After reading posts about American trucks not being speed limited I’m curious, just how fast do they go? Fully laden, unloaded, bobtail. What are they like on hills? Do you use the cruise control or not because of the higher speeds? I take it you don’t do twenty minute epic motorway overtakes like we do? Are they all fitted with air suspension or do they still run on steel? On the freeway can you use all the lanes? Sorry for my curiosity and thanks in advance for your answers! 
Why apologise?
The speed all depends on how it is geared. Mine runs at 105 kmh at 1375 RPM and is capable of doing 100 mph, but we go to Ontario and Quebec and they have introduced speed limiter legislation. The speed limits vary from state to state and province to province, but generally speaking, the posted speed is the same for all vehicles. In North Dakota it is 75mph for example, but illinois it is 65 for cars and 55 for trucks (Philistines!!!). On the highway, you are generally allowed to use all lanes unless otherwise posted. We don’t tend to have the really long overtakes because there is less traffic anyway.
Mine also has a C15 Cat rated at 550 bhp so it pulls well. In the US, we run at 80000lbs, or 36.5 tonnes, so we are always light there. Hills are not much of an issue in most states. Generally, they feel much the same as a Euro truck in most ways when loaded. They also vary in ride quality. The Pete has a good ride, regardless of loaded, empty or bobtail. That said, if you have the fifth wheel set back it makes it a bit bouncy up front. On decks I don’t have a problem, but I am on vans for now while I recover and that means I have to have the pin right back. you would think that twin drive would be rougher, but they are so long that you don’t really notice. Mind you, bobtail in snow is no fun at all!
I think just about everything is on air now, and the newer compensators really smooth things out. The sleepers are generally on airbags, too, which quietens it down. My seats are leather on air, and they also will rock front to back on sliders to help smooth things out. It is surprisingly comfy, even with 6 broken ribs.
Do you have any sort of driving hours or daily/weekly rest breaks that you must have??
We are limited on log hours. In the US it is legal to drive 11 hours a day up to a maximum of 70 hours in 7 days, then you have to sit for 34 hours. Once you have sat for 34 hours you are legal to simply start the 70 in 7 again. Quite honestly, there are not many places you cannot get there and back in the 70 hours from Winnipeg so resets on the road are not that necessary if you are not tramping.
In Canada it is slightly different. They still have the 70 in 7 days, but you can drive up to 13 hours a day. Once you have maxxed your book out you have to have 36 hours off.
Both countries say you have to take 10 hours off at night.
That’s the basic premise of it.
What are the RDC’s like over there? Is it like over here with security guards that failed the traffic warden entry exam for being too jobsworth? Do they have militant forkie drivers who will unload 11 of your 12 pallets and then decide it’s time for lunch and keep you waiting for an hour? Do you have to wear a hi-viz just to walk to a gatehouse or they refuse to tip you? Thanks! (Yes it’s been one of those weeks!!!) 
I only just started doing van work so I am not really sure. That said, I had a 0130 appointment at an RDC in Calgary last Monday and arrived at midnight. I was out of there by 1am with the paperwork all signed so I am guessing it is a bit better. I haven’t fallen out with many security guards over here, certainly not like I did in Coslada a few years ago…
Pretty much what BTD says. My Pete is very high geared and runs at exactly 1300 rpm at 65mph so i generaly stick my cruise on at that although with no speed limiter there is bags more speed available for passing slower vehicles. I have never seen how fast top speed would be at max revs in top gear but like Rob says it would probably be 100mph plus but i think the aerodynamics (or extreme lack of them in the case of Peterbilts) would prevent me from getting there on the flat even though i have a 600bhp Cat under the hood. In any case Cats are very thirsty so cruising at over 70mph for long periods of time is not really worth it regardless of the highway speed limit.
As for suspension, as Rob says, every thing is on air and the long wheelbases offer a much more stable ride than being perched over the front axle like a European cabover although they need to be good as the road surfaces are very variable in quality to say the least especially in the remote South west US or back in Canada where the extreme winter weather destroys highways.
My average run is about 8 - 10 thousand kilometers round trip so i usually have to take a 36hr reset somewhere before i get home again but even so each trip still only takes 11 to 12 days at the most so its not so bad and i usually have a few days off at home in between.
As for treatment at RDC,s etc. Well as a general rule of thumb truck drivers get much more respect here than back in the UK and usually this is reflected by the attitude of receiving staff at the places that we unload, etc but of course there are always going to be exceptions.
I have certainly never been treated with the belittling attitude i nearly always used to get in the UK everywhere and i do not even have a high viz and have never worn one since i left the UK in 2007.
Is trucking seen as a profession over there? How are you treated by the native trucking population? Are you seen as cheap labour? (Or is that labor!) Are you treated like the Polish over here? Call into many big RDC’s over here and you will see enough anti-Polish grafitti in the toilets to give Orys sleepless nights! It must be quite an experience to drive from snow to sunshine in a couple of days! How does your body clock cope with crossing time zones and are your log books always in eastern standard time or does it have to be local time? Sorry for all the questions it’s just I’m a bit curious/jealous!
I think we are seen, at worst, as a necessary evil, but we receive courtesy in general. I think trucking is viewed as something “other” rather than as a profession. People seem to acknowledge the randomness and hours involved here better than they do in Europe.
Reaction to expats varies a bit. I have been here quite a while now so have seen how the acceptance levels have changed. To begin with, we were viewed as cheap labour because people didn’t know we are legally not allowed to be treated differently to domestic drivers. Once that record was put right, things improved. No, we are not treated like the poles are treated in the UK.
Your logbooks work on your local time zone, so we run on Central Time wherever we go. Timezones are no biggie. You only cross one per day as a rule so it isn’t that noticeable. The one that really messes with my head is the Newfoundland one, which is 3 1/2 hours behind the UK and 2 1/2 ahead of us here. That half hour screws it up for me!!
The main issue with time zones is that the office is on central time so you can get messed up with getting orders through if you are in a different area.
Sorry to keep asking questions but is it not a bit tricky driving a long nose truck with little forward visability? Do small cars disappear in front of the grille? Do cyclists still sneak up on your nearside when you are turning left or are they more truck aware than here?
Warren T Claim, now that’s funny 
The gruesome twosome seem to have answered most of your questions, some of us are too busy working to mess around on t’internet 
Here’s an example of how fast the trucks here can go
This was on a completly deserted bit of I-25 in Wyoming, it also shows how smooth the ride is, as I could take pictures at the same time & there is no camera shake
I don’t see why you didn’t use top gear, Mark…
The hoods are not so bad really. As long as you don’t have one of the really long nosed trucks they are fine. Of course, there are always those who take silly chances, but thats a universal problem.
newmercman:
Warren T Claim, now that’s funnyThe gruesome twosome seem to have answered most of your questions, some of us are too busy working to mess around on t’internet
Here’s an example of how fast the trucks here can go
This was on a completly deserted bit of I-25 in Wyoming, it also shows how smooth the ride is, as I could take pictures at the same time & there is no camera shake
150 kph! I’m sure an Irish registered Topliner overtook me doing that this morning! Whats the fine if your caught speeding? Do they have penalty points and is there an agreement between Canada and the USA where if your banned in one country your banned in both?
Reading this thread it has become obvious that the “Hours of Service” has changed dramatically since when I last worked in the USA in 2001. The rules then were max 10 hours driving and then 8 hours rest with a maximum of 70 hours in a rolling 8 day week. It does not take much working out that by booking only 8.75 hours a day it was possible to drive everyday. There was no requirement to take a break during the day and I quite often ran the 10 hours straight off.
When given a job over the qualcomm, one worked out whether it was possible to get to the timed delivery in time using the 10 hrs driving and the 8 hours rest rule.
My experience told me that loading times were very rarely what they were stated as, yet delivery times never changed, so if loaded late then it could be very hard work to make the delivery on time.
I operated a fridge on mostly ice cream from Missouri to the East coast then loads down to Florida where I usually loaded Frozen Orange juice or pulp for California.
I had a freightliner which was limited to 75 but that was fine by me as it was fast enough to do the job. Owner operators used to just fly by me.
Regarding loading and unloading, which, incidently, one never got paid for was usually carried out by ‘lumpers’ who, on occasion charged exhorbitant rates just to unload you. Places like Wal-Mart distribution centres were a nightmare and were on a par with the Tescvos of this world.
Having said all that, I really enjoyed the two occasions that I was fortunate enough to drive the USA and would be there tomorrow if I could have got an Green Card. I am too old now at 72 but I was a pensioner of 66 when I went out there the second time to drive the big rigs.
I believe speeding fines are graduated, sensible really, as 20mph over the limit is not going to hurt anybody on an interstate, yet outside a school or in a town the consequences could be horrible. I usually cruise at 65mph, I get plenty of miles covered at that speed, last week I had a run that had me running right up to my 70hrs & I wanted to be home for a couple of days so I was running 70/75mph all week, I was in the Western states so wasn’t speeding & could’ve done the run at 65mph but would have had to fudge my logs, so to keep legal I was hammer down all week. I must say that I was more tired when I parked up each night, that extra 10mph really raises your concentration levels.
As for blind spots, immediately in front is quite bad, I parked my tank of a car in front of my truck & took a photo from the drivers seat & the car was invisible, but in normal driving if you are looking in your mirrors you see things as they go into the blind spots so it’s never a problem
but in normal driving if you are looking in your mirrors you see things as they go into the blind spots so it’s never a problem
Exactly how a professional CDL driver operates, one always has to know what is around you and it is a constant monitoring of all ones mirrors that keeps this information firmly logged in the head and prevents accidents.