Wiggle behind car carrier
On this trip, we got some minor wiggle when we were behind 2 different car carriers on 95S in Georgia. I’ve never felt this before. Didn’t see it in the mirrors. 65 mph or less. Felt it in my butt. J...
Forum Discussion
Jim@HiTek wrote:
In my Class A, back when I needed to save fuel, I'd draft behind big semi's. And to find the sweet spot, I'd approach them from behind and when I felt the substantial wiggle, I'd move up another 12 feet or so. This is the suction zone and I can see my RPMs dropping while I maintain the same speed. I'm drafting in the semi's slip stream just inside the vortex tail. Saves fuel for me, but costs the semi driver's company. So I don't do it very often any more.
So, yeah, I'd expect there to be a disturbance behind a car carrier. But I've tried to draft behind them but the slip stream is too chaotic for that. The best vehicles to draft behind are double semis.
Close enough to draft is likely too close to be seen in the truck mirrors. Also too close to stop if the truck brakes hard. Might even get you a ticket from the local constable.
Bad idea all around.
