drafting big rigs

[MLee]

Out of curiousity, does drafting increase the fuel consumption of the truck in the lead being drafted?



Thanks,

Dan

On my experience it actualy helped me gain a few more MPH, because it breaks up that vaccumm behind the rig. so should help MPG, check out Nascar, they draft for mileage, and speed.

I observed a tailgater behind a 18 wheeler, and they were drafting so close that they did not see the highway patrol sitting on the side of the road. They go the ticket for being what they thought, was smart.

just my penny's worth

Marv.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

Michael, I hear ya loud and clear on PASSING...



if you're gonna do it, DO IT!!!



I about ran up this Honda Prelude's butt the other night... now, I'll admit I was riding the guy's butt trying to "inspire" him to MOVE!!!



we were coming down a large entrance ramp... 1 ton dodge diesel pullin' a big enclosed hauler on the left, honda prelude on the right. me wanting to go faster than 40mph. I make that entrance in my truck at 65 all the time. so the prelude is scared of the big bad truck and trailer in the left lane, but decides it's going to "pass"



I'm doing my best to inspire the guy to PASS... guy gets scared and just sits there next to the trailer. we're at about 55mph now in a 70. there's two lanes and a large shoulder on the right and a concrete barrier wall on either side. we come up on a curve and the truck's trailer barely crosses the center line, and I just KNEW what was coming next.



does the Prelude SWERVE into the huge shoulder on the right? nope... SLAMS on the brakes!!!



I got my little lesson in following too close... no contact, but I wasn't sure I was gonna be able to stay off his bumper.



but yeah, I was all fired up because this guy wouldn't nut up, give it some throttle, and PASS instead of just hanging out there between that truck and the wall.



Mr. Prelude got left in a rather large fog of diesel smoke once I finally got around him.



Forrest

 

[LightmanE300]

Michael, I hear ya loud and clear on PASSING...



if you're gonna do it, DO IT!!!



I about ran up this Honda Prelude's butt the other night... now, I'll admit I was riding the guy's butt trying to "inspire" him to MOVE!!!



we were coming down a large entrance ramp... 1 ton dodge diesel pullin' a big enclosed hauler on the left, honda prelude on the right. me wanting to go faster than 40mph. I make that entrance in my truck at 65 all the time. so the prelude is scared of the big bad truck and trailer in the left lane, but decides it's going to "pass"



I'm doing my best to inspire the guy to PASS... guy gets scared and just sits there next to the trailer. we're at about 55mph now in a 70. there's two lanes and a large shoulder on the right and a concrete barrier wall on either side. we come up on a curve and the truck's trailer barely crosses the center line, and I just KNEW what was coming next.



does the Prelude SWERVE into the huge shoulder on the right? nope... SLAMS on the brakes!!!



I got my little lesson in following too close... no contact, but I wasn't sure I was gonna be able to stay off his bumper.



but yeah, I was all fired up because this guy wouldn't nut up, give it some throttle, and PASS instead of just hanging out there between that truck and the wall.



Mr. Prelude got left in a rather large fog of diesel smoke once I finally got around him.



Forrest

Was it a 16 year old girl? :-laf I can't stand people like that, who clearly aren't smart enough to realize that sometimes the best way out of a sticky traffic situation is to actually speed up.



I also hate it when big rigs think they can go 2 mph over the speed limit in the left lane and stay there all day. I understand a big rig wanting to pass a slower rig in front of them - but do it and get over! Whats up with the big rigs that think it's funny or cute to both go really slow next to eachother and block the entire highway? Does that make them feel like big men? :-laf

 

[dacook]

When pulling a camper trailer, I can tell when someone is drafting because I have to press harder on the accelerator. It tends to slow me down so I think it decreases the fuel milage.

 

[BigEasy]

Same goes for the idiots that ride in a blind spot. That's a good way to wind up dead if I have to make a lane change or need it as an escape route and can't see you. The semi driver may not even feel the collision and keep on going.

You need better mirrors, or more of them. Other than a motorcycle directly centered behind my trailer, I have NO BLIND SPOTS.



It doesn't bother me at all if a guy wants to draft behind me... as long as he has a CB, and he understands that I have absolutely no liability if I blow a tire. In almost a million miles of driving, I've never had an accident. Not even a blown tire, probably due to the fact that you'll never see a recap on a truck that I'm behind the wheel.

 

[Rman]

Not even a blown tire, probably due to the fact that you'll never see a recap on a truck that I'm behind the wheel.

good choice, I personally won't do it either.

 

[mhenon]

You need better mirrors, or more of them. Other than a motorcycle directly centered behind my trailer, I have NO BLIND SPOTS.



It doesn't bother me at all if a guy wants to draft behind me... as long as he has a CB, and he understands that I have absolutely no liability if I blow a tire. In almost a million miles of driving, I've never had an accident. Not even a blown tire, probably due to the fact that you'll never see a recap on a truck that I'm behind the wheel.

I'm surprised to hear any driver say he's Ok with being drafted. Would have thought that was a universal No No!

I don't get near anyone when I'm pulling the trailer. Things just happen too fast for me... so I need some reaction time.

As for passing... some people just don't know how to do it. I can tell from a quarter mile away when I'm going to pass someone. A person should be making plans to pass as he/she approaches a vehicle thats obviously going too slow. Nothing could be simpler... or you would think. Yet how many times have you seen somebody inching past a truck... in a state of near panic... then kinda freeze in the blind spot for awhile... then slowly... painfully... by the skin on their teeth... just slip by. "Whew!! We made it Elizabeth!"

I think it just scares some people. Weird! But drafting... at 65 mph... that's plain crazy in my book. JMO.

Mike

 

[Forrest Nearing]

lots of those rigs are speed limited pretty low... my buddy's truck is limited to like 62mph or something like that... said it SUCKS when someone's crawling in the right lane... really hard to get around them!



I guess the company he's driving for limits the speeds for insurance/liability and fuel consumption reasons.



Forrest

 

[TPCDrafting]

Just an FYI, I'm not that kind of "drafter"

 

[Tom W]

A story along this line. A women was driving from Austin to Dallas - IH35 north - on a hot summer afternoon. She complained to an officer that a trucker ran her off the road. She said she was driving on his right side ( for several miles ) because it was shady.

 

[bmoeller]

It's getting to be that time of year up north when it's easy to shake someone who's hanging up your butt. A couple of snows and you start to get that grit build up on the shoulder. Get my drift?

Nothing like a chunk of ice getting blown off the top of a van trailer or bulrack.

 

[MichaelWright]

LightManE300,



Quote thingy doesn't work on my Mac.



"I also hate it when big rigs think they can go 2 mph over the speed limit in the left lane and stay there all day. I understand a big rig wanting to pass a slower rig in front of them - but do it and get over! Whats up with the big rigs that think it's funny or cute to both go really slow next to eachother and block the entire highway? Does that make them feel like big men?"



"Big Men" dammm jerks in my book! To many punks out here driving these days. Allot of them have a chip on their shoulders and a fat headed know it all attitude. I've been out there in Didney lann for near 15 years, and it gets worse everyday, and no I don't like my job! Try dealing with a bunch of clowns, usually a bunch of socialists/commie/democraps that would make Stalin proud! We all owe them something, because they are stuck driving a truck with a 3rd grade education talking smut on the CB. Another one of those nights for me, all to frequent anymore. I wish this job didn't pay so well, and thank God for the off switch on the smut box.



Mike (still po'd, on 3rd beer trying to... )

 

[GBechtold]

Some one said earlier about on ramps I had something simular happen to me down near Daytona I was driving a 2000 Volvo 10 car parking lot with a 500 Detroit & a 13 speed I was heading back to Pa. from the Palmbeach area when there was a line of traffic coming down the ramp and someone in a ranger in the middle of the line thought it was his God given right to be able to go around the line on the left and right into traffic and right out in front of me it was that close I coudn't even see him out my wind shield it happened that quick I didn't have time to hit the brakes luckily there wasn't anybody in the left lane so I swerved to miss him now I'm in the left lane and he gets in front of me so I started to tailgate him with my High beams so finally I go around him and get over just barely leaving any breathing room between us and I laid on the brakes needless to say I never saw him again he kept his distance after that. I got back and I told the boss what happened he said next time don't even swerve let them hit you it's not like your going to get hurt. Sorry I got off the topic of drafting I don't like people drafting me or being in my bind spots especialy with me driving a parking lot what would you do if one of the rear cars on my trailer came undone and decided to come back and visit you it would get very ugly very quick I know I wouldn't want to be back there because it is so easy to forget to put a chain on a car when you have ten of them to worry about not to mention trying to get you height down to 13' 6" and have bouncing room between all of the cars.

 

[Oasis-3]

Drafting

I would say get a C. B. and talk to the driver you want to draft. I see big trucks drafting all the time. Two trucks same company talking on the C. B. and drafting. I don't do it and I don't like it but I do see it " a lot. "



Cliff

 

[GFritsch]

Guess you guys aren't from CA. People here drive up each other but for absolutely no good reason.



I need to get out of this state. I liked Wyoming when I was there. --sorry off topic

 

[RKohn]

It's a basic concept tht a lotta folks just can't comprehend....

Lead, Follow, or get the H out of the way.



Yup, drafting ain't a good idea, but I've done it too. Caps "usually" don't come off without flopping a little first, but it does happen. If you're close enough, they'll never touch the windshield, probably play heck on a radiator though. Know who/what you're behind and make sure they know you're back there. Don't follow a piece of crap rig, dump trailer, or anybody with anything loose. Never follow a rookie. And need I mention portable pastures. :-laf



rick

 

[bmoeller]

Not to mention guys carrying a shippng contaner that is held on with straps. Was coming up on a guy once, to pass him, and one of the straps broke and flew off. Glad I wasn't beside him at the time. Got on the radio to let him know.



Also saw a guy hauling some Haulmark enclosed trailers. Same thing there. More broken straps.

 

[JoeBioDiesel]

I'm not much on drafting, but i did it once in order to get home. I got t-boned on my motorcycle, and nudged into the other lane, into an oncoming Ford Ranger. I laid it down and got lightly wedged under the truck. The bike was a little twisted and had all my lighting knocked out except my taillight. I donated a little skin to the Vermont Highway System, but was relatively unhurt. I decided to make the 240 mile ride home. I made it it about 50 miles before it started getting dark. I stopped in at a truck stop near the NY/Vt border and found a trucker heading to Syracuse. I asked to draft him, seeing as how I only had taillights. He laughed but agreed. He was nice enough to tap his brakes for me any time he was driving over road kill. Thankfully I was smart enough to take the hint and back off a little when he did it. I can't belive I never got stopped, but made the trip home OK. I don't think I'd try it again.



That town was bad luck for me. First a motorcycle wreck, then a hole in my oil pan when I hit a 4x4 in the road with my VW, and later had an alternator fail in the same VW on a different trip. Luckily I don't have to go there anymore.



Joe

 

[SDisley]

Not just the safety aspect but also the money. I know in Canada it is a $200 ticket and 4 points if caught. Insurance will go up, this is considered an aggresive driver activity and you will pay accordingly.



Trucker Steve

 

[DJW]

Of Drafting or Tailgating very serious in Germany, if caught, fine depends on wealth, watching a German news program a car driver was fined the equal of $20,000 US (that will teach them) Scrum Down