I Can't Drive 55

I know gas is expensive, and everyone is doing what they can to conserve gas. I always turn my car off at the bank or ATM drive-thru. I have yet to start doing that at red lights though. Every article I read says to slow down to save gas, that 55 m.p.h. is the "magic number" to fuel efficiency, and it hardly shaves any time off your trip. Sadly, I'm not patient enough for this, and I still drive around 75m.p.h. on the highway.

I know Schneider Transportation (the orange semi trucks) has imposed a speed limit in their drivers. I don't know if it's a strict 65, or if they lowered it to 60. Apparently, a number of automobile drivers have also imposed a speed limit in an effort to save gas. I drive a lot for work. I am used to seeing people driving at, or just below, the speed limit. In the last month or so, I have noticed a lot more slow drivers. I don't mean people driving 63mph, but more like 54-57mph. I have had to quickly change lanes to avoid an unfortunate rear-end collision.

A couple weeks ago, coming back from a sales call in Green Bay, I was stuck behind a truck in the left lane going 64mph, to pass another truck doing 63mph. Neither was a Schneider truck. My guess is, they have a speed limit imposed by their employer and/or dispatcher. They also have satellite or electronic monitoring of their location, speed, etc. If they go above their limit, they could be reprimanded or otherwise penalized. Why did this truck feel the need to pass the other one? And if he wanted to pass, couldn't he have sped up, just a little, to achieve this? I want to say I was stuck behind this truck, in the left (i.e. passing) lane for 15 minutes! At times, he was inching past the "slower" truck, but often, they were at the same speed. Sometimes the passer was going even slower than the passee.

Finally, the truck on the left moved far enough past the other that he was able to move back to his spot on the right, and I could pass. I suppose, I should be thankful that I saved some gas for those 15 miles or so, but I wasn't. I gave him the one-finger salute as I passed. Just as I don't care to have another's morality pushed on me, I don't like having someone else's frugality forced on me. Someday, perhaps, I'll slow down. but for now, I have places to go, and time limits for getting there.