Trucking

April 1, 2008 9:24 PM

I need some basic information about over the road trucking

Anyone know answers to the following? I'm writing an article about trucking and thought this info would be much easier to find than it is. This article is about "big rigs."

How much fuel do trucks use?

Their mileage full versus empty? (around 6 full?)

How big are gas tanks? (300 gallons?)

how does this affect cost of goods?


Ugh, I left the research for this small sidebar about costs til the last minute. Still researching any help appreciated.

posted by jenfu to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

There are several recent news articles about truckers and gas prices that might answer your questions. My father in law drives a "big rig" doing in-state runs, but he's asleep right now so I can't call him.
posted by amyms at 9:32 PM on April 1, 2008

Here's the Wikipedia article on semi trailer trucks that gives some specifications.
posted by amyms at 9:36 PM on April 1, 2008

How much fuel do trucks use?
Depends on the cargo, type of truck, reefer (refrigerator) trucks use more fuel per gallon. Terrain can have a huge impact on mpg, uphill or downhill?

Their mileage full versus empty? (around 6 full?)
See above.

How big are gas tanks? (300 gallons?)
Usually have several tanks, various sizes, remember fuel adds weight.

how does this affect cost of goods?
Higher the fuel cost, more it cost to move cargo around.
posted by JujuB at 9:42 PM on April 1, 2008

A more involved way to get stats: John McPhee wrote a couple of very detailed articles for the New Yorker a few years ago about time he spent driving around with a long-haul trucker. The articles should be available if you have Lexis-Nexus. They're also reprinted in his book Uncommon Carriers, which the local library should have a copy of. I seem to recall the article had statistics like the ones you're interested in.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:03 PM on April 1, 2008

here's the McPhee trucking article

Obviously this describes only one specific truck, but it jibes with your guesses about tank size and gas mileage. A few bits that might be useful --

His twin saddle tanks, one on either side of the tractor, could hold three hundred gallons, and "a full belly of fuel," at seven pounds a gallon, would weigh twenty-one hundred pounds.

If the load is close to the weight limit for the truck, the trucker would not fill the fuel tanks completely. The article describes how fuel prices vary from region to region depending on whether various taxes are included etc. He also discusses typical pay for a trucker, insurance costs, etc.

That truck carried up to 80,000 lbs, and is described as getting about 6 miles to the gallon.

An owner-operator [as opposed to someone who drives a truck owned by a company] may gross a hundred thousand [dollars a year], but roughly half is overhead: payments on the tractor, road taxes, insurance, maintenance, and about seventeen thousand dollars' worth of fuel.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:58 PM on April 1, 2008

Thanks to everyone for you help on this!
posted by jenfu at 7:57 AM on April 3, 2008

"your" help, I mean.
posted by jenfu at 7:57 AM on April 3, 2008