Swift Speeding The Trucks Up!!

3 MPH more and now a pet policy, non aggressive breeds and under 40lbs. All swift needs now is APUs or inverters. Swift is definitely trying to recruit and retain more drivers.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APUs:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

I'm only gonna comment one more time on this. I look at it for the cumulative effect. If I can gain time on a load by being able to go faster for even a few hours total out of a day, I can potentially get to my drop and hook early. Then I can potentially get to the next one early, and so on and so forth. Potentially.

Of course, being a guy that runs hard every single week, constantly pushing up to my 70 and taking a 34 weekly, and averaging 3200 miles a week, I can use any extra minute I can get. Lord knows on these last couple of 3600 mile weeks I could have used an extra minute or two a few times.

So yes, if I can get a few extra mph and get to deliveries and pickups a few minutes earlier, I can potentially get an extra load or two over the course of a month and potentially make a little more money. It cannot be that difficult to understand my position.

I'm with you, Chris. A few extra MPH available certainly can't hurt. I can definitely see times when the little bit of extra ground you cover over the course of 11 hours of driving will make the difference between reaching a consignee or sleeping overnight short of your destination and finishing your trip in the morning. If you, then, have to wait to get unloaded you are off the clock, something top producers are always trying to do to increase their earning potential. When you are empty you can start with a brand new clock. If you had to stop prior to reaching your destination, your clock is burning up while you are waiting to be unloaded. I can easily see the opportunity for getting an extra load or two a month. I'm not having any difficulty understanding your happiness with a little loosening of your governor at all. I'm governed at 65 MPH right now and would love an extra 3MPH, or better yet 6MPH myself.

I'm governed at 65 MPH right now and would love an extra 3MPH, or better yet 6MPH myself.

That's just great...why not 80?

And herein lies the problem...there is never enough. You get 65, you want 70, etc., etc.. Front tires all have a speed rating...do you know what it is? It's in raised lettering on the sidewall.

For each additional MPH, the stopping distance is exponentially increased and requires an equal amount of increased following distance. There is also a much greater tendency to mix-in with faster traffic, bunching up with other vehicles. Risk of an accident increases.

Of everyone rocking this thread; only Brett, Old School and I have cautioned about this, Brett was emphatic, accused of ingesting too much caffiene as a result. Ridiculous. Not one of you has reconciled or acknowledged this fundamental fact of physics. Ignorance is not bliss,...it's just ignorance.

Be happy about this all you want... That's cool, but also be smart.

I'm out.

It would be interesting if Swift offsets this with a fuel mileage bonus.

I know when I drove for Swift I always wished the darn truck would have gone faster. Fast forward to today I own my truck and can drive as fast as i want to. Guess what I found out. I started driving my truck faster up to the legal speed limit and sometimes faster. I found out that going faster didn't really help at all certainly not 3mph. One more time guess what speed I drive mostly now...... Yep usually a little slower than the limit.

I'm governed at 65 MPH right now and would love an extra 3MPH, or better yet 6MPH myself.

That's just great...why not 80?

And herein lies the problem...there is never enough. You get 65, you want 70, etc., etc.. Front tires all have a speed rating...do you know what it is? It's in raised lettering on the sidewall.

For each additional MPH, the stopping distance is exponentially increased and requires an equal amount of increased following distance. There is also a much greater tendency to mix-in with faster traffic, bunching up with other vehicles. Risk of an accident increases.

Of everyone rocking this thread; only Brett, Old School and I have cautioned about this, Brett was emphatic, accused of ingesting too much caffiene as a result. Ridiculous. Not one of you has reconciled or acknowledged this fundamental fact of physics. Ignorance is not bliss,...it's just ignorance.

Be happy about this all you want... That's cool, but also be smart.

I'm out.

80 MPH would exceed the speed limit in the areas I drive. I believe I'd be happy with 70 MPH. Just enough so I could reasonably quickly finish a pass with the thousands of mega company trucks that are choked down to 62-65 MPH. I believe the tire speed rating is 75 MPH, but I think proper air pressure is a greater factor than MPH. I'm aware of the increased stopping distance with increased speed. No problem accounting for it. Your observations of bunched up traffic are apparently different than mine, though. I actually see the 62-65 MPH trucks bunching up traffic. I seem to always be tied up with them. Once the left lane opens up, the faster trucks leave me in their wake and appear to cover alot more ground while I'm stuck in the pack. Just because some of us would appreciate the opportunity to put a few more miles on in a shorter time doesn't mean we haven't considered the physics involved, nor does it mean that you, Brett, or Old School are necessarily right 100% of the time. I know several truckers who have millions of safe miles under their belt, many of them at speeds greater than 70 MPH.

nor does it mean that you, Brett, or Old School are necessarily right 100% of the time

Every single person here that has sided with "3 mph is a big deal" is a rookie. Every single one.

Every single experienced driver that has chimed in has said that 3 mph will make no difference whatsoever.

But I'm sure you're right, rookie, and we're wrong. It's probably the drivers with a combined 30 or 40 years of experience that just don't get it the way you do. Why don't you just keep talking. Share some more of that ageless wisdom with us old timers that just don't get it.

I believe the tire speed rating is 75 MPH, but I think proper air pressure is a greater factor than MPH

I forgot to tell you, that's wrong too. They call it a speed rating for a reason. It's based on speed. I don't know how they could be any more clear about that.

The fact that "you believe" the speed rating is not that important when it certainly is, and that "you believe" you know what you're talking about but the experienced drivers don't says a lot about you. It says there's a big difference between what you think you know and what you actually know.

You said:

Your observations of bunched up traffic are apparently different than mine, though. I actually see the 62-65 MPH trucks bunching up traffic.

Exactly. That's bunched up traffic. You are saying his observations of bunched up traffic are different, meaning you observe no bunched up traffic. Then you go on to say the other trucks are bunching up traffic. They can't be bunching up traffic if there is no bunched up traffic. D'oh..

Ahhh... Popcorn time!!

3 years experience. +2, +5 mph, it really isn't important for me.