Speed Limiter Debate part 2

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Last week I talked about the debate over whether or not the government should mandate trucks built after a certain date should be limited to 68 mph. I started to tell you about an article in a trucking magazine. It was an interview with a professor who is an industrial engineer. Making the argument for not slowing down trucks I’m on the same side of the argument but I disagree with almost everything he says. The problem with his arguments are that they just aren’t based on any fact or hard science. If those are the kind of arguments we make we will lose this battle. He disputes the TMC testing that says for every one mile per hour you increase speed over 55 you lose one tenth of a mile per gallon. I’ve read that test in depth and it is by far the best study on fuel mileage anywhere. he says he has talked to people and this value is too high, he doesn’t really say who he talked to or how they know it’s too high. Then he goes on to say that even if a truck driving slower will save some fuel that society as a whole will lose because cars will have to slow down and speed up to get around trucks and this will use more fuel. What an idiotic argument! Then he goes on to talk about tests that show that when a truck is driven faster that the maintenance cost goes up. Again there have been very thorough and scientific tests done over millions of miles that prove that is true. He says he doesn’t really believe thats true but again doesn’t offer any testing or proof of his theory. He uses this same illogical approach to many different aspects of this issue, but we can’t just randomly say, this is what people think so it must be true when all of the evidence proves otherwise. ok thats enough ranting for me this week if you want to go fast go fast if you want to be profitable slow down I just don’t want the government involved.  Remember be safe be profitable and “Master the Journey”.

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