Lorraine Dawson is a long-haul trucker from Washington state. Her trucker “handle” has for years been “Lead Foot Lorraine,” an obvious reference to the speed with which she hauled goods across the nation.

But now Lorraine's lead foot is feather light. The price of diesel fuel is forcing her and fellow truckers to slow down.

That's because driving a big rig at 65 mph, rather than 75, increases fuel mileage by more than a gallon a mile. That's pretty significant, considering the average large tractor-trailer has two 300-gallon fuel tanks, and gets about 10 mpg when fully loaded.

The main cause of the big-rig slowdown is that a year ago, diesel fuel was a bit over $2.50 a gallon. Late last week, the national average was just over $4 a gallon.

That would explain, at least partially, the rising prices at the grocery store and at other retail outlets that sell hauled-in products.

This is all bad news for consumers, of course, but there is collateral good news - the slowing of the nation's fleet of 3.5 million big rigs will almost surely save lives.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, big rigs traveling above the posted speed limit were responsible for 22 percent of the fatalities involving semis. If higher fuel costs cause those rigs to slow down, lives will be saved.

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March 28, 2008