Discussion
Did anyone see the episode of 'Fake Britain' on BBC1 recently when truck tachos were being discussed.
To show how tacho records were being 'faked' they drove a large truck without a trailer at 100 mph with a police driver and a marked car on 'blues & twos' in front. The dual carriageway was not sealed and other vehicles were being overtaken at those speeds.
Now one might wonder whether the speed rating of truck tyres covers speeds of 100 mph sustained on a dry road and whether it was, in fact, quite dangerous. Would you like to do 100 mph in a truck on standard truck tyres, or even be overtaken by one? It appeared very irresponsible really, unless there is going to be a truck tyre expert along to tell us what the max. sustained speed rating of a truck tyre is.
To show how tacho records were being 'faked' they drove a large truck without a trailer at 100 mph with a police driver and a marked car on 'blues & twos' in front. The dual carriageway was not sealed and other vehicles were being overtaken at those speeds.
Now one might wonder whether the speed rating of truck tyres covers speeds of 100 mph sustained on a dry road and whether it was, in fact, quite dangerous. Would you like to do 100 mph in a truck on standard truck tyres, or even be overtaken by one? It appeared very irresponsible really, unless there is going to be a truck tyre expert along to tell us what the max. sustained speed rating of a truck tyre is.
Truck tyres typically have a max speed rating of 120-130kph (75-80mph), but that will be for a fully loaded truck travelling at that speed for long distances. I doubt very much that a, relatively light, tractor unit only travelling at 100mph for a few miles would over stress the tyres.
Trucks in the US routinely travel at 70-80mph, it's rare to find them doing much more other than getting a run down a hill before a climb the other side. They still complain about fuel prices despite diesel being around £2 a gallon. A truck doing 100mph will be pushing 1 or 2 mpg, operators just can't afford that kind of economy.
Cooperman said:
Did anyone see the episode of 'Fake Britain' on BBC1 recently when truck tachos were being discussed.
To show how tacho records were being 'faked' they drove a large truck without a trailer at 100 mph with a police driver and a marked car on 'blues & twos' in front. The dual carriageway was not sealed and other vehicles were being overtaken at those speeds.
Now one might wonder whether the speed rating of truck tyres covers speeds of 100 mph sustained on a dry road and whether it was, in fact, quite dangerous. Would you like to do 100 mph in a truck on standard truck tyres, or even be overtaken by one? It appeared very irresponsible really, unless there is going to be a truck tyre expert along to tell us what the max. sustained speed rating of a truck tyre is.
Are you sure this was 100mph and not 100kmh? I'd be surprised if a European spec truck would be able to do that speed due to the gearing. If I let mine overrun down a hill in top gear, the revs are already at 2500 at only 70mph. Trucks are generally out of puff by 3000 revs max when accelerating.To show how tacho records were being 'faked' they drove a large truck without a trailer at 100 mph with a police driver and a marked car on 'blues & twos' in front. The dual carriageway was not sealed and other vehicles were being overtaken at those speeds.
Now one might wonder whether the speed rating of truck tyres covers speeds of 100 mph sustained on a dry road and whether it was, in fact, quite dangerous. Would you like to do 100 mph in a truck on standard truck tyres, or even be overtaken by one? It appeared very irresponsible really, unless there is going to be a truck tyre expert along to tell us what the max. sustained speed rating of a truck tyre is.
All that jazz said:
Are you sure this was 100mph and not 100kmh? I'd be surprised if a European spec truck would be able to do that speed due to the gearing. If I let mine overrun down a hill in top gear, the revs are already at 2500 at only 70mph. Trucks are generally out of puff by 3000 revs max when accelerating.
100kph is 62mph. My 4.5l truck can do that with no effort, well it would if it wasn't limited. The truck used was a 16l Scania, even with gearing it can push 100mph with little effort. Most fleet trucks will be limited by gearing to 80-85mph but the big boys if unreigned can top 100.
I followed an unladen flatbed artic along the M4 and down the A34 at speeds approaching 90mph about five years ago. I called it in in to the police at the time because the driver was going hell for leather and it obviously wasn't safe because no-one expects a lorry to be doing those kind of speeds. I also suspected that the vehicle or trailer might be stolen.
rohrl said:
I followed an unladen flatbed artic along the M4 and down the A34 at speeds approaching 90mph about five years ago. I called it in in to the police at the time because the driver was going hell for leather and it obviously wasn't safe because no-one expects a lorry to be doing those kind of speeds.
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