american trucking

Going on holiday? Just returned with pictures or news? Found an interesting website? Post everything international in here.

Moderator: Site Management Team

Post Reply
User avatar
Gav
Member
Posts: 1968
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2005 17:44

american trucking

Post by Gav »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ45iaQgJjk

quite a good film this, with some good American road scenes
fras
Member
Posts: 3590
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2012 18:34

Re: american trucking

Post by fras »

In the US, as I understand it, all trucks regardless of size can go as fast as cars within the prevailing speed limit, there are no separate speed limits for vans and HGVs. Maybe I'm wrong, if so, can somebody enlighten me.

Edit
Above is not correct, it is down to local authorities apparently. see here: -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_lim ... risdiction
User avatar
Ruperts Trooper
Member
Posts: 12031
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2012 13:43
Location: Huntingdonshire originally, but now Staffordshire

Re: american trucking

Post by Ruperts Trooper »

fras wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 09:19 In the US, as I understand it, all trucks regardless of size can go as fast as cars within the prevailing speed limit, there are no separate speed limits for vans and HGVs. Maybe I'm wrong, if so, can somebody enlighten me.

Edit
Above is not correct, it is down to local authorities apparently. see here: -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_lim ... risdiction
There's generally no limit reduction for trailers either.
Lifelong motorhead
User avatar
KeithW
Member
Posts: 19201
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2014 13:25
Location: Marton-In-Cleveland North Yorks

Re: american trucking

Post by KeithW »

fras wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 09:19 In the US, as I understand it, all trucks regardless of size can go as fast as cars within the prevailing speed limit, there are no separate speed limits for vans and HGVs. Maybe I'm wrong, if so, can somebody enlighten me.

Edit
Above is not correct, it is down to local authorities apparently. see here: -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_lim ... risdiction
Across the USA traffic restrictions even on Interstates are set at State Level and may be varied within cities.

For Ohio the maximum speed limit for cars on both divided and non divided highways is 70 mph in rural areas and 65 mph on Urban Interstates but lower limits have been applied for safety reasons within some urban areas. In Dayton, Cincinnati and Columbus, the Interstate speed limit is 55 miles per hour through the central district.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@39.97197 ... 8192?hl=en

There would often be cop on the overpass with a speed gun.
User avatar
Truvelo
Member
Posts: 17467
Joined: Wed May 29, 2002 21:10
Location: Staffordshire
Contact:

Re: american trucking

Post by Truvelo »

Virtually all speed limits are the same for any type of vehicle. Where lorries are subject to a lower limit there will be an additional sign beside the main speed limit like this https://goo.gl/maps/URm1ybRhPX8njSAX8

This is one point where the Americans are way ahead of us regarding speed limits. This sign I linked to makes it clear that vehicles over 13 tons are subject to the lower limit. Anything under that weight can do 70.

The UK still has an archaic system of several staggered speed limits depending on the weight and type of vehicle and whether it is classified as private, commercial or a motorhome. Such a system dates from when vehicles had drum brakes where it was impossible to stop on a dime. We really need to simplify our complicated and rarely understood system into just two bands like the Americans where anything under 3.5 tonnes can do car speed limits and anything over that has an NSL of 10mph less.
How would you like your grade separations, Sir?
Big and complex.
User avatar
rhyds
Member
Posts: 13720
Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 15:51
Location: Beautiful North Wales

Re: american trucking

Post by rhyds »

The UK system is also ridiculous when it comes to vans vs. car derived vans and speed limits.

If you've got a small van like a Citroen Berlino then you've got to stick to van speed limits (50 NSL on S2s and the like), however a mechanically identical Citroen Berlingo Multispace is considered a car, and can do 60, even if you stick the same payload in both. Its even more ridiculous that a Vauxhall Combo van is treated as if it was a fully loaded LWB Sprinter while a Corsa Van isn't.
Built for comfort, not speed.
User avatar
KeithW
Member
Posts: 19201
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2014 13:25
Location: Marton-In-Cleveland North Yorks

Re: american trucking

Post by KeithW »

Truvelo wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 18:32 Virtually all speed limits are the same for any type of vehicle. Where lorries are subject to a lower limit there will be an additional sign beside the main speed limit like this https://goo.gl/maps/URm1ybRhPX8njSAX8

This is one point where the Americans are way ahead of us regarding speed limits. This sign I linked to makes it clear that vehicles over 13 tons are subject to the lower limit. Anything under that weight can do 70.

The UK still has an archaic system of several staggered speed limits depending on the weight and type of vehicle and whether it is classified as private, commercial or a motorhome. Such a system dates from when vehicles had drum brakes where it was impossible to stop on a dime. We really need to simplify our complicated and rarely understood system into just two bands like the Americans where anything under 3.5 tonnes can do car speed limits and anything over that has an NSL of 10mph less.

As I said you cannot make that a blanket statement as each state differs. In California trucks are limited to 55 mph but the speed limit sign is shown as 65.
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/ ... ns/162680/

See this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_lim ... ted_States

Its very easy to get a ticket on a freeway that crosses a state line and if you get an unsympathetic State Trooper and you are from out of state he may haul you in to the nearest police station to pay your fine. I-70 runs through a lot of states between Utah and Maryland and my old boss had just that happen to him crossing from Ohio into West Virginia.
User avatar
Truvelo
Member
Posts: 17467
Joined: Wed May 29, 2002 21:10
Location: Staffordshire
Contact:

Re: american trucking

Post by Truvelo »

KeithW wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 20:48 As I said you cannot make that a blanket statement as each state differs. In California trucks are limited to 55 mph but the speed limit sign is shown as 65.
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/ ... ns/162680/
That's why I said virtually and not all. I've only driven in California a couple of times and that was on S2 type roads. On freeways I have only been in cars as a passenger. Indiana is the only state I regularly drive through which has a lower posted limit for trucks. The wikipedia article you linked to shows the majority have the same limit for all vehicles.

I have also seen lower limits for trucks on roads where there is a steep grade to prevent runaways. These tend to be in mountainous areas.
How would you like your grade separations, Sir?
Big and complex.
User avatar
Bryn666
Elected Committee Member
Posts: 35754
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2002 20:54
Contact:

Re: american trucking

Post by Bryn666 »

Truvelo wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 21:05
KeithW wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 20:48 As I said you cannot make that a blanket statement as each state differs. In California trucks are limited to 55 mph but the speed limit sign is shown as 65.
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/ ... ns/162680/
That's why I said virtually and not all. I've only driven in California a couple of times and that was on S2 type roads. On freeways I have only been in cars as a passenger. Indiana is the only state I regularly drive through which has a lower posted limit for trucks. The wikipedia article you linked to shows the majority have the same limit for all vehicles.

I have also seen lower limits for trucks on roads where there is a steep grade to prevent runaways. These tend to be in mountainous areas.
Lower HGV speed limits are routine in mainland Europe too. I'd say we should do it here but generally we avoid long steep gradients by virtue of not having massive mountain ranges (and where roads go near mountains they tend to stay low down).

It is very surprising that given Interstate standards are set a federal level no one has ever mandated a universal speed limit for them other than the fuel saving 55 in 1973. Obviously curvature and vertical design are set at the state level, but provided the road has the relevant cross-section it gets the I shield.
Bryn
Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already.
She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.

Blog - https://showmeasign.online/
X - https://twitter.com/ShowMeASignBryn
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@BrynBuck
User avatar
c2R
SABRE Wiki admin
Posts: 11162
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2002 11:01

Re: american trucking

Post by c2R »

Bryn666 wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 22:33 It is very surprising that given Interstate standards are set a federal level no one has ever mandated a universal speed limit for them other than the fuel saving 55 in 1973. Obviously curvature and vertical design are set at the state level, but provided the road has the relevant cross-section it gets the I shield.
I'm not sure I agree that it would be useful to have a federal speed limit. Driving the high traffic interstates such as those between New York and Boston, or those around San Francisco is a very different experience from the empty interstates across the Great Salt Lake, or those travelling through Wyoming, Oklahoma, Arkansas, etc.

Similarly in Europe there are different standards and different vehicles; so driving from Malmo to Stockholm is different from the M25 around Heathrow...
Is there a road improvement project going on near you? Help us to document it on the SABRE Wiki - help is available in the Digest forum.
Have you browsed SABRE Maps recently? Get involved! - see our guide to scanning and stitching maps
User avatar
Bryn666
Elected Committee Member
Posts: 35754
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2002 20:54
Contact:

Re: american trucking

Post by Bryn666 »

c2R wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2020 12:46
Bryn666 wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 22:33 It is very surprising that given Interstate standards are set a federal level no one has ever mandated a universal speed limit for them other than the fuel saving 55 in 1973. Obviously curvature and vertical design are set at the state level, but provided the road has the relevant cross-section it gets the I shield.
I'm not sure I agree that it would be useful to have a federal speed limit. Driving the high traffic interstates such as those between New York and Boston, or those around San Francisco is a very different experience from the empty interstates across the Great Salt Lake, or those travelling through Wyoming, Oklahoma, Arkansas, etc.

Similarly in Europe there are different standards and different vehicles; so driving from Malmo to Stockholm is different from the M25 around Heathrow...
Yeeees, but the problem is that lack of federal mandate means that you have lengthy rural freeways that are 85 mph in Texas and 65 mph in New York, despite being built to the same horizontal and vertical specification. These are federally funded roads so it is surprising that not all aspects are federally mandated - although interestingly when the 55 came in, federal funding could be withdrawn if the limit wasn't in place, as Nebraska tried and found out...
Bryn
Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already.
She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.

Blog - https://showmeasign.online/
X - https://twitter.com/ShowMeASignBryn
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@BrynBuck
User avatar
c2R
SABRE Wiki admin
Posts: 11162
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2002 11:01

Re: american trucking

Post by c2R »

Bryn666 wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2020 14:49
Yeeees, but the problem is that lack of federal mandate means that you have lengthy rural freeways that are 85 mph in Texas and 65 mph in New York, despite being built to the same horizontal and vertical specification. These are federally funded roads so it is surprising that not all aspects are federally mandated - although interestingly when the 55 came in, federal funding could be withdrawn if the limit wasn't in place, as Nebraska tried and found out...
Don't get me wrong, I do agree with the theory that roads of the same specification should be subject to the same speed limits - but the issue being I suppose that high traffic volumes need lower speed for safety reasons - therefore, high traffic roads like the New York State Thruway should have lower daytime and peak hour limits than the I-40 Arkansas - which is where setting speed limits using VSL on such roads could come in in the same way that we do around Heathrow, I guess.
Is there a road improvement project going on near you? Help us to document it on the SABRE Wiki - help is available in the Digest forum.
Have you browsed SABRE Maps recently? Get involved! - see our guide to scanning and stitching maps
User avatar
exiled
President
Posts: 24633
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 17:36
Location: South Lanarkshire

Re: american trucking

Post by exiled »

The US federal system, like in Canada or Australia gives the powers not given to the federal government to the states, hence the road rules, all of them, are reserved to the States. The power of the purse is a big one, but Albany, Annapolis, Boston, Lansing, are not going to yield any control they have except due to financial pressure.
User avatar
KeithW
Member
Posts: 19201
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2014 13:25
Location: Marton-In-Cleveland North Yorks

Re: american trucking

Post by KeithW »

Bryn666 wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2020 14:49 Yeeees, but the problem is that lack of federal mandate means that you have lengthy rural freeways that are 85 mph in Texas and 65 mph in New York, despite being built to the same horizontal and vertical specification. These are federally funded roads so it is surprising that not all aspects are federally mandated - although interestingly when the 55 came in, federal funding could be withdrawn if the limit wasn't in place, as Nebraska tried and found out...
Never forget the US fought a civil war over State's rights, they take it VERY seriously when the federal government treads on their toes. The Federal speed limit was extremely unpopular and many states, especially in the west and midwest simply didnt enforce it. A survey in New York State showed that almost 85% of vehicles were exceeding it with relatively low levels of enforcement, Traffic cops and drivers alike disliked it. In Arizona, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada they issued different tickets for exceeding the federal speed limit. Typically the ticket was for $10 and described as an energy wasting fine and took great pleasure in telling drivers to blame congress not them. It carried no speeding demerits.

As has already been said there can be a world of difference between driving an Interstate in different states. Let me give you 3 visual examples

I-95 (New Jersey Turnpike) very busy, basically a 1930's highway that was grandfathered into the Interstate System with weaving traffic and some aggressive driving.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@40.04723 ... 384!8i8192

I-70 in the midwest. Laid back driving on a road that has with large gaps between major intersections with most traffic just cruising along on a road with a sight line that reaches to the horizon. Biggest problem is avoiding nodding off.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@39.38876 ... 312!8i6656

I-90 through the Rockies - relatively low traffic but steep curves and gradients with lots of slow moving trucks and large RV's and views that sometimes people do die for. This is no place to be distracted.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@45.92000 ... 384!8i8192

As for Texas I recall a long days drive with the only distraction being a stop where there was a museum of barbed wire on what had been Route 66
Post Reply