Hello,
Since my last post, I’ve had time to reflect on choosing the most efficient speed for my operation. My conclusion is that it’s difficult to select an arbitrary number and say that is the fixed number due to many factors.
1. Delivery Schedule ( if it means missing a delivery schedule by just 15 minutes, this could upset your customer or quite possibly a missed load opportunity. For argument sake: let’s just say, on a Friday that missing a delivery window by just 15 minutes will have you and your truck tied up for the entire weekend without making any money. Also, take into consideration, what time you will arrive, pending your speed in regards to traffic in a major metropolitan area. If running faster will enable you to get an additional shipment then this may well make your extra fuel usage worth while).
2. Weather Conditions ( If you’re running into a head wind, the additional wind speed will dramatically reduce your fuel mileage. By the same token, if you have a tail wind, your fuel usage will be impacted minimally and in some cases may even increase).
3. Home and Personal Time ( on my previous blog, I showed you the four weeks prior to testing at 60 M.P.H. What I found was a savings of approx. $160.00 on the worst week to a low of $12.00 on my best week. When I looked at my log books, my weekly driving time increased approx. 4.5 hours. With $160.00 savings per week, this would put my savings in at $35.55 per hour, for the additional time spent. On the lowest savings week of $12.00, this would make my savings per hour $2.66. Obviously, the low end isn’t worth it. The higher number, depending what you have going on would be a personal decision. If you have a family event or activity then you may want to consider your options. Depending on what you do on the road, you may want to utilize your extra time to take a walk, read a book or visit a museum. This extra added time can have some value to you).
4. Vehicle Specifications ( the largest factor in this area would be to make sure your truck is geared at the speed in which you intend to operate. What I’ve found, if your truck is geared to run at the 65 M.P.H. range, it can also do quite well at a lower speed of 60 M.P.H. under certain conditions. Some factors for running at the lower speed would include level terrain, light loads and head winds. It’s been my findings in the past, if you have a truck geared to run at the slower speed and try to run faster, the fuel usage penalty will be severe).
In my opinion, there are too many variables involved to just pick one speed that is most efficient for all conditions. There is so much to take into consideration when deciding what speed you will need to operate to be the most profitable on any given day.
I’m still continuing to test the results of running at 60 M.P.H. This week my gross vehicle weights were higher than normal with 58,000 lbs.on the southbound leg of my trip to Laredo, TX. On my trip back to Charlotte, NC the weight for my load was 76,000 lbs. My mileage is coming in a bit lower than normal due to not only higher G.V.W. but 20 to 30 mile per hour cross winds which I’ve been experiencing on this trip. As of Thursday morning, my in dash fuel usage read out indicates 8.98 M.P.G. This is not my highest number by any means, however with the conditions encountered in this weeks trip, I’m more than pleased with these results. On Friday, I’ll be stopping in at Charlotte Freightliner to obtain a DDEC Report for your review. I’ll post it later in the week. Till next time… be safe,
Henry
To follow how my friends the Caffee’s are doing with their five M.P.H. increase in speed go to…
Its A Teams Life
