Are speed limits the answer ?

We have a legal speed limit of 80Km/h here ... in some Europian states even less.

Most truck accidents happen because they were too fast.

Good subject DI

105 km/h is about 65 mph.

Truckers will say they are under a lot of pressure to get their goods to their destination on time, and the manufacturers will say they would have to raise prices for the truckers taking longer.

I believe personally that the savings in fuel and decrease in accidents would make up for the extra time.

Do you know any truckers personally? I'd be interested to know what types of personalities they have.

I have seen truckers who drive very intelligently, and others who engage in road rage on a regulary basis. Maybe because they feel the stress of having to get to a destination by a certain time.

Someone should ask Mysteryman.

One negative might be congested highways. Slower trucks mean more trucks per linial mile, and this could be significant.

Truckers used to be the best drivers on the road. Now they are some of the worst. Being aggressive and thinking you own the road when you are driving an 18-wheeler isn't a good thing.

One of my friends is a lady trucker. I have asked her opinion on this. She is in Alabama right now and will answer me when she finds the time.

It is possible that truckers are evenly divided on this subject. I believe that in North America all truckers are under much more pressure than European truckers.

If an employer asks his drivers to break the law in order to keep their jobs, there is something very wrong.

I think it's a good idea, mainly because of the accident factor. 5 mph can make a difference, I'd imagine, when you are carrying a load of a few tons in the back.


Goods are not worth the lives of people.

I think this would affect the owner/operators more than the drivers that simply get paid by the hour. Owner/operators typically get paid by the mile so the sooner they reach their destination the sooner they can get to the next and make more money.

Speed limits vary throughout North America. There are places, at least in the US, where the speed limits are as high as 75 mph (120 km/h). One could argue that, if a trucking company from Ontario has trucks that will travel through these areas, they would be at a competitive disatvantage just because their trucks cannot not achieve the posted speed limits and thus cannot deliver freight as fast as other trucking companies that are not required to have governors or speed limiters on their trucks because they do not travel into Ontario.

I would prefer to see the trucks remain the same and let the police enforce the laws more strictly if they want to control speed limits in particular areas.

I haven't done any research on the subject, but I wouldn't think that the pollution a large 18-wheeler produces would be significantly reduced just by limiting it's speed. There are a lot of other factors to consider. When these things are empty, they don't use as much fuel to travel. If a truck is at its maximum payload, it will use a lot more fuel regardless of its speed. The motor will be running at a much higher rpm during take off, going up hills, etc., than when empty. These trucks also have all different kinds of transmissions in them. They can, and often are, ordered with a particular transmission for a particular use. Some of these trucks will use less fuel at 70 mph than at say 60 because of the rpm range they are in at that speed due to the gearing. I've seen trucks with only 5 speeds and others with 21. They don't have all those gears for nothing.

All requiring speed limiters would accomplish, IMHO, is cost the trucking industry money.

If a truck gets caught be the police with 75 mph here (say, in Germany) the driver would loose his licence for at least 3 months. (Checked it: it seems, all over Europe the speed limit for trucks [and articulated busses] is 80 km/h [for busses up to 100 km/h]).

'Course manufacturers could start using freight trains, and save trucking for short hauls between train stops. Oh, now I remember why they don't do this -- $$, unions, strong-arming from less than savory characters, the advantages of trains not being "sold" as aggressively as the so-called advantages of trucking, etc.

Really, the best way to move goods long distance in the United States is by rail. There is a huge, complicated interstate rail system, and yes, it could use the financial break that would come with all that haulage, but it would save $$, time and energy.

Trucking should be for the short trips, the space between rail stations. Nothing more. Oh yeah, I know people will lose their jobs over such things. And yanno what? They'll be hiring over at the train yard.

So, are you saying that DHL actually stands for "Donkeys, Horses, and Llamas"?

i believe it is the "ontario trucking association" that has asked for the limit on speed. spokesperson was interviewed on TV yesterday.
he said that that it should reduce both the accident rate, but also contribute to lower fuel consumption (lower operating cost) and reduced emissins. hbg

No, from where did you get that?

This is my current world.

I think it's a dreadful idea. Dangerous, in fact.

I'll have to get back to this when I'm in the office again and can get at some of my resources on the subject.

At least people in Europe - from police over traffic security specialists to employers and truck drivers - think different.

Which certainly is related to amount terrific accidents due 'speedy' lorries in the last times.

In North America, most serious accidents involving tractor trailers are not the fault of the transport driver.

We have a lot of drivers who come here from Europe. They disagree with your perception quite vehemently, Walter. I'll have to see if I can get a link to a trucker's discussion forum attached here.

I had thought the same - until I found papers by the drivers union and the freight companies association.

(I suppose, however, that this really is related to the public opnion, which isn't very favourable since we had some really terribel accidents due to overspeeding lorries in last year.)

since truckers are usually paid by "miles driven" , and not by the hour, they would reduce their paycheques by agreeing to a lower speed limit.
i don't have much of a problem with most long-distance truckers ... but, i don't think they always take into consideration such things as snow and ice.
i would suggest that there should be speedlimits adjusted to road/weather conditions. i see no problems with trucks going at 110-12 km/h when the roads are dry, but i think speed limits should be lowered when roads are slippery and icy(perhaps by electronically controlled highway signs or by way of special road-traffic radio transmissions).
i should take out my ontario driver instruction manual. i believe it is a driver's responsibility to adjust (reduce) speed a/t conditions and be aware of the other drivers. i've read letters to the editor, where it was stated "that trucks need more distance to come to a stop" , so other drivers should give way, but i think it also means that the truckdriver must take this into consideration and drive at a speed where the truck can be safely stopped.
but that gets me back to : truckers are usually paid by "miles driven" , and not by the hour .

from what i've read, when the united states adopted the 55 mph speed limit (the dreaded "double-nickel") , the number of road accidents went down.
i always had to watch it when we crossed the border, since the new york state troopers were always lying in wait just on the other side of the border - ready to give ontario drivers a warm welcome and a speeding ticket. hbg

speedlimit
this website gives some data on speed and road-safety...ROADSAFETY.... it doesn't specifically with trucckspeed but gives a general overview.
imo it's not simply the speed of a large truck/semi that poses the problem for other drivers but the weight of the vehicle . it's somewhat like the story about falling off a ten story building, the fall doesn't kill you, it's when you stop that you get killed. hbg

Well, truckers here are not paid by mile/kilometers.