Hypermiler

[pelicn]

That's a term I hadn't heard before, learn something new everyday

Ok fess up...before you became a "professional" driver, didn't you ever draft those big trucks?

I sure did! Never giving a thought to the fact that they couldn't see me. Boy, how my perceptions have changed. Now, I use my "professional" driver status to lecture friends and family members to back off!

 

[Turtle]

In 2008 the New Oxford American Dictionary chose "hypermiler" as best new word of the year. That's a big deal in dictionary circles, I guess.

I've never been a hypermiler, but I've always been a miles per gallon kinda guy. My favorite vehicle that I ever had was a 1978 Chevy Monza (like a Pontiac Sunbird) with a 4 cylinder engine and a 5 speed manual shift transmission, and it had an 18½ gallon tank. I used to get over 50 MPG with that thing. It wasn't much fun driving it for the year and a half that I live in Pittsburgh (having to shift in all those mountains) and I only got about 30 MPG while living there, but after I moved back to western KY it was a joy to drive. 35 MPG or more in town and 50 or more on the highway.

My next car was a candy apple red 1984 Chevy Camaro. It didn't get as good a fuel mileage, but it did get me a lot of tickets.

Tip: Never buy a red sportscar. Buy any color but red.

But it did teach me ways to conserve fuel and get better mileage. I started out getting about 17 MPG with that thing, but after employing a few things that hypermilers use, mostly common sense stuff now, I pushed it up towards 25 MPG overall. Had that car for 10 years. Then I got a soccer mommy Caravan, and life's been downhill ever since.

I've never drafted a big truck, tho. When I get just about as close as I wanna be, which is still too close, I'm in the middle of their wake and get buffeted like crazy. You've got to get in front of that wake, and that's way too close. I'll do long distance drafting, where I'll to about 5 MPH slower than the ones passing me, and they'll kind of pull me right along. Works best on straight and flat, like across the Ohio Turnpike. I can get just silly fuel mileagle that way. 28, even 30 MPG across the Turnpike.

 

[TeamCaffee]

I really do not know how anyone can stand to follow a truck to close even if you are in another truck. I have to be able to see so I can react and when all I can see in the back of a trailer it really bothers me. It amazes me when I have a car following me that close in a city and I catch a yellow light and they are so close they cannot even see the light so they go through with me.

Several years ago there was a thread on here about how to get someone to quit drafting and I have pretty much followed that principle since then. I just start hitting my down switch on the dash one click at a time till I am finally going so slow they pull around me. Kind of entertaining wondering how slow will they go? We do not have that happen very often since we drive so slowly to begin with.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Sometimes when theres a real strong headwind I think those TT's are using us to break their wind resistance for them...they pull up close not too close but never pass....

I like to get in the middle of a train of trucks...ones pulling ya and the other behind is pushing ya...

 

[FIS53]

My brother used to draft behind a small convoy of TTs when he was coming home or going back to work (120 miles away). He got great mpg out of his chevy. A firend also used to do it a lot when he was younger. Used to scare the hell out of most of his passengers. In fact quite a few finally started refusing to ride along with him.

Personally I always thought it dangerous as I've seen the results of rear ending a trailer.

But having said that I do work at getting better mileage out my vehicles and can quite often beat the mfrs specs for fuel mileage.
Rob

 

[redytrk]

For many years I Have railed about those tailgaters.I mentioned this to Carol (My SO). She happened to be running a Truck Driving School at the time. State Patrol officers often visit the school, and she quizzed them about tailgaters, and seemingly so few of them are ticketed. He responded that writing tailgating tickets were just too hard to prosecute.

Recently the History Channel had a program on the German Autobahn. They know how to handle tailgaters. They hide video cameras on overpasses. The pavement is marked like the chevrons the canadians use. Police hidden in a van snap a picture of the license plat e and the drivers face, Resulting in stiff fines. Another interesting thing is that they base the fine on the drivers ability to pay. One driver was fined $56,000.00.

 

[greg334]

Ok fess up...before you became a "professional" driver, didn't you ever draft those big trucks?

No

There are two different issues, one is other trucks tail gating and cars. Cars are easier to deal with, most of the time if they hit you, the damage isn't that bad to your truck.

But like the other day coming home, there was a line of 4 trucks with less than 15 feet between every one of them and they were going into a construction zone at 65. I don't care how good a driver you are or how many millions of miles you have driven, you don't have xray vision or can't teleport yourself out of harms way.

The funny thing is I have seen a couple FedEx trucks and one former landstar truck doing this in the last month or so.

 

[pelicn]

Seeing trucks tail gating cars scares the stuffins out of me! We have this long nose western star and cars have changed lanes in front of me and disappeared for a second. That is terrifying!
We have a word for a car that is drafting us, we call them a "butt light". It's especially noticeable at night when you can't see the car, only the ground effect glow from their headlights.
When that happens, I just slow down and let them pass. I do the same for trucks.
I think Atlanta is the worst for trucks running 70mph, in a line, with 5 ft between them. I've seen more, bam, bam, bam accidents there than anywhere else.