Owning The Wheel: does running fast equal more cash?
The first thing to look at, since it’s central to this philosophy, is speed.
By JOHN EWING
Truckers Connection
9/16/2008
In recent columns, we’ve covered trip planning, reducing idle time, and planning fuel purchases for potential savings. Lets address routing and speed and how both relate to fuel consumption and your bottom line.
One common philosophy about making the most money you can as an owner-operator is to run as fast and as hard as you can, racking up the maximum number of miles possible. Since we’re paid by the mile this philosophy does seem to make sense, on the face of it. But does it really make sense when you take it apart and look at it in detail? With the cost of fuel now cutting into everyone’s bottom line, it’s time to be sure that you’ve covered all the details. So let’s dissect this philosophy and see if it really works.
The first thing to look at, since it’s central to this philosophy, is speed. Running hard and racking up as many miles as possible implies that you are going to run as fast as you can in order to achieve a maximum number of miles. So let’s look at the statistics. In a study done by the EPA, it is reported that for every increase of one mph you lower your MPG by 2 percent. How does that transfer to real numbers? If your truck, fully loaded, gets seven mpg at 60 mph then for each mile you increase your speed your miles per gallon will drop by .14. So at 65, your mpg will be down to 6.3 and at 70 it will be down to 5.6. At 75 it’s dropped by 2.1 miles per gallon. Translated into dollars at $4.00 a gallon and running the average 2500 miles a week, that’s a difference of $357 a week. Multiply that times the average 43 weeks a year that drivers are on the road and it’s an extra $15, 351 a year in expenses.
But how’s that compare with time? According to the EPA study once you get over 60 mph the time savings do not equal the additional cost of fuel. There is no doubt that if you could stay in the seat for 11 hours and maintain 75 mph you would collect more miles in a day than a driver driving a steady 60 mph.
But the reality is that the faster you go, the more tiring it is, and the harder it becomes to stay in the seat. Everyone who’s driven a company truck has seen the “big trucks” blowing our doors off. Then an hour later, there he is again blowing our doors off. Stay on the same route he’s on long enough and he’ll do it over and over in the course of a day. So is he really gaining anything with the higher speed? At the end of the day he may be a few miles further up the road, but he’s spent more time and more resources doing it, personal and financial. This also does not address the issue of wear and tear which increases dramatically as speed increases.
While there are a few places where you can run fast on the smaller roads, in general, you need to stick to the big roads if you want to run fast. When figuring out the most practical way to go, most routing systems will route you on the big roads, but is this always the best way to go?
Again it’s a question of your priorities. If you run the shortest route at 55 to 60 mph you may very well end up at the end of the day in the same place you would have been had you run the big road at 65 to 70 miles per hour. This may not always hold true, but it is something to look at when you’re planning your trip. I ran a trip from California to New Jersey two ways. First I put a strong emphasis on back roads, staying off the freeways as much as possible. The trip was 2,757 miles and took 48 hours driving time with an average speed of 58 mph. The second way favored the interstates and took 40 hours driving time with an average speed of 70 mph. So in time I have an additional eight hours driving on the back roads. What I gained for that was $589 in fuel savings. That equates to $73.63 an hour for my time or put another way it’s an additional $0.21 a mile in my pocket for the trip. I also had less wear and tear on the truck and on myself and a much more relaxing and enjoyable drive. Since most cross country trips allow seven days from pickup to delivery, I would have been early for my delivery either way. On the down side I did burn up eight more hours from my 70. So it’s a balancing act and only you can decide which way will put you ahead at the end of the day.
Recall from last month the discussion of saving $15,000 a year by reducing idling. Now add that to the $15,000 we gain by running slower and you’ve just put another $30,000 a year in your pocket. It would seem to me that this combination of strategies has the potential to put your business back in the black and keep you running while the big trucks slowly fade into the sunset. As we’ve said before the world is changing and those who will survive the changes are those who can adapt to it. The days of the highball express are numbered. The cost of fuel is not going to go back down. If anything it’s going to continue to rise and those who survive are going to be those who know how to squeeze every mile possible out of every gallon.
Till next month, be safe.
John Ewing is a former owner/operator and the author of The Truckers Helper, business management software for truckers. If you'd like to ask questions or make comments on this article please visit the forums at thetruckershelper.com. He will be happy to answer any questions on trucking or managing your trucking business.