Way OT. Do trucks drive slower on the interstate now than they did a few years ago?
Yes. Prior to 2004, only a few of the really big carriers were governed at less than 65 (Schneider, Swift, JB Hunt were all down at 62). Around 2004, Schneider and Swift bumped up to 65, so only JB Hunt drivers were stuck at 62 - I used to tell my trainees: "There are three kinds of vehicles you can always pass - RV's, U-Hauls, and JB Hunt trucks."
According to a friend of mine who was an independent, one of the big OTR carriers figured that driving at 63 mph saved them a TON of money over driving at 65 or 70. But it sort of puts a crimp on those who get paid by the mile.
Which is nearly all of us who are over the road. If you see a truck with a sleeper cab, that guy's almost certainly getting paid by the mile. The local guys tend to get paid by the hour.
There are some instances where pay is a percentage of the load revenue - 75%-85% is a fairly common number for owner-operators, and they're the ones with the best chance of getting a percentage gig instead of a per-mile gig. I only know of one instance where a company driver was paid on that basis (and that was the ONLY company driver, the rest of the company, about a dozen trucks, were owner-operators) and that was 28%. But that is exceedingly rare for a company driver.
I wouldn't be surprised if some of the carriers had a rule like that but I would say that not one of the trucks I encountered on my drive to and from Wichita last week were doing anything over 65-70. That's even in Colorado where the speed limit is 75.
It's not a rule - The trucks are governed, as Jesse said. The company I worked for in 2002-03 had theirs limited to 68 mph. The last company I worked for (2004-08) was limited to 65 mph on the cruise control and 67 mph with the pedal to the floor (to allow us to get around someone faster), though they paid us a pretty hefty bonus (on the order of $500/quarter) to keep our "overspeed" (over 65mph) time to less than 5% and our idle time low.
The company I'm with now uses a program called "Driver Rewards" that's loaded into the engine's computers. It keeps a running average of my fuel mileage - If I can keep it above 7 MPG, it lets me go 70 mph. Less than 7 MPG but greater than 6.3 MPG, it lets me go 65. If I go below 6.3 MPG average, it drops my maximum speed to 63. So, I do everything I can to keep my fuel mileage up except slowing down.
I accelerate as slowly as I reasonably can even if I have a light load, I avoid using cruise control if there are any hills at all (even an overpass), and I try to manage my energy such that I use the brakes as little as possible. I'm trying to be the Bob Hoover of trucking - A couple of days ago I managed to coast off the highway, up the ramp, around two corners, and into a parking spot without hitting the brakes until the last little tap to come to a stop in the parking spot.
I've mostly managed to keep the 7 MPG, though last week the truck went back and forth between 65 and 70 about every 10 minutes one night, and then my next load was VERY heavy and had to go through the worst terrain on the east coast, so I was stuck as 65 for several days. Once I got a really light load and then deadheaded a fair distance, it started going 70 again.
Either way, even 70 is high for a company truck. Any truck you see that's going 75 or more is an owner-operator who can specify their own speed limit including "none" for their truck.
