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[Joe Sawaya]

I'm helping a friend move across the continent in a few weeks and it looks like we're going to need a 26' rental truck.

For the last ten years or so I've annually rented a commercial Ryder that will go about 64 mph top speed. That's fine for local travel. But driving 64 cross country seems like a looooooong time on the road.

Does anyone have any experience with any of the major rental places offering top speeds higher than 64 mph? Seems like I've been passed by some rental trucks going 70 mph or better.

Thanks,

Joe

[Jason Tubbs]

Every Hertz/Penske truck I have rented had its speed governor set at 68mph.  Not a great improvement, but if you only stop for fuel and coffee you'll get there pretty quickly...

...don't do that, of course.

jt

[Silas Pradetto]

Rent from a non-national truck rental place. I'm renting from the local International dealer, and I can't wait to be rocking this weekend in my DT466 6-speed  

The trucks are also unbranded, so they give a better impression if you're doing gigs.

Oh, and the last Budget truck I rented was a GMC 6500 POS. Yes, POS should be part of the model number on that thing. It was governed at 65, but I never even got going that fast. Even empty, foot to the floor it wouldn't make it to 65 on the highway except on a downhill. I might have hit 66 once on like a 30% downhill grade  

And this is a truck like only a couple years old...guess the name of the company says something?

[Tom Manchester]

I think in our many misadventures renting Penske trucks, we've learned it's largely dependent on the weight of the load, and the brand of truck. We had a real dog of an International (I think) brand truck that could barely move under it's own weight even when empty. We no-sh*t had to ride in the left lane with our blinkers on for about 5 miles just to get up to the speed of the rest of the traffic. If you know how to drive stick and can get a manual transmission truck, those do a little better than the automatics.

On the other hand, every one of the 16' GMC W4's I've driven have been little speed demons.

YMPHMV

[Bennett Prescott]

Joe,

Try Ryder, and ask them where the governor is set. They'll tell you.

[gordon mcgregor]

Ha think yourselves lucky anything over 7.5 tonnes here in Europe is limited to 56mph although the distances are smaller it's still annoying to be passed by everything except another truck, then when you get to a hill the truck with the best power to weight ratio is the fastest then after the hill it's convoy time again, that's why big powerful engines (450-500hp on 38 tonners) are so common even on relatively small trucks. G

[Tim McCulloch]

Ryder, Penkse, U Haul don't do that.

You'll have to rent from a commercial rental/leasing company (Rollins is one).  Their trucks will do 70 or 75.  You'll also have to return the truck to the dispatching location (no one-way rentals).

[Jamin Lynch]

Do you really need to go that fast with a loaded 26ft truck?

Let me know when you leave so I can stay off the roads that day.  

[Adam Whetham]

Jamin Lynch wrote on Wed, 18 August 2010 13:05

Do you really need to go that fast with a loaded 26ft truck? Let me know when you leave so I can stay off the roads that day.

65 would be killer for me also... I'd want to be going at least 70.

Then again this is what the local interstates look like... Its normally never packed like I was in on the east coast (I don't miss that)

[Eric Hendricks]

Let's see.  If we assume 3000 miles at 64mph, that's 46.875 hours.   3000 miles at 70mph is 42.857 hours, a difference of 4 hours.  Of course, you won't be able to average those speeds anyway, considering mountain traffic, towns, gas stops, etc., but the time difference isn't that great considering the distance.

As a former OTR truck driver, I can tell you that the top speed of the truck is not what shortens the time.  Staying in the seat shortens your time on the road.  When you stop for the night, you actually sleep instead of staying up ratchet jawing all night in the truck stop, then waking up later in the morning and having to hammer on it to make up for lost time.  And of course if your well rested, your performance on the road is much better and everyone is safer.