Oh Oh, Look What I Got In The Mail!

Looks like I did it! Top tier driver status!

In a company as massive as Prime, I am very proud of myself. Prime has the largest refrigerated fleet in the nation and I truly can't believe I was one of the top last month. Hard work pays off! I had a really bad week this week and this made it into a good week. I'll tell you about that in a few days but for now its celebrating for me.

And as a side bonus, I got my first Military trailer yesterday. Check it out! Sexy!

Yeah buddy! Congrats to you! Love the color of your truck btw, one of those maroon ones, right? Also, was that a Shaffer trailer you parked next to?

Yeah buddy! Congrats to you! Love the color of your truck btw, one of those maroon ones, right? Also, was that a Shaffer trailer you parked next to?

Thank you sir! Yep maroon, or as I like to call it, black cherry. And that is in fact a Shaffer next to me. Poor guy had my reefer and APU blasting his ear drums all night.

Reefer:

A refrigerated trailer.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

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.

Daniel prime is one of the companies i'm looking at trying to get with after school....maybe you'll do me a favor and train me

I'm particularly interested in how well you understand the mechanics behind fuel efficiency, and i want a trainer that is A+++ since i want to stay in this business for the long run.

Congratulations Daniel! I love following your threads and I love to hear when someone who is generous with their time and knowledge has good things happen to them!

Daniel prime is one of the companies i'm looking at trying to get with after school....maybe you'll do me a favor and train me

I'm particularly interested in how well you understand the mechanics behind fuel efficiency, and i want a trainer that is A+++ since i want to stay in this business for the long run.

daniel no longer trains.

Daniel prime is one of the companies i'm looking at trying to get with after school....maybe you'll do me a favor and train me

I'm particularly interested in how well you understand the mechanics behind fuel efficiency, and i want a trainer that is A+++ since i want to stay in this business for the long run.

It's not hard to learn the basics. You can ask your fuel department and they can give you pointers.

Now if you want to get in depth in feel economy it can get very technical. Like did you know for every rpm or rotation of the engine that each fuel injector fires 6000 times? Did you know that for every 1 mph that you slow down you save a tenth of a gallon of fuel? Slow down 5 mph and that's an extra .50 you save. Half mile per gallon is huge.

Did you know it's a myth the you get the same fuel milage at 70 as you can at 60 mph? Duh. The engine turns faster and it require more fuel to get up to 70 and even more fuel to maintain that speed.

Did ya know having the windows down while the truck is moving you will loose fuel milage?

People that are serious about fuel milage even measure air flow between the cab and the trailer and behind the trailer while it's moving. That is how the trailer tail came into being. Side skirts also to help keep the air flow on the outside of the trailer instead of underneath it hitting the trailer tandems and causing drag. Seriously. It's that detailed.

If you learn how to save fuel and work really hard at it will become 2nd nature. Do to my driving and the weights I pull my average is right about 8.8 mph. If you look at the picture I posted of the trailer I haul you will notice the huge gaps between the cab and first trailer and the gap between the first trailer and the second. Those gaps hurt fuel milage. If not for those I could be well over 9 mph.

Believe it or not there are some drivers that actually get over 10 mpg. It's the way they drive and custom equipment that they own.

I know he doesn't train, i'm begging for an exception

And all of that info is really great and the exact kind of knowledge and details i'm looking for. As for the custom equipment, can i do anything like that as a company driver?

The only thing i know so far about fuel economy is what my physics teacher said about air resistance being exponential as you move faster. So what you said about the difference between 60 and 70 is spot on, the air resistance between the two may very well have doubled(i don't remember the equations). I know that a lot of energy can be lost in the transmission, and since i've never even driven a manual i don't know where to begin on driving one in an efficient manner.

That sucks about the windows, i like letting the wind flap over my head.

Looks like I did it! Top tier driver status!

That's awesome! Great job Daniel!!

It's not hard to learn the basics. You can ask your fuel department and they can give you pointers.

Now if you want to get in depth in feel economy it can get very technical. Like did you know for every rpm or rotation of the engine that each fuel injector fires 6000 times? Did you know that for every 1 mph that you slow down you save a tenth of a gallon of fuel? Slow down 5 mph and that's an extra .50 you save. Half mile per gallon is huge.

Did you know it's a myth the you get the same fuel milage at 70 as you can at 60 mph? Duh. The engine turns faster and it require more fuel to get up to 70 and even more fuel to maintain that speed.

Did ya know having the windows down while the truck is moving you will loose fuel milage?

People that are serious about fuel milage even measure air flow between the cab and the trailer and behind the trailer while it's moving. That is how the trailer tail came into being. Side skirts also to help keep the air flow on the outside of the trailer instead of underneath it hitting the trailer tandems and causing drag. Seriously. It's that detailed.

If you learn how to save fuel and work really hard at it will become 2nd nature. Do to my driving and the weights I pull my average is right about 8.8 mph. If you look at the picture I posted of the trailer I haul you will notice the huge gaps between the cab and first trailer and the gap between the first trailer and the second. Those gaps hurt fuel milage. If not for those I could be well over 9 mph.

Believe it or not there are some drivers that actually get over 10 mpg. It's the way they drive and custom equipment that they own.

I always wondered why some of the trucks I have seen driving down I-75 had those skirts on the side, and now I know! I have also seen a few that have some strange contraption off of the end of the trailer and I am assuming that is for the same reason. Are these items drivers buy themselves or do companies provide them if requested?