How Is It Legal For Company Trucks To Be Governed At Different Speeds?

It seems like the Op has some of the scenarios of legend. The "good old days" of them "large cars and like the trucker song said "how fast them trucks would go" is a mentality that seems to be full of bunk but is hard to shake if it means you get passed all day long.

The idea of 63-65 mph will provide a more steady and consistent travel day in traffic with so many people wrapped up in something other than just driving safely. The slightly slower ride will ultimately result in less stress, better fuel mileage and improved help.

Not to mention - you're worried about maximizing your pay and yet you're considering quitting your job, losing a ton of money as you transition from one company to another, and then starting all over again at the bottom being a nobody at a new company. Does that really sound like the best way to maximize your earnings? To me it sounds like the best way to chase your tail and cause yourself a ton of grief over nothing.

In my experience, after reviewing about 10,000 applications, many drivers do this for their first five to maybe 20 jobs. Just hop around and leave the instant they have a bad week or a policy changes.

Then they want to be recognized as a driver with 10 years experience at their new company, where once again, they are the "new guy" starting at the bottom.

Its a self-destructive brain defect that is prevalent in our industry. Now, my board won't even look at applications with more than 8-10 jobs in the last 5 years. It sort of seems like it makes my job easier, as I get to just deny about half of the applications I get right away, but in reality, it stinks.

Folks! Listen to Brett here: Quit hitting reset on your career!!

Simple math shows that if I were going just 3mph faster during this 80% of my on duty time then I’d be making an extra $268.80 per month

No, you wouldn't. You'd still be turning the same number of miles you are now so your pay would be the same as it is now. You're not getting paid by the mile per hour. You're getting paid by the total number of miles you're turning and you wouldn't be turning any more miles even if your truck was turned up to 70 mph.

There is absolutely no chance whatsoever that you would be dispatched for more miles if your truck ran 3 mph faster, or 10 mph faster for that matter. No one is sitting in the office going, "Well, we'll give this 2,900 mile load to the guy running 65 mph and this 2,600 mile load to the guy running 62 mph." No chance whatsoever. Dispatch has no idea how fast you're running, nor do they care. It has no effect on the big picture.

If you're maxed out on miles turning over 3,000 miles per week then it simply doesn't get any better than you have it now. You're looking for an excuse to be upset about something when you already have it made. Be thankful you're in such a great position, kick back, and enjoy having it so good.

Even if you changed companies to go with one that paid more per mile there's no telling how long it might take you to work your way back up to 3,000+ miles per week. It could take months, and you could easily lose thousands of dollars in the process.

One of the keys to happiness in life is to know when you have it good. I hate to say it, but you sound like a typical truck driver. You just like to gripe. You're turning great miles, making great money, and yet all you're talking about it how the company is doing you wrong, they're committing fraud, and you're going to quit and go somewhere else. Give me a break! If someone handed you a bag full of gold you'd complain it's too heavy.

Good grief.

I can't recall the company but there was a company that allowed 63 on cruise and 65 on the pedal

Swift is 65 on cruise and 63 on the pedal.

I didn’t notice he had that backward. Wolding is the same, at least in my truck. Patrick said there are some even slower.

I will add that I have many times had trucks fly past me, then an hour or two later, come flying past me again. The old tortoise and hare story.

We are the same way: 67 on the pedal, 70 on the cruise. (Yes, the cruise is faster)

It’s funny that this thread got bumped. I’ve been thinking about it this week. Up until this week I had been right up on the governed speed of 65. Many days I’d use the 2 mph smart pass for up to 20 minutes a day thinking faster (safely) would equal more miles. That just made sense to me.

One of the metrics that determines our quarterly pay is MPG. I want to max out my potential for a CPM bump next quarter. Were eligible for up to a 9 CPM increase if we hit all the metrics. God knows I could use the bump. Since I can’t control my available miles at this point. I decided I’m going to max out what I can control starting with the MPG metric.

This week I decided I’d drop the speed down to 62 to see if that helped the MPG. What I found was;

- It made a big difference in MPG. I’m getting about a 1/2 mile better performance. I went from mid 7’s to low 8’s. This alone will be worth a couple CPM at the end of the quarter. Now, I haven’t been to the mountains this week so we’ll see how it holds there but results so far are pretty good.

- I’m not turning any less miles. I’m still able to get a 550- 600 mile day in with no trouble. The MPH is absolutely not the limiting factor in turning miles.

- My stress is reduced. I find the driving pretty stress free anyway. But it’s even better now. I’m able to keep a constant speed and the following distance takes care of itself. If someone jumps in front of me they’re 7 seconds away from me pretty quickly without me having to adjust speed.

- I have more power to pass if needed. On the rare occasion I need to get by someone, I have plenty of speed left in reserve to do it.

The only drawback is that everyone passes by me. My personal vehicle is a mustang GT so, I’m used to being the one doing the passing. So, that’s different for me. But, if the payoff off is more money and less stress, I’d say that’s a pretty good trade.

Brett and G-Town made the same points earlier. Sometimes reading it and experiencing it are two different things. I’ve been surprised how much better things are a couple MPH slower. Try it, you might like it.

Go to the head of the class, Wild Bill!

Here's the secret: burning that extra 2mph actually slowed down your trip. Huh? Do the math: 2mph is 2mph. How far do you get going 2mph for 20 minutes? 2/3 mile. Yay. You saved a whopping 36 seconds at 67 mph.

But, as Wild Bill discovered:

- I have more power to pass if needed. On the rare occasion I need to get by someone, I have plenty of speed left in reserve to do it.

So you move up behind a truck that is governed at 64 or worse, 62mph. Without that extra 2mph oomph it would take you forever in the left lane to snail-crawl past Pokey, if you had the chance. You are sentenced to 1/2 hour or longer at the slower speed.

Taking 2 minutes of your smart pass, you quickly get around and move back to "full speed". The best use of your Smart Pass is in passing only, not in squeezing an extra 30 seconds out of your trip.