced from new & the savings in the long term will more than justify the extra initial costs.
Another simple way to improve mpg & some of you won’t like this one little bit, is to remove all the stuff in the air flow, extra lights, horns, illuminated name boards etc, manufacturers spend millions designing their trucks to be as aerodynamic as possible only for it all to go down the pan when someone sticks a row of spotlights or whatever on the cab. In this instance you have a choice, have a blinged up truck or get maximum mpg from your equipment, you can’t have both