I thank you for your recent answer to my post. Please forgive me if I remain skeptical about my fuel mpg increasing with increased miles on my truck. No matter how many miles are on my tractor the weight will still remain the same, heavier than my 2010. That weight forces me to run with my fifth wheel all the way back. These two factors are a deterrant to better mpg. I remain vigillant as to my shift points, I learned to drive that way, but I am a little discouraged.

@ Ernest - I'll try to get a new post on our website with the shift points and a graphical representation this week. An excellent point and something we need to do.

@Kenneth - On you DEF statement, I did check with our Maintenance department for clarification. The Deisel Exhaust Fluid is used AFTER MPG would be calculated. I do know that the 2011 tractors are newer and do get better MPG as they are driven more. DEF should not have any effect on your MPG numbers.

David could you post these shift point results so that those of us who were not at the meeting may benifit from them. I read a letter in our Fountain terminal but it did not state any specifics. Also I agree with Kenneth about those of us who sleep in our trucks and those who don't. Our idle % changes with the weather whereas those who are not using thier sleeper or drive day cabs are not as affected as those of us who do.If the fuel bonus is to be fair there needs to be more than one standard by which they are rated.

I would like to comment on the difference between trucks with the DEF as opposed to those without. I was switched from a 2010 to a 2011 with DEF. My driving style did not change and I was paying strict attention to shift points. I even slowed down and was risking overweight fines by running with my fith wheel all the way forward and I still could not get my average above 6.5 I gave up and slid the fith wheel all the way back and am running wide open again. Nothing seems to help with these DEF trucks. I am very disappointed in their performance this new truck has less guts than my 2010 did.

When it says on my fuel report that 55% have better idle times you are not comparing apples to apples. Many of our drivers do not have to sleep in their trucks. Their idle % should not be compared to those drivers who do. Even then some drivers only have to sleep 1 or 2 nights while others, as in my case, have too sleep 3 10hr breaks per week. This makes my idle % look bad compared to those who have less sleeper time.

@ James - Thank you for your input on attaining the FirstFleet fuel bonus. I’m sorry this I have been a bit slow to reply, but I was aware you were going to attend our Driver Trainer meeting here in Murfreesboro. I’m hoping that we addressed this to your satisfaction, but in the interest of information for others, let’s go back through some of what was presented.

Our Maintenance people and also the technical support manager for Cummins engines went over the NEW shifting points that need to be used when driving the 2010 and 2011 tractors. Our newer tractors were field tested by Cummins and our own internal maintenance personnel. After reviewing the information at hand, they surmised that a new shifting pattern was necessary to get the most MPG and Torque out of the engines. You related that you have been driving the same way for 10 years, but now you know that we have to change that to a different way. The new way will work and work well. I’m hoping that you will acquire the fuel bonus at our highest level, this will help us both. With fuel over four dollars a gallon, we all need to do what we can to increase our fuel efficiency. Please look for more about what was presented in another blog soon.

why can''t a driver post his company i.d. before a trip so they can tell who drives the truck. and figure the fuel mileage for the driver not the truck

Thats true Austin where you shift will make a difference.Also keep in mind that the sweet spot from which you shift is dependent on RPM's, the grade of incline or decline and weight you are carrying. James comment is very valid. Not only does a vehicle using DEF get lower mileage but failure to do the overhead on an engine at the proper interval also guarantees lower mileage.

@James - thanks for your comments. While I am not in a position to provide comment on your concerns, I can promise I will relay your concerns to the right folks who can. Thank you for reaching out to us. I will pass your thoughts along.

@Earnest - Thanks for the feedback. I agree that practicing good driving habits is perhaps the best thing you can do to help out. There are a few new things to factor in with the new trucks regarding different shifting points. If your unit is one of the new trucks you may check with your driver trainer or fleet manager to see if they can share the info on those new shift points. Have a great day sir.

i think the fuel bonus is not fair anyway because if you drive a truck with the DEF fuel you"ll never get it ! my best is 6.2 my other truck was 7.0 . i still drive the same over the last 10yrs well employed here. its a shame that drivers with 2-3 years make more per mile then a guy with 10.

I am a new driver with First Fleet and just want to take a minuet to toss my 2 cents into to the fray.
While I agree that being able to see and follow your fuel mileage week to week is nice. Looking at my own mileage from 2 different trucks and having not changed the way I drive. I saw a big difference .
I have found that most of our loads are not so tight that we have to run wide open all the time.
I think I am a pretty conservative driver. My mileage was very different from one truck to the other.
I know that driving from Kansas to Colorado fuel mileage is often the result of wind and weight..
While I agree its nice to see your fuel mileage in print I don't think there is much one can do beyond driving conservatively and doing the things we already do day to day
Making sure your load is well balanced. Keeping up with maintenance,. especially air pressure in the tires while doing your daily vehicle inspections, are not only required but are key to good mileage.

This is a great tool. Being able to view the bottom performing tractors gives us the opportunity to address possible maintenance issues with these units. In addition we view who the leaders are, and give them a well deserved pat on the back next time we see them

@Andrew - I had a few conversations with some folks today and we have changed the display on the leader board to better obscure the distance for a specific truck/driver by creating groupings. These groupings are designed to show how many miles the truck is running but in large enough groups so as not to cause a concern for privacy.

We think this change will address your concerns as well as allow the tool to have functional use as a leader board and encourage open dialog about driving habits and vehicle performance.

Thanks for reaching out to us, and drive safe.

@Andrew - Thanks for the comments. We of course take the privacy of our employees very seriously so I will pass your concerns along to the appropriate levels of the organization.

In this case I would like to add a bit of clarity that perhaps may give you some peace. In many instances more than one employee drives a truck in a 30 day period, and the miles for each driver are not broken out on the report - so there is some obscurity there. It is also true that often a driver will be in more than one vehicle for the 30 day period, which also makes the single driver view a bit harder.

Additionally, in a given fleet most drivers are aware of their fellow teammates that are working full and part-time and base wages are reasonably consistent across those groups.

Our goal with this initiative is to increase awareness among fellow drivers of fuel performance numbers in their local fleet through an honest display of the numbers we have extracted on the vehicles.

Thanks again for your comments - I will pass them along for consideration. I hope these thoughts perhaps have eased your concerns in some way.

i am not sure i like this option. It is nice that I can view my mileage, but I can also view everyone in my terminal and the mileage that they run. it oes not take a genius to figure out how much a person is making. I think there should be a certian amount of privacy here!!