mjb wrote:DaiRees wrote:Oh and MJB's favorite trick is slipstreaming, but I've tried this and I'm just not that comfortable being so close behind another vehicle
A truck's length is sufficient for a noticeable gain in economy and it'll help you engage 'mental cruise control' whereby you'll end up holding a rock steady speed. Drop back a bit when another truck is overtaking to give yourself extra breathing space in case of emergency
There's another slight problem with being "a trucks length" behind a truck, particularly on a two lane dual/motorway, which you probably haven't considered..
Despite what some seem to think,
most of us truck drivers do our best to drive with consideration, given the constraints we're working under. We therefore try to minimise the time taken to overtake. I would prefer to overtake you in your car, pull in to allow the queue past, then pass the truck you are slipstreaming. If you're about a trucks length behind when I start the overtake, I would expect to have to pass both of you in one maneouver because one trucks length isn't enough for me to pull in, without cutting you up. Therefore
I would be right up your backside, while I wait for an appropriate gap to pull out into. The shorter the distance I have to cover, the less time I'll be blocking a lane and you're already making it over two truck lengths long
Being this close tends to make car drivers nervous. You often seem to assume we're trying to bully you, we aren't, honestly. We are keeping an eye on you in case you decide to do something, in our view, stupid (brake tests anyone?). Mainly though, we're watching for stuff much further in front, that you will see and react to long after we've seen and already reacted to it, and watching our mirrors for the gap we want, to make the overtake. We'd rather not have to pass you in the first place, we'd much prefer you to put your foot down a bit further and travel a bit faster than us, 70 ish for preference. If your happy at 56 ish that's fine by us, you're simply yet another hazard we have to watch out for.
There
are truck drivers who will be trying to bully you, but honestly these are a minority. It's the usual story. One idiot spoiling it for everyone else. Consider how many trucks you'll really see in a day. You only really remember the ones which catch your attention. Most of those will be the ones which do something, in your view, stupid.
). Further to this, when you're descending a hill take your foot right off the throttle and allow the car to overrun in gear, if you had a computer it'd pretty soon be showing an instant mpg of infinity. 
