I'm surprised that the author didn't mention or try to draft. As Mythbusters showed, drafting can save quite a bit of fuel, might have been a better idea than trying to pass the trucks.
"drafting behind an 18-wheeler truck was tested and results showed that traveling 100 feet (30 m) behind the truck increased overall mpg efficiency by 11%. Traveling 10 feet (3.0 m) behind the truck produced a 39% gain in efficiency"