What have you been doing to improve MPG? Anything?

[Broompilot]

Let me start off by changing the subject just a little. For $10 or so a month I cannot stress enough the importance of XM in your truck. The savings I have recieved in Education from XM 171 with Kevin Rutherford, Nemo and his guests has improved my bottom line by what I can put a pencil to by $15,000.00 a year. Sports are great but Serius is for Entertainment the Trucking Chanel over there is in the dark ages. We spend coutnless hours in these trucks and one can spend that time educating oneself. Also invest into a Sony Tape recorder with a splitter and you can talk about the shows and take notes later, just doing this even if you throw the notes away will store those ideas in that little Brain otherwise if your like me (sorry) I forget in two hours what I was listening to.

Centramatics fuel improvement? Better ride the commercials are TRUE. Turbo 3,000 I purchased and for the first three months I lost, now I am back to 7.0 to 7.5 not bad since 1/3 of my route is thru VA and WV on I - 77. This is for a 475 hp Cummins Tractor Tailer.

Gear Master, keeps me closer to the sweet spot plus tought me how to predict lower gears while slowing down. Biggest SAVINGS is I no longer GRIND EM or almost never. Thus no new Transmission hopefully.

Check those Tires buy a decent air guage and have the availability to pump from your own truck on my straight truck I ran a plug direct from the air tank Tractor Trailer Glad Hands. I check the steers weekly the drives and trailer tires every other week.

SLOW DOWN do not go over 62, I have no comparison for myself but other drivers I talk to drive 65+ average with the same equipment I have are getting in the low 6s, for a route of 2,900 miles per week 483 gallons 7 mpg for the same route 414 and if its 7.5 its even more than this. 68 more gallons used in that week X $3.28 $228.00 a week X 50 weeks is $11,400.00 very close to what a years worth of Truck Payments would be.

Espar Bunk Heater and Engine Heater. GIANT SAVINGS IN THE WINTER, no maintenance so I feel it could be justified at least for my operation that a APU will not be installed. I can buy a lot of fuel fror a couple of hours a day that I may have to idle in June, July, and August. Expediting though it would be tuff, but even with an APU I would install at least the bunk heater and not run the APU while I would be sleeping the fuel difference is one Pint a night of diesel vs 1/3 of a gallon for an APU.

So what can you add?

 

[ebsprintin]

Fuel additive and slowing down when not under load. I'm using the Howe's anti-gel year round, and it makes a noticeable, measurable difference. I can see a minimum of 1 mpg increase on my trip computer. Someone with a big truck might have numbers that apply to a larger application.

eb

 

[nightcreacher]

broom,your a real adverisement,hows the turbo 3000 doing,I put on centramatics,my ride hasnt changed one bit different than when I had the powder called Equal,.the best you can do for fuel mileage is just slow down,im getting over 7 mpg,of course im not spendinng most my time on I77

 

[TeamCaffee]

We have done most of what you have done with your truck to save on fuel. We have taken the Turbo D Vada off and are in the process of doing a test to see how it truly did affect our fuel milage. We will be putting the Turbo D Vada back on March 1st.
Two things have helped us the most out here, EO and also Kevin's show without these two things we would still be struggling along listening to the negative people in truck stops.

 

[dhalltoyo]

Brommpilot said,

"SLOW DOWN do not go over 62, I have no comparison for myself but other drivers I talk to drive 65+ average with the same equipment I have are getting in the low 6s, for a route of 2,900 miles per week 483 gallons 7 mpg for the same route 414 and if its 7.5 its even more than this. 68 more gallons used in that week X $3.28 $228.00 a week X 50 weeks is $11,400.00 very close to what a years worth of Truck Payments would be."

"Slow Down" is the key!

Who couldn't use another $11,400 in their pocket.

I know several drivers that have checked their fuel consumption very closely and they have adjusted their speed to gain the maximum fuel economy.

Just like finding the "Sweet Spot" on a Louisville Slugger so you can put one over the fence, every engine has its own "sweet spot". I drive by the tachometer and I pull higher miles than anyone who has the exact same truck.

When fuel was less expensive I used to drive harder thinking that being first on the board would always guarantee me a profitable run. Well, after I began to keep good records, records that included all offers, I discovered that it really matter little when I hit the board.

How many times have you driven hard, showed number one on the board and the next load offer was either minimal in miles, high in weight, had a low FSC or any combination of the three? And then the van parked next to you who was number two, or three, or four, gets a 50 lb box going 500 miles with a 45 cpm FSC. Or how about you accept the load, drive 30 miles and the load cancels "in-route". You go back to the truck stop and all of your fellow drivers have left, but your still number one!

It's expediting and it happens ALL the time!

The name of the game is Economics 101:

"COST PER THE RETURN"

Use the cruise, drive 60-62 mph, anticipate, stay off the brakes (excessive braking means you didn't anticipate the traffic pattern), keep good records and you will see your bottom line improve.

One additional benefit of driving slower is that you reduce driver fatigue and stress. When driving hard your senses are working harder as they are compensating for a heightened reaction time. I am amazed at how more relaxed I am after delivering the freight and I find myself being able to fall asleep quicker because I am less stressed.

 

[LDB]

As already mentioned, fully inflated tires and no faster than 60-62mph will do more than about anything else you can do. The tortoise and the hare. Good thread.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

I've improved a little by shutting the truck off at night until I start freezing. When it's warmer, I only start it to charge the batteries.

Padre... I agree that slowing down helps the mileage. And I agree that beating your opponent isn't necessarily a good thing, when it comes to mpg. But it's not always the case. In a smaller company, like mine, the early bird gets the worm (I can use cliches too, Leo. LOL). The difference between first out and second out, for me, could be having a load today and having one three days from now. So, while on load, it's hammer down!

 

[Moot]

Just like finding the "Sweet Spot" on a Louisville Slugger so you can put one over the fence, every engine has its own "sweet spot". I drive by the tachometer and I pull higher miles than anyone who has the exact same truck.

WHAT????? I'll go along with the sweet spot theory but that last sentence needs some qualification. No free rides!

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Uh oh! I smell a "My Dog is better than your Dog debate!"

 

[terryandrene]

Lest we not forget Airtabs as a money saving systems for any size truck

 

[theoldprof]

I traded my 15 MPG GMC van for a 38 MPG Cobalt sedan and I also cut down my driving from nearly 100,000 miles to 15,000 miles per year. Has made a heck of a fuel savings. If I put Airtabs on it my fuel tank could possibly overflow.

 

[nightcreacher]

can i get some with a tractor trailer to tell me how their air tabs are doing just mounted on their tractor,as far as fuel mileage?just cant see how they can work just mounted on the tractor

 

[dhalltoyo]

Mr. Moot,

I should have stated: "Everyone that I have spoken with that has the exact type of van as mine."

Please accept my apology for not including all of the pertinent information in my original post.


I have gotten as high as 19.2 mpg with the 2008. It has the Driver Information Center which includes the digital tachometer and a ton of other neat information too. The 2008 ECM is running a new program; according to the Master Technician at my dealership. I do get a very diminutive valve ping if accelerating with a fairly heavy load up a steep grade. Obviously, the ECM program is set for a very lean burn. I have learned to get off the cruise when approaching these steep grades, so it doesn’t downshift into a lower gear ratio and increase the RPM’s; hence, reducing fuel economy.


PS. If you take off the “Bug Deflector” you may gain as much as an additional 0.5 mpg. I had one on the 2006, but relying on information from those who keep very accurate records, I opted to go without one on this van.

 

[Moot]

David, I couldn't let you slide that by without further explanation. Thank you. I got 16.1 for the life of my 1998. Doing slightly better with the 2004 except the odometer is off 3% so that knocks it down. I never had the bug delfector on the 98. Maybe I should remove it. I bought it to protect the leading edge of the hood from rock dings. But with a savings in fuel I could buy all kinds of touch-up paint and still have money left over.
Also I have a question for you that I will send via p.m.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

can i get some with a tractor trailer to tell me how their air tabs are doing just mounted on their tractor,as far as fuel mileage?just cant see how they can work just mounted on the tractor

Night they deflect the air that goes between the tractor and trailer....

www.airtab.com - The smart way to cut the cost of your highway fuel costs They have wind tunnel test results.

I have them on my Sprinter...they DO work!

 

[Jack_Berry]

i need to convince the company to keep me moving. last weekend in the cold i ran the apu for 60 hrs. when i filled up next the mpg dropped from 8.5 to 7.6. keeping the truck in motion equals better miileage.

 

[layoutshooter]

I switched to Opti-Lube fuel additive, it added around 3/4 to 1 mile mpg. Driving slow is the
key. I checked my mileage on my last fill up. Runnng light and slow I got 11.64mpg. That is on a Freightliner/450hp with a 10 speed autoshift. I try to run slow as I can. I don't like to do 57-60 when the speed limit is 75, like out west. I try to run 65 out there. I feel that more than 10 miles per hour below what the limit is can be dangerous. How does anyone else feel about that one? Am I wrong? Layoutshooter

 

[TeamCaffee]

Our top speed is 58 m.p.h. does not matter what state we are in. We have not been rear ended yet and I sure hope it stays that way. We do actually pass other trucks once in awhile so I know others are also running very slow due to the fuel prices.

 

[LDB]

Although I'd like to do that well, I can't make myself drop below about 61-62mph but I do hold it to that. Keeping speed reasonable is probably the best mpg tool there is.

 

[60MPH]

I myself usually run 60 but here latly I have found myself running 58 I found running this speed I don't ever hear the turbo spool up "on flat land that is" I noticed that my FM is about the same I get in the summer time which ain't bad running on blended or straight #1 with additive. The only problem I ever have is super truckers getting on the radio and giving me a hard time about driving a van this slow and how it's dangerous to drive that slow. I always just say I am paying for the fuel and this is my truck, so tuff s&^t, you don't like it go around. And thats usually when the radio rambo's come out and give there .02. I just key up laugh and tell them to have a nice super truck'in day!!! I don't think that your causing any problems running that slow, I know it don't bother me. Besides I know other van drivers that run just about as fast as me and they don't seem to have any problems. And Leo 61-62 your crazy that's way to fast for me you speed demon