Any Sainsbury’s drivers out there? I am writing a news story for Truck & Driver about the supermarket’s decision to limit its lorries’ speeds to 50mph. I’m interested to know what your experience of this is - is it a good idea? Is it frustrating? Are other road users fed up with you driving at 50mph?
Anyone interested in contributing (which could also be drivers for other companies that have done something similar) please respond.
Please note your comments/feedback may be used in the article.
Last night I was in one of our rigids, which has been limited to 50, I can honestly say firstly I’m glad my journey was only 160km round trip, and secondly, I’ve never been so on edge when going past slip roads. I was being overtaken a hell of a lot, which you can understand and on three occasions, I had to drop down to around 45mph to enable people to enter the motorway network as I was being overtaken so couldn’t hop into lane two and the only way that the road could continue running smoothly was for me to take this course of action.
My thoughts are when comparing the savings they will make on fuel, what savings will this limit have compared to maybe 52/53/54mph. Have they set the limiter too low at 50mph? I do not think having to drop down to a speed of around 45mph to keep the road running smoothly is safe, and it doesn’t give you the opportunity of the little extra power you might need to get out of any trouble that you may find yourself in/be placed in by the actions of other road users.
Needless to say I’m glad the whole fleet isn’t limited to that speed as I really don’t feel comfortable running at that speed on the motorway in clear road conditions and I will now know for future reference which vehicle to knock back when offered what do I want to drive tonight
garnerlives:
Last night I was in one of our rigids, which has been limited to 50, I can honestly say firstly I’m glad my journey was only 160km round trip, and secondly, I’ve never been so on edge when going past slip roads. I was being overtaken a hell of a lot, which you can understand and on three occasions, I had to drop down to around 45mph to enable people to enter the motorway network as I was being overtaken so couldn’t hop into lane two and the only way that the road could continue running smoothly was for me to take this course of action.
My thoughts are when comparing the savings they will make on fuel, what savings will this limit have compared to maybe 52/53/54mph. Have they set the limiter too low at 50mph? I do not think having to drop down to a speed of around 45mph to keep the road running smoothly is safe, and it doesn’t give you the opportunity of the little extra power you might need to get out of any trouble that you may find yourself in/be placed in by the actions of other road users.
Needless to say I’m glad the whole fleet isn’t limited to that speed as I really don’t feel comfortable running at that speed on the motorway in clear road conditions and I will now know for future reference which vehicle to knock back when offered what do I want to drive tonight
So If your truck was NOT limited to 50 mph, you would chug along still keeping a little in reserve .
No, you would be on the “limiter” and still be in the same situation appproaching sliproads and the like, having to make adjustments for other numpty drivers (car and truck), who think THEY have the right of way when joining a M/way.
i have never driven for sainsburys but i have been stuck behind them often enough. morrisons are the same. tesco are slightly different as i do regular work for them and am therefore aware that they are not limited to 50. their drivers sit at 50, the cruise control is limited to 52 but the limiter is 55. when you get stuck behind them on the M8 there is very little you can do. still not as frustrating as getting stuck behind a car driver sitting at 50 though
It only affects motorway driving as on any other roads the speedlimit for HGV’s is 50MPH maximum in any case. Certainly saves getting speeding tickets on dual carriage ways.
Plenty of room on the motorways for others to overtake.
It does take a little bit more forward planning when joining motorways.
No need to rush as all routes are planned based on 50MPH max.
interlog:
Plenty of room on the motorways for others to overtake.
we only have 2 lanes up here apart from most of the M74 and a few miles of M8 through glasgow of which some parts split off ie M8 j 15 to 14 is 5 lanes but 2 split off to become the A80 then a few miles on lane 1 splits off towards the M74 leaving only 2 lanes between there and edinburgh
Most of the trucks at Sainsburys are limited to 52mph (on the speedo in reality prob 50 or less), most of the new Mercs.
A few are still limited to 56mph which do longer distance work, like Haydock trunks.
Driving wise if the roads empty doesent make a huge difference time wise but then again i aint going any distance just Glasgow to Edinburgh and the likes.
But what i do notice is, a lot of other truck drivers think you are messing around and will cut in as close as possible. it is frustrating when the motorway is busier and you do feel as if you are holding everyone up because everyone and their dog has to pull out to overtake you.
When we were limited to 56 I sat at 52 and watched the world go by, now we’re limited to 52 I sit at 50 and watch the world go by. I rarely catch anything up, everyone zooms past me much quicker and I’m happy and less stressed
Check my posts/thread for the numpty Sainsburys driver whom thought it was appropriate to drive at 35mph on a ARoad… As if 40mph wasn’t slow enough. These guys are either thick or sheer desperate for the money.
50mph is not a safe speed to do, especially on motorways. Certainly wont be good for the MPG as you’ll be up and down in gears all the time.
scottishcruiser:
50mph is not a safe speed to do, especially on motorways. Certainly wont be good for the MPG as you’ll be up and down in gears all the time.
Yeah because I crash all the time at 50
You should be grateful, I’m going that little bit more slowly because then you get past me quicker.
Im not thankful when am near in teh back of you on the motorway cause your going that slow. Only last week there was a crash on M6 at Penrith because of a slow ARMY HGV driving at around the 40 mark on a M/Way, DHL ran up his arse.
scottishcruiser:
Check my posts/thread for the numpty Sainsburys driver whom thought it was appropriate to drive at 35mph on a ARoad… As if 40mph wasn’t slow enough. These guys are either thick or sheer desperate for the money.
50mph is not a safe speed to do, especially on motorways. Certainly wont be good for the MPG as you’ll be up and down in gears all the time.
I know i’m not always quick on the uptake but i knever thought the words …safe speed,Stranrarer,good MPG could actually go together and moreso be said by someone who pulls for Norfolkline. Its been a while since i drove that road, i’ll guess you guys who drive it regular are all health and saftey freaks too now?
garnerlives:
Last night I was in one of our rigids, which has been limited to 50, I can honestly say firstly I’m glad my journey was only 160km round trip, and secondly, I’ve never been so on edge when going past slip roads. I was being overtaken a hell of a lot, which you can understand and on three occasions, I had to drop down to around 45mph to enable people to enter the motorway network as I was being overtaken so couldn’t hop into lane two and the only way that the road could continue running smoothly was for me to take this course of action.
I know what you’re saying here bro’ , its a bugger having to adapt your driving for other road users. I personally prefer to get on the motorway and keep my foot down, others should have to adapt around me. Sometimes when i go from London to Glasgow i have to pass that many slip roads and i’m so on edge that i need Valium to calm me down (no scouser calm down jokes please !!) when i eventually get there! Scary stuff i’ll tell ya !!
garnerlives:
My thoughts are when comparing the savings they will make on fuel, what savings will this limit have compared to maybe 52/53/54mph. Have they set the limiter too low at 50mph? I do not think having to drop down to a speed of around 45mph to keep the road running smoothly is safe, and it doesn’t give you the opportunity of the little extra power you might need to get out of any trouble that you may find yourself in/be placed in by the actions of other road users.
These are my thoughts too. At 50mph i have no extra power or oommph to get past any one, mind you i never did when i was at 56mph but someone already pointed that out. But as regards savings lets look at it closley…
We could look at my own company (not actually mine i’m an employee!) we run Mercs mainly auto and a few manuals, and some DAF’s (105’s) manuals, our average mpg on container work was 8.5mpg, now we are limited to 50mph our average is just above 9.5 mpg.
If we look at a 180 mile journey it uses 18.94 gallons of fuel as opposed to 21.17 gallons when we where at 56mph.
The same joureny now takes 20 minutes longer. If wages are £6.50 per hour, i don;t know the exact price of derv per gallon, you work it out.
garnerlives:
Needless to say I’m glad the whole fleet isn’t limited to that speed as I really don’t feel comfortable running at that speed on the motorway in clear road conditions and I will now know for future reference which vehicle to knock back when offered what do I want to drive tonight
Again i’m with you on this too. I just don’t feel comfortable driving at 50 mph in clear road conditions, its like dangerous isn’t it?
Truckwriter:
Any Sainsbury’s drivers out there? I am writing a news story for Truck & Driver about the supermarket’s decision to limit its lorries’ speeds to 50mph. I’m interested to know what your experience of this is - is it a good idea? Is it frustrating? Are other road users fed up with you driving at 50mph?
Anyone interested in contributing (which could also be drivers for other companies that have done something similar) please respond.
Please note your comments/feedback may be used in the article.
Thanks
Chris
No two ways about it, there are definitely fuel savings to be made by reducing your speed (one of the reasons sited years ago when they first brought in limiters). However, I feel that 50mph is a little slow on motorways, and it must be quite tedious to driving a wagon so limited. When I used to do agency for Tesco, the isotrac gizmo in the cab would beep if you go to far over speed, i.e.53mph on a dual carriageway, or 33mph on a single. Maybe that would be a better approach. Also, a fuel bonus would be a real incentive and still leave final control to the driver? Then again, I might as well ask for rocking horse [zb]
static speed limiters are dangerous. they should be set by the driver. how can he get out of trouble without being able to overide it?
EU trucks are designed to be most efficient at 56mph. so why set them lower?
the management of these foolish companies think they are more efficient because the limiter may be set at 50mph. but the tacho reads 54mph. therefore they think it has covered more mileage than it really has. this results in an on paper fuel saving that didn’t actually happen. the reverse would be more likely.
they cost themselves more in wages too. hourly pay should be banned. trip money or mileage pay should be the norm. that’ll get rid of the idiots who can’t change a bulb. if they don’t fix it, they don’t earn. then they can bugger off to mcdonalds and flip burgers, leaving the roads clear for proper drivers, like me.
papermonkey:
Also, a fuel bonus would be a real incentive and still leave final control to the driver? Then again, I might as well ask for rocking horse [zb]
I was one of the people that found being limited (52) a pain in the arse. I doubted the fuel savings. I worried about journeys taking longer. All the things mentioned in the above posts.
Our trucks have been limited for about 4 or 5 years (ish) now.
We have what appears to be a very good fuel bonus scheme.
I spent a couple of years cab-hopping so didn’t much bother with it. Last year I took my own motor and one of the “company men” somehow convinced me to give it a go.
Since “joining in” within the first six months I had “repaid” the 400+ quids of “debt” and was paid 98 quids. Thank you very much, that’s a good night out.
So I’ll be looking forward to a 3 or 4 hundred quids tickle some time just before Christmas.
As for the difference between 56 - 52 - 50 - well we have some drivers that have decided to cruise and run at 50. We even have a couple that do it all mostly at 48 But you know what - They’re the ones with the biggest smiles come bonus time.
Sure, you have to plan a little better to “allow” people to join at on slips, and you occasionally get hung out in the middle lane.
And the only real time difference shows itself on journeys of almost 4 and a half hours or 9/10 drives in the day with little requirement to stop. But should you (or they) be planning journeys so tightly ? And I find it particularly pleasing to tell one particular arse of a planner that “No, I can’t run from my home depot to the dock and tip&turn on the quay in one hit.” So he (and the job) will just have to wait for me” (Although — I haven’t time trialled the run since the last roundabout was taken out on the A1, and of course, part of the reasoning is the time thievery by the digi tacho )
limeyphil:
EU trucks are designed to be most efficient at 56mph. so why set them lower?
Kinda, i’d argue gearing has a much bigger effect on fuel economy than actual speed to a certain extent. It goes back to old science where they say at 55mph wind resistance starts to really impact the amount of power needed.
Its like a car really depends on the setup of the engine and gearbox where its most efficent, my current car seems to be about 65mph on the speedo gets best fuel consumption. Driven cars with larger engines which seems most happy at 70mph.
When limiters came in a lot of companies where wanting expemtions and compensation because they had 250hp engines in tractor units, which with a 56mph limiter would suddenly be powerless on hills, and use a lot more fuel. Wasn’t the reason they brought in speed limiters for safety?
But then again now they have seemed to back away from that and now its due to enviromental reasons. Mainly because someone said before the figures arent that easy to get hold of on the impact of speed limiters. Mainly because they would show a slight decrease in vehicles traveling too fast and slamming into other vehicles but showed a huge rise in the numbers of drivers loosing concentration and failing asleep at the wheel.
If limiters were increased to 65mph gearing would change as well and prob get similar MPG.
.
But you know what - They’re the ones with the biggest smiles come bonus time.