Daily distance and average speed cross country?

[2ACDogs]

We're in the planning stages of a September trip from Arizona to Maryland to western Pennsylvania then back to Arizona. 2400 miles to our destination in Md and 2100 miles from Pa back home to Az.. We've done some big mile days with previous travel trailers and did 3 -700 mile days with a Penske truck moving to Az in 2005 (never again) but have never done back to back 5 or 6 long days with a TT. I'm interested in what people get for average speed for 400 to 500 miles/day driving. We both drive and will have 2 dogs along on this trip that travel pretty well. We have a pretty efficient traveling routine but I just never kept track of miles/hours on 1 day runs. 6 - 400 mile days or 5 - 500 mile days. I'm thinking if we could average 50mph start to stop we'd be lucky.

Thanks

[MoonShadow_1911]

We're in the planning stages of a September trip from Arizona to Maryland to western Pennsylvania then back to Arizona. 2400 miles to our destination in Md and 2100 miles from Pa back home to Az.. We've done some big mile days with previous travel trailers and did 3 -700 mile days with a Penske truck moving to Az in 2005 (never again) but have never done back to back 5 or 6 long days with a TT. I'm interested in what people get for average speed for 400 to 500 miles/day driving. We both drive and will have 2 dogs along on this trip that travel pretty well. We have a pretty efficient traveling routine but I just never kept track of miles/hours on 1 day runs. 6 - 400 mile days or 5 - 500 mile days. I'm thinking if we could average 50mph start to stop we'd be lucky.

Thanks

We plan no more than 400 miles, at an average speed of 65 on the freeway. Thank makes 6 hour days. I would recommend putting a non-drive day in the middle just to rest and recoup; but that's just me being lazy!

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[FreddieMac]

We plan no more than 400 miles, at an average speed of 65 on the freeway. Thank makes 6 hour days. I would recommend putting a non-drive day in the middle just to rest and recoup; but that's just me being lazy!

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This is the same for us.

[2ACDogs]

Thanks. 400 miles divided by 65 mph is 6.15 hours, agreed, but what is your total trip time from the time you leave your spot in the morning until you pull into your spot in the afternoon? Are you able to drive 400 miles straight through? If you spend 1 hour off the road for BR breaks, lunch, fuel, etc. your trip average drops to 53 mph.

Rest days aren't in the cards with limited time available. Next year when we're both retired that will change.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

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Rest days aren't in the cards with limited time available. Next year when we're both retired that will change.

If it were me I'd punch in a couple 12 to 14 hour days in the beginning when you're fresh. Especially with two drivers. I'd be up at 5am and drive until supper time, or if I still felt alert, go a couple more.
Just try to avoid larger cities between 0800 and 0900, and between 1600 and 1800. And if I couldn't find a campsite, then truck stop or walmart it is, cuz from the sound of it, you need to cover some miles in a short time.

[2ACDogs]

I just came across this in another thread about trip planning:

"If this is your first big trip, I would definitely would use a tool like Trip Wizard to plan the trip. As a member of our forum you are already a member of Trip Wizard."

Can someone explain what this means?

[Second Chance]

I just came across this in another thread about trip planning:

"If this is your first big trip, I would definitely would use a tool like Trip Wizard to plan the trip. As a member of our forum you are already a member of Trip Wizard."

Can someone explain what this means?

RV Trip Wizard is an on-line app to plan RV trips and campground stays. It was offered to members for a while with paid forum membership, but I'm not sure if that's still in effect. Perhaps @Janet H could clarify for us.

I don't know if my input on travel distances would be helpful to you in your situation. We're retired and travel like old people - no more than 200 miles or 4 hours per day if we can help it (places like west Texas are an exception). We wait until everyone is at work or school to get on the roads and we're off the roads before folks get back on them in the afternoon. We like to alternate one and two-night stops so we'll have a day of rest every few days. Our first year of full-timing, we were forced into a 300+ mile day with a late start due to icing in the morning. We were beat when we pulled in and swore, "Never again!" We're pulling 220 miles this Sunday from Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, to Richmond, VA... around Baltimore and DC on I-95 - yuck! It's a "have to" trip to move my 90 year old mother-in-law to assisted living.

Rob

[traveldawg]

RV Trip Wizard is an on-line app to plan RV trips and campground stays. It was offered to members for a while with paid forum membership, but I'm not sure if that's still in effect. Perhaps @Janet H could clarify for us.

I don't know if my input on travel distances would be helpful to you in your situation. We're retired and travel like old people - no more than 200 miles or 4 hours per day if we can help it (places like west Texas are an exception). We wait until everyone is at work or school to get on the roads and we're off the roads before folks get back on them in the afternoon. We like to alternate one and two-night stops so we'll have a day of rest every few days. Our first year of full-timing, we were forced into a 300+ mile day with a late start due to icing in the morning. We were beat when we pulled in a swore, "Never again!" We're pulling 220 miles this Sunday from Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, to Richmond, VA... around Baltimore and DC on I-95 - yuck! It's a "have to" trip to move my 90 year old mother-in-law to assisted living.

Rob

I'd like to add to Rob's post about RV Trip Wizard - you can set what you think will be your average speed. Don't use your driving speed, use your average that would include stops for food, fuel, rest areas, etc. I set mine at 53mph. And then the DW and I joke that a 3 hours drive will actually be 4 the way we travel.

Driving time/distance is entirely a personal choice. We find 6 to 8 hour days to be tolerable but avoid them as best as we can. But, like Rob, we're retired.

My best tip might be that you start driving and around noon or 1pm decide how much longer you want to travel and call ahead for a campground. It beats just driving to a location and finding that there aren't any sites available. And it relaxes you as you continue on the rest of the day (or into the evening).

[Steven@147]

I'd like to add to Rob's post about RV Trip Wizard - you can set what you think will be your average speed. Don't use your driving speed, use your average that would include stops for food, fuel, rest areas, etc. I set mine at 53mph. And then the DW and I joke that a 3 hours drive will actually be 4 the way we travel.

Driving time/distance is entirely a personal choice. We find 6 to 8 hour days to be tolerable but avoid them as best as we can. But, like Rob, we're retired.

My best tip might be that you start driving and around noon or 1pm decide how much longer you want to travel and call ahead for a campground. It beats just driving to a location and finding that there aren't any sites available. And it relaxes you as you continue on the rest of the day (or into the evening).

@Second Chance and @traveldawg Echo what they said but seems the best laid plans go awry, no matter what we plan we end up getting slowed down due to traffic jams, road construction or accidents. We try not to go over 400 miles / day but sometimes its dictated by the geographic area we travel through, big cities in our path, availability of "reasonable" camping sites and so forth. One time we got stopped because of an accident that blocked the interstate, sat in traffic for almost 3 hours, made us really late getting into our next destination. Plan as best you can, and deal with what comes up.

[Janet H]

I just came across this in another thread about trip planning:

"If this is your first big trip, I would definitely would use a tool like Trip Wizard to plan the trip. As a member of our forum you are already a member of Trip Wizard."

Can someone explain what this means?

RV Trip Wizard is a planning tool (subscription req) specifically designed for rvers that is especially useful for planning routes, calculating drive times, locating parks and avoiding hazard. It's offered by RV Life (sister site to this one). I'll send you a discount coupon via PM