Subsim Truckers

[Schroeder]

Originally Posted by Wolferz

Once you've lost your peak torque at 7,000 RPMs, you'll have to stop and start over. I only did that once and it was enough to learn me.

Wait a second 7k rpm? Are those petrol engines (rhetorical question I know it's Diesels but the rpm blows me away)? Our trucks would usually operate below 2.000 rpm.
What's the gas mileage on a 40t US truck? Ours got about 3,3km/l (~7,8 mpg).

[Wolferz]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

Wait a second 7k rpm? Are those petrol engines (rhetorical question I know it's Diesels but the rpm blows me away)? Our trucks would usually operate below 2.000 rpm.
What's the gas mileage on a 40t US truck? Ours got about 3,3km/l (~7,8 mpg).

Yup, that's peak torque at 7,000 Rip'ems. I never bothered to check fuel economy when packing twin 100 gallon saddle tanks. Just stopped and filled them when the gauge said you're near "E" All I know is we went a long way between fill ups.

Our trucks are so unique that they turn German tourists into Japanese shutterbugs.

[Schroeder]

Originally Posted by Wolferz

Yup, that's peak torque at 7,000 Rip'ems. I never bothered to check fuel economy when packing twin 100 gallon saddle tanks. Just stopped and filled them when the gauge said you're near "E" All I know is we went a long way between fill ups.

Our trucks are so unique that they turn German tourists into Japanese shutterbugs.

I was responsible for the fuel economy of our trucks and had to talk to drivers who were using too much fuel for their trips that's why I know the mpg of our Volvo and MAN trucks. I'm amazed that a US driver can be completely oblivious to the fuel economy of his truck and that obviously no one checks on that.
Over here Diesel costs made about 25% of all costs the company had so we had to be careful and try to refuel in countries where Diesel was cheaper than in Germany and avoid to refuel in those where it's more expensive. Our drivers always had to ask where they could refuel and the dispatcher would tell them were to go and how much to refuel. No way they could just fill up without permission. (That might sound stupid for you but the driver usually just knows the next one or two trips he's supposed to do and the next one could bring him to a country with cheaper fuel so he should only fill up enough to get into that country and top of there again. The difference in fuel costs are sometimes pretty big from country to country).


Most 40 ton trucks in Europe look like this (this one isn't of the company I worked for):


That's so because they mustn't be longer than 18,75m (roughly 20 yards) so most will have a flat nose to make the tractor as short as possible and the trailer as long as possible. US trucks look often times quiet differently and are therefore "exotic" photo motives to Europeans.

[Wolferz]

@ Schroeder,
My tractor was equipped with a Qualcom satellite system that monitored everything. All the information regarding fuel economy, mileage, average speed etc, etc could be looked at instantly by the driver and the dispatcher. The dispatcher contacted the driver through this system too to assign loads or send messages regarding needed maintenance scheduling and any other info deemed necessary to get the load from A to B in a timely manner. It even enumerated the route to take. Any deviation would have a dispatcher pinging you to ask why you're not where you should be.
That's why I never paid it much attention because I didn't need to track it. My job was to motivate it only.

[Schroeder]

Our system was a bit more primitive (well, it is 16 or 17 years old by now so it's definitely not state of the art anymore). We could track our trucks but we had to actively request their position and would only get their current location and no automatic update on that. We also used the system to transmit the tour data to the trucks and communicate with the drivers (like texting on cell phones....and just about as distracting while driving I guess).
However the system was not rooted directly into the trucks telemetric systems so the driver had to transmit fuel data every week manually and I would collect and analyse that data and make reports for the dispatchers about how good or bad their drivers were. I also had to talk to those that had a too low gas mileage (with varying success...).

[swamprat69er]

This beauty got 4 mpgallon (Imperial), 400 Cummins 13 spd direct and 3:80 rears. Grossing 138,000 lbs Empty it weighed in at 53,570 lbs with me in the seat.
It had 2 159.9 US Gallon fuel tanks. In this picture it is 75'5&13/64 " long right on the Ontario maximum length for 1998.


This is what I have now (a little dirty). You would be too after 20 miles of fresh gravel freshly wetted down. It gets 6 miles to the Imperial gallon or 7.2 miles to the US gallon pulling 138,000lbs 2001 Freightliner FLD 120SBD C15 CAT 18 spd OD on 3:80 rears.

[Schroeder]

Here in Germany the maximum legal weight is 40 metric tons (~88.000lbs). In Belgium it's 45t and in the Netherlands 50t IIRC.

May I ask how old that truck is? It looks like it could be from the 80ies (and I don't mean that insulting actually it looks pretty cool to me).

[swamprat69er]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

Here in Germany the maximum legal weight is 40 metric tons (~88.000lbs). In Belgium it's 45t and in the Netherlands 50t IIRC.

May I ask how old that truck is? It looks like it could be from the 80ies (and I don't mean that insulting actually it looks pretty cool to me).

The cab over is a 1988.
The conventional is a 2001
63.5M tonnes is the maximum in Ontario and the rest of Canada is 62.5 tonnes. I changed it to pounds for our American friends.

[Wolferz]

Swamprat is probably half deaf from driving that Cab over engine jitny.
AREN'T YOU, SWAMPRAT?

[swamprat69er]

EH? Whutzat you say?

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Wolferz

Swamprat is probably half deaf from driving that Cab over engine jitny.
AREN'T YOU, SWAMPRAT?

Originally Posted by swamprat69er

EH? Whutzat you say?

Boy I sure am! Thank heavens for Danish-made WIDEX programmable hearing aids- $5K with two 'zen' programs (5 total) for Cummins engine induced tinnitus! I wasn't kidding about "wearing ear protection" as Firefighters do in their trucks. The turbos in the exhaust were particularly excruciating... Alongside way too loud Led Zeppelin and Cream to keep ya awake all night. Just when your getting drowsy on your 20th hour straight (log books...what log books?) with bagged onions out of Presidio, TX bound for Cleveland, OH... or if homeward bound and crank IT UP BBY!...works every time; And if ya can 'float gears', you can focus on playing the 'Air' guitar too while rocking down ol' I-10

[les green01]

must trucks I been in only got 5 to 6 miles a gal of fuel

[swamprat69er]

I usually wound Pink Floyd right out. I put two sets of speakers and a 30 watt amp into the cab over
One of our managers told me one day that it never ceased to amaze him how we could make a 22 hour day look like 16 hours in the log book. I told him it was 'creative writing'.
The Cummins was a little loud, but it was my own doing. I gutted the muffler as soon as I got to Thunder Bay and it stayed that way until I got back to the yard at the end of the summer.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

Precisely! The plumbing goes first from a' rockin' all day in the front office!

[COLOR=orange]"I'm so sorry officer...I AM the engine Retard...er!" All this sage advice sounds pretty 'jake' to me! ONKEL take note: Swamprat, Wolfertz, Quatro and I are still with it; nearly a century of combined head-on-a swivel-mind-yer-six 'combat driving'. Welcome to the true conning tower of the open road;

Haha, true conning tower, indeed. I feel like a U-bootman,living in this tiny space. I have to move my TV tray/laptop desk every time I want to go forward. It's really cool, I'm digging it. Funny thing, I was thinking about the last few jobs I've had.... Two years ago I was a SUB (substitute teacher) and now I'm a TANKER. Let's just hope "destroyer" isn't next

Originally Posted by Schroeder

Wait a second 7k rpm? Are those petrol engines (rhetorical question I know it's Diesels but the rpm blows me away)? Our trucks would usually operate below 2.000 rpm.
What's the gas mileage on a 40t US truck? Ours got about 3,3km/l (~7,8 mpg).

7,000 RPMs? My truck does 1700 max.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

7,000 RPMs? My truck does 1700 max.

Once again...I'm no truck driver....but 1700 RPM doesn't sound right....

My Mom's Toyota Camry can do 7000 RPM