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Etennuly
| | Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 12:28 pm: | 
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The large part of my business is fixing wrecked or damaged trucks.....ergo, dumb drivers, or clumsy drivers are my kind of people by default.
Had a nice wrecked job a while back that involved a rookie driver who on their first solo trip, pulled out of their parking spot at a truck stop, turned right before their trailer was half way out of the spot and continued on to the highway. I can sell, paint, and install new hoods, bumpers, and headlights every day.....and nobody got hurt.....well except the rookie got fired.
Speaking of stupid GPS followers.....I did an interesting ride through DC a few years back. I was doing some hot shot runs in my F550 with a '36 step deck. I had a small load of tarped pipe that were capped on each end, and you could see that it was pipe. GPS took me right towards my goal.....on the wrong side of the river. I drove past the back side of the Lincoln memorial with the GPS trying to get me to turn around to go in front of the White House. This was at a time Homeland Security was on extreme alert.
I got a most interesting police escort out of there through China Town. They never pulled me over or gave me a ticket, all they did was yell at me on a bull horn to follow them. I was thinking, "What? You don't like a truck loaded with '25 pipes in front of the White House?"
I had to go another five miles to get to my destination. As the bird flies I was just the width of the river and a couple hundred feet from the Lincoln Memorial.
Problem with the GPS is you can set up your route with hard maps, and let the GPS guide you in close, but it seems that when you get close, when you most need it, there is never a place to pull over to review your maps. |
Sifo
| | Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 01:38 pm: |
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Hey Grumpy, our company is on a rage about idling buses, even with passengers (young kids) on board in sub zero temps. I was just wondering if you had any idea how much fuel a big diesel burns per hour at idle? All I can find online is government estimates of a gallon per hour, but this seems to come from web sites that are all about being green, not about accurate information. A gallon per hour sound high based on what I've been able to observe, but it's hard to tell with what I've been able to observe. Idling for more than a day might give you a better data point.
Some of our drivers, when they are supposed to shut down for 45 minutes or so have figured out that they can stay off of our "idle report" by driving around in circles! That's really saving them $$$$!  |
Froggy
| | Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 02:03 pm: |
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A gallon an hour sounds low, but I don't have any numbers for a big rig. I can view the real-time fuel consumption of the 3.7L 5 cyl gasser in my GMC Canyon, it burns .7 gallons an hour at idle.
There is a guy on Ecomodder that significantly modified a truck for better fuel economy, I'm digging through the thread to see if he mentioned idle consumption.
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Sifo
| | Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 02:38 pm: |
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I can view the real-time fuel consumption of the 3.7L 5 cyl gasser in my GMC Canyon, it burns .7 gallons an hour at idle.
Don't diesels have an advantage though by not pulling a vacuum at idle? Constantly running a huge vacuum pump takes a lot of energy. I tend to run about 4 gallons per hour in the bus doing a route. That's a lot of stop and go driving. Hard to imagine that idling would be 25% of normal working conditions. It would be nice to have real data though. |
Badlionsfan
| | Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 04:37 pm: |
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Patches, I'm mileage like OTR.
About 1 gallon per hour is what I've always been told. |
Mr_grumpy
| | Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 05:16 pm: |
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That's about what I'd guess for idle consumption too, we're running Cummins ISX (15l straight six).
I'd imagine that a cattle truck, sorry, school bus would be a little less.
An idling ban for the bus seems rather silly & shortsighted, but then, most office folk in the road transport business aren't known for their connection to the reality of the job. To put it charitably.
I know of a few exceptions (Yes Matt you're in there, lol) but they are just that, exceptions.
I've had planners try to route me through weight limits, "Well all the other drivers use that road." Low bridges "It doesn't say it's low on my computer." And even an unfinished motorway. "They've been building it for years, it must be open by now."
It doesn't faze me any more, I expect Muppets in the office & sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised. |
Badlionsfan
| | Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 07:41 pm: |
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Froggy he probably doesn't idle. I'm sure he has either diesel or battery powered auxiliary power.
Personally once my truck starts for the night it doesn't shut off, even tho PA as a no idle law, state police on the turnpike aren't interested in bothering truck drivers for such a dumb law.
What make and model truck do you drive Grumpy? |
Patches
| | Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 07:53 pm: |
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Not gallon per hour, but averaged miles traveled per year.
The point I was to make is an OTR driver accumulates 10 times the miles as an average car driver.
A Commercial Combination Vehicle (Big Truck) weights nearly 10 times as much and takes more than 5 times the distance to stop as the average Car/SUV.
All I can say is "Mash On It"! |
Pwnzor
| | Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 09:48 pm: |
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My old Peterbilt 378 with a Caterpillar 15C engine burned about 7 gallons at idle in 8 hours.
I was always curious about it, so I conducted the same test 10 times. Top the tanks off all the way, and then do it again when I pull out of the truck stop. I averaged out the numbers and came up with 7. |
Mr_grumpy
| | Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 11:25 pm: |
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Ben, got mostly Kenworth T660, some Volvo VNL780, and various Peterbilts.
Only thing I can say is, if that's a Peterbilt, Peter should consider a career change. I had a 2012 model 388 the other week, apart from the most comfortable bed I've ever had in a truck, it was pure rubbish. I was driving better trucks than that over 20 years ago.
I'll take a Volvo any day of the week but get laughed at for saying so. And told it's not a real truck. To be fair those that say that are mostly recent driving school graduates and are probably still "truck-struck" as we say. |
Chauly
| | Posted on Friday, December 05, 2014 - 08:07 am: |
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How do the trucks over here compare to the Scania/MAN/DAF/Volvo versions in EU? |
Mr_grumpy
| | Posted on Friday, December 05, 2014 - 09:21 am: |
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European trucks are much more refined than their N American counterparts Volvo excluded. That said there's much more space in the sleepers here. US manufacturers are starting to get the idea of full with cabs too, and also seem to have finally heard about ergonomics.
If you really want to see what I mean, go sit in a Volvo, it's very similar to the Euro version apart from the hood. You'll see that the integrated dash is all compact and visible, all controls and switches at your fingertips, everything thought out with driver comfort in mind. Then get in a KW or Pete, it's positively agricultural. Looks like someone took a bucket of gauges and switches threw them at the dash and fitted them where they stuck.
Then there's the BIG one, noise. The Volvo even being a full width cab, you can hold a conversation with codriver or passenger as if you were in your car. So much more civilised than shouting over the wind and engine noise.
I know I'm coming across as a Volvo salesman, but I've driven more of them than any other make.
I confess I'm not a Scania fan but that's just a matter of taste, MAN make some very nice trucks too but the interiors ate lifted straight from the vw/Audi parts bin, it seems like.
If I find myself going the "Broker" route, it'll almost certainly be in a Volvo. |
Badlionsfan
| | Posted on Friday, December 05, 2014 - 10:06 am: |
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Pretty much all new trucks are garbage if you ask me. They're all built to a price point. Our older Macks held up much better than the Volvos they bought in 2006. The 2012 Macks we have are holding up pretty well except for the emission junk, but no brand is excluded from that disaster.
Before you go buying a Truck Grumpy, check into LTL freight. Here in the US anyway they're among the better paying jobs, home every day most of the time and when you do lay out it's in a motel room unless you're running team or something. As far a driving jobs go, it's a pretty good way to make a decent living and still have a life. |
Sifo
| | Posted on Friday, December 05, 2014 - 11:40 am: |
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You haven't driven junk until you have driven a "cattle truck" They are really cobbled together. That and the load is constantly moving and is extremely noisy. Sad to hear that the emissions cause the trucks problems too. I was hoping it was just the abusive use that school buses do running at under 30 MPH so much.
Some years ago I was involved in writing a computer system for International where you could build a truck online. I found it interesting how they would recommend different axle ratios based on just a few MPH difference in your average highway speed. I think they had it down to about 3 MPH increments for various ratios. That was one of the cooler IT projects that I worked on. |
Etennuly
| | Posted on Friday, December 05, 2014 - 05:23 pm: |
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I have been driving(to and from my shop) several of the 2010 to 2014 International Prostar road tractors. I brought another driver back with me today in one and was amazed at how quiet the cab was. I normally ride alone and don't think about it much. We had a viable normal voice conversation over the twenty mile trip, even as I was going through the gears. This was in a truck with 437,000 miles on it. Nicely finished interior and sleeper no rattles and a very quiet engine. Way better than what was out there ten years ago as far as ergonomics. |
Badlionsfan
| | Posted on Friday, December 05, 2014 - 05:25 pm: |
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The axle ratios recommendations are to get the engine in the middle of its sweet spot rpm to get the best mpg at cruising speeds.
The emission deal is a mess right now. The technology is new and insanely complicated. No one really knows how to trouble shoot. They just look at the ecm report and trouble codes and start throwing parts at it til the trouble code goes away. Between the cost and downtime, I'd buy a broken stick before I ever bought a truck. |
Birdy
| | Posted on Saturday, December 06, 2014 - 07:16 am: |
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Etennuly,
I live about 5 miles from the Navstar plant that builds their trucks and they make a lot of those things. I think this plant makes mainly straits and is just starting on OTR trucks. |
Pwnzor
| | Posted on Saturday, December 06, 2014 - 09:22 am: |
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Emissions controls on trucks nowadays are a complete disaster for cost effectiveness. I've got a fleet of 1999 KW box trucks, each with over 1,000,000 miles on them and they have less downtime than ANY of my new trucks.
DPF's and DEF tanks, thank you very much CARB!!! Why doesn't California just slide off into the sea and leave the rest of us alone already?
That being said, Innes I agree with you about the Volvos and cab comfort, dash layout, etc... however I loved my Pete for all her quirks, and the big Cat got my oversize loads over the steepest grades without a single complaint, in the passing lane going up hill. |
Etennuly
| | Posted on Saturday, December 06, 2014 - 05:42 pm: |
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I don't know where Navastar builds a lot of their stuff but these are assembled elswhere.
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Mr_grumpy
| | Posted on Friday, December 12, 2014 - 04:57 pm: |
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I've heard good things about the pro-star as regards driver comfort, but horror stories about reliability. All that said they were the last trucks to get made with no def, due to navistar calculating that it was possible to pay a fine per vehicle sold and sell more trucks. All well and good til the other makes bleated no fair we're telling on you, and it all went legal. |
Mr_grumpy
| | Posted on Friday, December 12, 2014 - 05:02 pm: |
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With regard to DEF, I'm still very doubtful there's any overall benefit when you take into account the created pollution in the manufacturing and distribution of the product. Not to mention the energy costs involved. |
Badlionsfan
| | Posted on Friday, December 12, 2014 - 08:09 pm: |
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Actually international didn't go with DEF right away because their theory was to increase the EGR % instead of using def. EGR is the worst thing you can do to a Diesel engine, the guy who invented it even admits that. All that extra EGR is what kills the reliability. |
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