Grey Nomads - things I've learnt in the last few days.

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pulled up behind a truck (one of the big players) yesterday and there was a sign on the back of the truck saying it was speed limited to 95km/hr.....soooo i guess the trucking company's are setting the max. speed on hi-ways

for those that say you can be booked, i doubt trucking companies will be booked and they are advertising they will not be doing the speed limit

I wasn't going to reply to this as it seems to have gone the way of many posts and become written combat.
I drove up to Brisbane 3 weeks ago and back down to Avoca on the day of the above accident and saw the aftermath, but not the Cruiser which must have been moved.
This is not about that one.
Going North on the Pacific Highway I followed an 80-100 driver in a red Mazda? van towing an old Coleman camper. for about 50 Km around Broadwater this person oblivious to traffic following did 80 on the single lanes and 100 on the divided highways and overtaking lanes.

After a while I ended up one behind him, with a Falcon behind me , then 2 semis, then about 20 cars including about 4 more semis. Previous to that there were 2 semis behind him in front of me. The trouble was that they semis could not exceed 100 to pass on the double highway and not accelerate quickly enough to get past. As a result very few ever got past on the double highways and nearly all the single lane areas were double lines..
I had to give the TD5 with camper everything at the start of a divided road as I had a Kenworth right up my clacker trying to get past by out accelerating the van.
So My take on it all is that going slower than the limit is OK as long as you are aware and mindful of the traffic behind and pull over,as not everyone shares your relaxed attitude, and despite all the "chill Pill" comments the reality is that ignoring the reality that most traffic travels at or near the limit on very heavily congested roads is frustrating for other drivers and ultimately dangerous . Also slower driver should be aware that trucks are driving for their living and being delayed costs them money.

I found that travelling at about 105 Kmh real GPS was the best in 110 Kmh zones as this kept the trucks off your back, even though I would have preferred to go slower with my camper trailer to get an accurate fix on my economy at 100Kmh.

To put it in perspective however , BY FAR the worst delay we had was between Woolgoolga and Coffs Harbour. It took about 45 minutes with the line up starting North of Woolgoolga. Frequent stops and the remainder crawling at 10Kmh . even when they finish the fantastic road it will still be a disaster unless they change the roundabout in Woolgoolga and ultimately put a bypass around Coffs.

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Originally Posted by weeds

pulled up behind a truck (one of the big players) yesterday and there was a sign on the back of the truck saying it was speed limited to 95km/hr.....soooo i guess the trucking company's are setting the max. speed on hi-ways

for those that say you can be booked, i doubt trucking companies will be booked and they are advertising they will not be doing the speed limit

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Yep, speed limiting trucks to 95 is becoming popular now, particulaly with fuel transport. I have even seen limiters set to 90 on some heavy haulage trucks now.

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Originally Posted by bacicat

Yep, speed limiting trucks to 95 is becoming popular now, particulaly with fuel transport. I have even seen limiters set to 90 on some heavy haulage trucks now.

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yes it was a fuel truck.....just single trailer from memory

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Originally Posted by weeds

yes it was a fuel truck.....just single trailer from memory

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i wonder if that is a fuel saving scheme more so than safety, imagine 1-2ltr/100km would add up to big dollars for a large fleet.

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Originally Posted by bacicat

Yep, speed limiting trucks to 95 is becoming popular now, particulaly with fuel transport. I have even seen limiters set to 90 on some heavy haulage trucks now.

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Does not seem to be the case in WA , trucks seem to catch and O/T at 110kmh . :confused:

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Originally Posted by Yorkie

i wonder if that is a fuel saving scheme more so than safety, imagine 1-2ltr/100km would add up to big dollars for a large fleet.

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No, the requests have been made on OH&S grounds. Stopping distances are much shorter even at 95. You also lessen the amount of times a truck ends up tailgating a car, as most cars doing 100 on the speedo are only doing 95 or so. A truck doing 100 on its speedo is doing 100. I know of at least one heavy haulage company that gets on the phone to their drivers the second they exceed the 90 that the truck is limited to - this happens when going down hills, and tells them to slow the **** down...

But, you could be right. Seen a lot of other things disguised behind OH&S stuff. :).

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Originally Posted by Fatso

Does not seem to be the case in WA , trucks seem to catch and O/T at 110kmh . :confused:

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Is your speedo accurate or are you being rounded up by rogues that have wires on their vehicles?

The 95 thing isn't mandatory, it's just starting to become more popular.

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Originally Posted by bacicat

Is your speedo accurate or are you being rounded up by rogues that have wires on their vehicles?

The 95 thing isn't mandatory, it's just starting to become more popular.

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The 95 is not mandatory, but the 100 certainly is for designated vehicles eg heavy vehicles and any vehicle pulling a trailer from memory, but I concur, I am often passed by heavy trucks with a swish in a blink whilst I am doing 100 (confirmed by nanocom, gps and LR speedo)