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Originally Posted by allan5oh
1) How can there be cluster driving if everyone is driving the same speed? The only way that can happen is if everyone somehow comes out the onramp at the exact same time. Cluster driving is due to poor driving habits, not some law that was passed by congress.
2) The "one driver taking half an hour to pass another driver" argument. Again, poor driving habits. If it really takes that long to pass, why is he passing? He might gain 10-15 seconds to his destination. When I come up to a driver going 1 mph slower then me(INCLUDING four wheelers), maybe I'll just slow down? Of course, keep a safe distance, and not create a cluster.
3) The "not being able to pass a four wheeler" argument. If the four wheeler didn't want you to pass, THE SPEED LIMITER WILL HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. Face it, a car can outdo any truck on the highway. If he's being an ass, it doesn't matter if you have a "king of the hill 625 hp cat", you're not getting by!
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Allan, this is a long winded post but bear with it.
Take my word for it that if this law doesn't come into effect now then it will eventually, speed limiters on US trucks are inevitable. Also all the guys out there that are gonna be pissed at driving 65MPH should think themselves lucky your only limited 65MPH. ALL trucks of the member states of Europe are limited to 56MPH and have been for well over a decade.
Your first point regarding traffic not being able to bunch up is incorrect and here's why. Not all roads are flat, therefore trucks with lighter loads are going to catch up but not neccessarily pass heavier trucks. Also, these trucks will all be electronically limited by different machines in different dealerships, not just by the factory. The slight differences in these machines calibrations will be a slight difference in a trucks top speed. In my experience sometimes by as much as 5 MPH top speed.
Your second point would seem reasonable but drivers being drivers is a different story. Hypothetic situation for you. You're in a truck thats 2 MPH faster than a truck 1/2 mile ahead and you are lighter. You catch that truck up on a hill but and at the crown you are almost past him, now on the downside of that hill he is faster as the weight of his truck comes into play.....do you really expect I am going to lift off and let you pass because you are halfway down my trailer and getting further behind me as I am now going downhill and faster than you? At the bottom of the hill I could be a mile infront of you instead of behind. You relying alot on human kindness and I'm in a hurry I've been on the road for 3 weeks, the wife called and she's horny, I have blue balls and I'm an hour from home.....see ya!!! OK Im kidding but you get my point.
Your point about a 4 wheeler being able to play with a truck whether or not you have a speed limiter is completely correct.
NOW. During the last decade of speed limiters being introduced in Europe the real danger of the situation has been an increase of drivers falling asleep at the wheel and this has been suggested because they subconsciously feel that they are not making progress as they should be and the truck speed being limited to 56MPH has lulled them into a sleep basically through "boredom". Seriously!!!
It was not long after the introduction of speed limiters that drivers started refusing to work for "trip money" and insisted on being paid by the hour. It's common sense to realise that a truck that was travelling a distance of 1500 miles at 65 or 70 MPH is going to arrive and unload alot earlier than a truck limited to 56MPH. "Trip money" basically meant that a load from point "A" to point "B" had a set price/wage for the driver no matter how long it took to complete. Obviously this journey was going to take alot longer with a limited truck so drivers insisted on hourly pay.
As another interesting point these speed limiters are not infallable. They have been disconnected by European drivers since their introduction. Each time a new technology was introduced drivers found away around them. Firstly, as the speed limiter was electronically activated, the drivers simply found which fuse to pull and hey presto they were rocket man again. Then the manufacturers would put a vital component on the same electronic circuit as the speed limiter, say the fuel pump etc, then the drivers just did a creative piece of semi temporary re wiring and installed hidden switches to flick the speed limiter on and off.
The latest manufacturers trick was to hard wire the speed limiter into the vehicles computer and this stopped drivers being able to tamper with the speed limiter BUT!!!! As lot of European tractor trailers run "Maxi liners" with wheels lot smaller than regular sized wheels (The inside of the trailers have a headroom of about 8 feet but are still standard exterior height) alot of companies put the small "maxi" wheels on their tractor trailers, took them to the dealerships to have the speed limiters recalibrated as the smaller wheel changed the vehicles gearing. They would tell the dealerships that they were hauling "Maxi" trailers and then go back to their premises and put the regular sized wheels back on and pull regular sized trailers. Then that truck would roll along at say 64 MPH but the speedometer would indicate the vehicle was doing only 56MPH but the real beauty was that the tachograph ( A piece of paper that records the movements and speed of the vehicle for the last 24 hour period and used by cops to ticket or prosecute drivers for speeding) would also only record a speed of 56MPH and therefore the driver could not be prosecuted.
So the introduction of speed limiters might or might not be a good thing for US truck drivers. If it initiates drivers being paid by the hour instead of the mile that would mean that if your stuck in heavy traffic your earning the same as if you were barrelling down the interstate at 70MPH but on the other hand, you obviously cant cover the same distance in the same time at a slower speed so home time could be affected.
Whatever happens IMO speed limiters are inevitable in the US.....to us drivers they are a pain in the arse but to the DOT, politicians and safety groups they are "progress" and " modern Safety technology" and the opinion of the humble driver won't mean diddly squat to their redearch results.
As a footnote, when they came into effect in Europe way back when I personally saw it as an end of an era, and it was just that BUT!! It wasn't an "end" period.
