Sunday, November 9, 2014

FW: Truckers

 

Two have answered my question about how to know to stop early on the ramp of a full rest stop.  So far, it’s not a coordinated effort to fill the rest stop efficiently; it’s a matter of being conservative and pulling over early if it looks like the back part of the rest area is going to be full.

 

One trucker even answered my next question; one I haven’t even asked yet.  I’ve been wondering about passing trucks on the interstate.  Rolling down the interstate at 65 mph, I’m going well below the 80 mph speed limit, slower than most cars, but about the same speed as most trucks.  They pass me, I pass them, often without much of a speed differential.  If there isn’t much of a closing speed as I get to them, I’ll often punch the cruise control up a couple points until I’m past, then slow back to my cruising speed again.  I don’t want to be the guy that just hangs out next to the truck and takes forever to get all the way past.  Sometimes though, trucks *are* that guy, and take forever to get around me.  Sometimes I’ll punch a couple points off my cruise control to get them by then return to my cruising speed.  Clearly they are not speeding up to clear and that makes me wonder.  It is just no big deal, and it’s not even on their radar to speed up a little to get the rest of the way around?  It is a matter of efficiency; they don’t want to step on the gas and get worse fuel mileage for the time it takes to get around?  Or are trucks governed; do they have governors that prevent them from going a little faster?

 

Cousin Ed answered that question for me.  His truck has a governor set for 64mph.

 

 

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