Speed Limiters, Good Idea or Bad?
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There is lots of talk these days about whether or not the government should limit the maximum speed on trucks manufactured after a certain date to 68 mile per hour. Let me clearly state that I am absolutely against this law. Now many of you who listen on a regular basis may be surprised to hear this from me. I’m the guy who thinks owner operators should run as slow as 55. Why would I care about a law that limits trucks to sixty eight? Because I don’t want the government getting involved any more than they already are. Let the free market handle this and it will. Trucks that are driven faster will be less profitable end of story. The government sets the law and if I break it I’ll be punished but don’t artificially force me to obey the law. I read an article this week about this topic and I was furious. It was an interview with somebody with the title Doctor in front of his name and he is a professor in industrial engineering. He made several conclusions about speed and how it affects other things like safety, fatigue and profitability. In my opinion his comments and conclusions are completely idiotic and show a real lack of understanding of the trucking industry. Here is a quote from the interview. “One of the biggest challenges of speed limited trucks is getting into the flow of traffic as the driver tries to enter a highway” DUH could he be anymore clueless? If he had even a basic understanding of how a truck operates he would know that a truck limited to a top speed of 68 mph has no affect on its ability to accelerate up to 68 mph. He is trying to make the argument not to limit truck speed and I agree at least on that, but if this is the kind of argument we make we’ll lose. stay tuned next week and I’ll have more to say about this. If you have any questions call my office at 888-262-8585 Remember be safe be profitable and “Master the Journey”.
