HAHAHA.... it gets better and better.. fuel mileage woes

[floored]

Truck was a steady 6mpg truck when I drove it. I always ran 60-65 mph on the freeway, and would go out with 80k and back empty. I would do a fill up once a week, maybe twice but never more on a full work week.

New driver has been in the truck for about 8-10 days now. Truck is getting 4.45mpg now and he fills up daily, at least 60 gals a day. Truck is hauling the same material in the same pattern as I was doing.

What the heck could he be doing to kill my mileage like that??!!?! He says the plants over load him, but really if thats the case the max my boxes could hold would be about 4k worth of material over the other guys, so I don't see how that could kill 2mpg off the truck. He drives with the jakes on (god I wish he wouldn't, I plan to get them shut off) and downshifts to slow down (I pulled it out of gear and coasted with use of brakes when I drove).

Other than get a new driver, which I will do if it does not improve this week, what could be causing my mpg to go south?

I'm used to a $300 a week fuel bill, my bill for a week with him driving was $1000. Something is not right here at all. Thanks in advance

[allan5oh]

He's probably going faster too, and idling the truck.

[Kranky]

I'm used to a $300 a week fuel bill, my bill for a week with him driving was $1000.

Does he take the truck home with him, and siphon the fuel into his home heating furnace tank??? lol.

I'd be questioning this too if the fuel bill more than tripled on the same run from one week to the next.

I've never been a"fuel saving" driver, but when I had my trucks, the difference between the driver with the best MPG and my MPG was never more than about a half MPG.

[NFRay]

floored,

From reading your other thread on this subject, it seems that your driver has no respect for you and is deliberately out to cause you harm. I would get him out of the truck, without giving him any notice, so that he would not have any opportunity to further damage the truck or sell your fuel, if that is what is happening. Park the truck before the situation gets worse.

[Overloaded]

He drives with the jakes on (god I wish he wouldn't, I plan to get them shut off) and downshifts to slow down (I pulled it out of gear and coasted with use of brakes when I drove).

[heavyhaulerss]

i can tell you something i never expected. one day i decided to do an experiment. to ruduce my speed & to take off very gradually. turns out i saved 203.00 a week. that is based on the exact same load & reload 2000 miles total. my only point here is fuel makes a difference. but let me tell you something else. ive heard it is not good at all taking truck out of gear while rolling to coast. i used to do it too. this may or may not be true. i read this on eaton websight . maybe you could go with him one time to see how he drives. as far as the jakes... if you tell him not to drive with them on he shouldnt period. dump trucks roll by my house all day long. some put jakes on just to attract attn & sound cool.

[Kranky]

The proper way to slow down is to work your way down thru the gears using the engine (and jake) to help slow it down.

I always put my right foot half on the throttle and half on the brake, and I can work the throttle for smooth downshifting while at the same time applying the brakes.

It's never a good practice to throw a truck out of gear and coast to a stop using only the brakes to slow down.

[heavyhaulerss]

hey splitshifter.. i though i wa the only one who did that.. right heel on go pedal & top of foot on brake.

[mike3fan]

He drives with the jakes on (god I wish he wouldn't, I plan to get them shut off) and downshifts to slow down (I pulled it out of gear and coasted with use of brakes when I drove).

I agree,explain what is bad about jakes? and what is good about "kicking"it out of gear coming to a stop?

[rank]

How do you pay for fuel? A buddy of mine had a truck and the driver was selling fuel and blaming it on poor fuel mileage.

[Bobby]

He drives with the jakes on (god I wish he wouldn't, I plan to get them shut off) and downshifts to slow down (I pulled it out of gear and coasted with use of brakes when I drove).

I agree,explain what is bad about jakes? and what is good about "kicking"it out of gear coming to a stop?

+3

[person]

Truck was a steady 6mpg truck when I drove it.........Truck is getting 4.45mpg now

I'm used to a $300 a week fuel bill, my bill for a week with him driving was $1000.

These two don't add up against each other.

Good luck finding that driver you need. Just keep looking and maybe one will come along. Put the word out to everyone. But the driver will never please you as much as you please yourself.

[mike3fan]

I agree it seems that you are better suited to be an O/O than an owner with a driver(I've driven for a few of these),maybe consider a fuel bonus?

[Rev.Vassago]

He drives with the jakes on (god I wish he wouldn't, I plan to get them shut off) and downshifts to slow down (I pulled it out of gear and coasted with use of brakes when I drove).

I agree,explain what is bad about jakes? and what is good about "kicking"it out of gear coming to a stop?

+3

+4

[carolina trucker]

This is just my $0.02 worth, but if I were you I'd take a day out of my schedule and go along with your driver just to see how he's doing things. I'd also do this without letting him know beforehand.

Make sure when you leave out that you get a full tank of fuel and also make sure he updates his log book with the correct odometer reading that morning.

When he's driving, don't say anything. Instead, just observe and see what he's doing and how he drives. Downshifting through the gears is actually the correct way (from the way I learned to do things anyway) to reduce the speed of the truck. Using the jakes reduces wear and tear on the brakes, which is also smart, so I don't really see anything wrong there.

When you get back from the run, refuel again, make a note of the odometer reading and calculate the fuel mileage at that time.

By the way, I thought it was against DOT regulations to take a truck out of gear and coast. You may save a few dollars on fuel, but you'll also end up with a lot more wear and tear on your brakes than you'd have otherwise. It's also supposedly dangerous, especially if you're going downhill.

-- c t

[Maniac]

He drives with the jakes on (god I wish he wouldn't, I plan to get them shut off) and downshifts to slow down (I pulled it out of gear and coasted with use of brakes when I drove).

I agree,explain what is bad about jakes? and what is good about "kicking"it out of gear coming to a stop?

+3

+4

+5 :shock:

[Teal 95 KW]

+ VI :wink:

[floored]

How do you pay for fuel? A buddy of mine had a truck and the driver was selling fuel and blaming it on poor fuel mileage.

We have an account with Pacific Pride, driver has his own fuel card.

I agree it seems that you are better suited to be an O/O than an owner with a driver(I've driven for a few of these),maybe consider a fuel bonus?

Believe me if I could drive my truck right now I would. But asof Friday I am 4cm dilated and could go into full labor at any time, so it's just not an option for me at this time.

This is just my $0.02 worth, but if I were you I'd take a day out of my schedule and go along with your driver just to see how he's doing things. I'd also do this without letting him know beforehand.

again, not an option at this time. And when I did go out with him, he drove ok with me, but as soon as I was out of the truck other drivers told me a much different story..



I know your not to take the truck out of gear, but that's how I do it and to be honest I'll continue to drive that way when I get back in the truck.

I don't mind him downshifting if he did it right (he slams on the brakes, downshifts, then slams the brakes again 10 seconds later to downshift, seriously, you jerk forward in the truck to the point of you might just hit the dash if not belted in the way he does this). The big issue is he leaves the jakes on ALL THE TIME, he is not one of those guys who turns them on only to downshift, they are on all the time.

He knows I'm on his ass about the fuel now, I'll give it a week to see what happens. Maybe he is selling it, maybe he isn't. I don't know. All I know is when I was in the truck doing the same rounds I got 6mpg and now its dropped big time. In the meantime I'll start working on possible backup drivers, just in case things don't improve..

(sigh)


And ya'll get off my back about pulling it outta gear, will ya

[mike3fan]

I know your not to take the truck out of gear, but that's how I do it and to be honest I'll continue to drive that way when I get back in the truck

Why? it is really unsafe and if you need to save fuel that bad you must be in the wrong business,I know about your condition and I was making a general statement about owning and operating the truck.

I also never turn off my jakes,they auto disconnect when not needed and this is not a problem.

[allan5oh]

So he's one of those surge + slow down drivers right?

Can't ever coast?