appropriate expressway speed?

It's really interesting that some of you figure on a 50-mph average over the day while towing. That's exactly what I figure no matter what I'm driving - car, truck, motorcycle (but not any more), whatever. I might drive faster but I stop pretty often for breaks. The road gets long sometimes.

When traveling the interstates I set the cruise on 63 mph.
If there are 3 or more lanes I travel in the lane to the left of right lane.

If only 2 lanes I travel in the left lane unless there are signs posted.....stay to right except for passing....will move to right for traffic gaining on me.

Mostly travel secondary/back roads at 55 mph or less.

5'vr tires are rated for 75 mph but not in that big of a hurry......only travel 250 MAX (usually less) on travel day. Besides I hate having to bring 22,000# to a screeching halt. :S

As posted before, I see many people pass us multiple times in the same day due extra stops. I typically run around 60 mph and average 50 mph with stops by the end of the day. A long day for us will be 10 hours on the road with stops netting us 500 miles of distance. More than that becomes a job and we should never forget we are on vacation. We completed another 4500 mile 17-day trip this summer and stopped at a point of interest for 2-3 nights every 1000 miles. Earlier in the year we did a 2500 mile in 11 days following the same break and driving schedule.

I pretty much run 62-65 on the expressway. On fairly level ground I can get her into 6th at 63 and then I set the cruise and she`ll hold the speed without downshifting. In hills I limit the tranny to 5th and set the cruise and just enjoy the ride.

55-65. Depends on a few factors but I get 10.5-11mpg at 55-60 and 9.5-10 mpg at 60-65. 60 is comfy.

I basically will set the cruise control at the speed limit whatever it might be. But when the speed limit is 75 or 80 I'll stick with 70 as the mileage just takes a huge hit. At 22K pounds loaded up just could not keep the truck at 80 on the hills in Utah without burning a lot of extra fuel.

Just did this all the way from Western Oregon to southern Utah with the camper and enclosed trailer.

ORS 811.315 doesn't state the left lane is for passing. It states that it is generally illegal in Oregon to drive in the left lane at less than the normal speed of traffic.

Lawyers make their money arguing about what is the "normal" speed of traffic. Is it the posted speed limit, 5 MPH above the limit, the speed at which no more than 15% of drivers actually drive?

As for me, I hang out in the right lane at the posted speed limit when towing on freeways. On some of the winding mountain passes, I may go slow with the trucks when there is heavy traffic just to avoid making numerous passes .

Lowsuv wrote:
Left Lane Loafers cause accidents .
Just because they are not in an accident does not mean that their behavior did not jeopardise somebody else .
It is the law in Oregon and many other states that the right lane is for passing .
It is not enforced very well .

I think you meant, "it is the law in Oregon and many other states that the LEFT lane is for passing"...RIGHT lane for slower traffic.

60-65 here as well... (Usually)

I usually run speed limits except on some parts of the interstate. Normally where I tow, max speed limit is 70...I'll run 60-65 max, so only 5 mph below...get my very best mpg between 55-62 mph...60-65 net's me pretty good mpg and I only get into the left lane when someone has slowed to where I need to pass them to maintain a set speed...Where I normally tow, in the mountains, it's rare one can set cruise control unless you just don't mind the down shifting.

Those that state they tow at speeds of 75 mph plus need to make sure that their tires are rated for the higher speed. I was on I77 recently heading from VA into WV (not towing), and got passed by someone towing a 30 plus foot TT at somewhere north of 75 or so, (I was in cruise at 73 mph), they caught up, passed me and left me, until about 10 miles down the road, they were setting on the shoulder of the road with a shredded tire.....Some of these tires ARE speed rating for a reason..I would pay attention to if my trailer tire is or isn't speed rated, all the hurrying in the world won't make up for changing a flat on the side of the road.