How do you optimize drafting to reduce fuel consumption?
To the pinhead who said cars can stop faster than trucks: Modern tractor trailers have highly efficient braking systems that enable them to stop quickly and safely from high rates of speed. Kenworths with air disc brakes can stop in 220 feet, not much longer than most cars. If you’re traveling behind a truck at 70 mph and you’re close enough to get a benefit from drafting, you’re less than 100 feet away from that truck. At 70 mph, you cover 100 feet in .97 seconds. That means you have basically one second to realize that truck has hit the brakes, decide what to do and do it. Keep in mind that truck driver can see what’s going on in front of him and you can’t, since you’re so close to the truck. Also, the truck’s been shaving speed the whole time you’ve been checking out your nose hairs in the rear view mirror. Me, I’ll keep my 4 second gap as much as possible and consider the money on gas well spent.
