Saving on Gas money

[Lou Schneider]

How does $6.73 a gallon sound?

https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Northern-Calfornia-Mendocino-most-expensive-gas-16220638.php

 

Edited June 10, 2021 by Lou Schneider

[Pat & Pete]

41 minutes ago, Lou Schneider said:

How does $6.73 a gallon sound?

https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Northern-Calfornia-Mendocino-most-expensive-gas-16220638.php

 

Maybe some of the station owners have spent too much time in Europe ? 

[2gypsies]

Paid $2.59 for gas today at Costco Arizona

[Kirk W]

6 hours ago, sandsys said:

Getting rid of excess weight in your vehicles also helps.

Linda Sand

Are you saying that Pam needs to lose weight? Maybe the covid 15# the news has talked about?

[sandsys]

2 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Are you saying that Pam needs to lose weight? Maybe the covid 15# the news has talked about?

Some people discover divorce works well for loosing weight but I am NOT recommending that.

[StargazerAL]

Hello to all,

In regards to saving money on gas.

I know this isn't an option for everyone but I have been planing a trip. We usually do one trip at a time and then head back to home base in northern Indiana. I visit a sister out west along with my nephews and families.

If we travel out west then return, I have about two thousand miles one way or roughly four thousand round trip. We were thinking of going to the southwest and staying for a month or two. If we go west later in the year (perhaps gas prices would be lower after summer vacations are over) then head southwest (from our western location) and stay a month or so we can save close to three thousand miles in travel or about 400 gallons of gas. Also saves us from traveling to the southwest and then returning after we have spent some time there.

Only real problem with combining two trips, your gone about twice as long. Makes for a nice trip though. Overall I'd be saving about 2,900 miles. I would only be spending $410 more on the two trips combined for fuel. Quite a savings if we do it that way. Best!

[Steven@146]

Someone just the other day told me that if you have an RV, and are concerned about fuel mileage and or the cost of fuel you are missing the point of having an RV. While there might be some truth to that, keeping your fuel cost down is also important. We tend to travel to a destination, then set for awhile, maybe a month, to take in all the area. Then move on to another area making somewhat of a loop. Of course we are retired fulltime and have the luxury of doing that. We are not in any hurry.

Yes trip planning can save you time, mileage and fuel by not zig zagging back and forth across country. We were down in Texas, Daughter graduated from college up in Ohio, then we had reservations in Florida Disney, Fort Wildnerness, didn't make sense to go all the way up to Ohio then all the way down to Florida. We couldn't attend her graduation ceremonies anyway due to Covid. So we all just met down in Florida and had a good time with the kids/grandkids at Disney. 

Our 1 ton gets worst 9mpg or best 11 pulling the 5er depending. Unhitched 19/20 mpg highway 17 city, 32 gallon tank. Still contemplating installing an aux tank just to save a little at lower priced fuel stops, but for the cost of the good aux tanks @ $1000 that's a lot of fuel cost to payback.

We only travel 300 miles at most each day before overnighting. At almost 53 feet truck stops or big stations like Bucee's (Texas/Alabama)for fuel is a must do. We use our GS card for discounts when we can but otherwise use gas buddy to check fuel stop costs at the stations we picked using RV Trip Wizard. The reward points we get back using our credit card for fuel is a savings also. On average will pump in 20 gallons of fuel at fillups. This last trip because of the recent pipe line shut down, for awhile we carried 10 gallons extra fuel around just in case, never needed it.

We have no intentions of visiting California, used to live there back in the 80s,  or the NewYork New England metro areas. Too many other places to go and see.

Edited July 1, 2021 by Steven@146

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

For us we have always budgeted for our trips, and have allowances for things we typically don't use often ie; CG's = "just in case".  For our fuel costs it was based on $3/gallon for the few years leading up to 2019, and now going forwards we will budget based on $4/gallon.    So typically we over budget quite a bit in case the prices go up exponentially during our travels or we hit California LOL.    So we allow a lot of wiggle room, and if everything hits the fan, then bang goes our emergency fund.   Or as they say "for everything else there's MasterCard".

Seriously though, with reduced incomes the past 18 months or so and for some due to lockdowns the ability to save a lot of money because of the closures on eating out, other activities, we all have to trim our cloth to suit our pockets as the saying goes.    Avid casino goer friends of ours saved tens of thousands in the past 6 months while they were closed here, now they are donating it back.

Generally speaking "within reason", and what that "reason" is I don't know, we will continue to keep travelling when allowed and enjoy what we can with our old gal.   Some trips during high priced fuel years will be closer to home, or more spaced out to compensate and fit our budgets like many others will do I'm sure.

We control what we personally can and that we can't......... we don't sweat it

[Jinx & Wayne]

On 7/1/2021 at 11:25 AM, Steven@146 said:

Still contemplating installing an aux tank just to save a little at lower priced fuel stops, but for the cost of the good aux tanks @ $1000 that's a lot of fuel cost to payback.

We have a 34 gal regular tank and installed a 50 gal Transfer Flow Trax 3 tank - about $2500 installed when I bought the truck.  It will take me several years to pay off that cost.  Even if it does not pay for itself in fuel costs, however it is worth every cent in convenience and peace of mind.

 Like you I get 9-11.5 mpg towing with 10.5 being usual number.  We generally do not run more than 300 miles per day, but some times we run two days in a row and stay hooked up for the travel night.  Having the extra tank means I don't have to fuel up with the 5er attached. If I run into detours or some other unforeseen event (there was a line of major storms we outran a couple of years ago) I don't have to worry about finding a fuel station that will fit me. 

It also means I'm not confined to the big stations with the big prices.  We just did a two day run from Manistee, MI to eastern OH - about 480 miles.  I filled up two days after arriving in Manistee and drove about 200 miles in MI for the rest of the week.  I did not fill when we left.  Diesel fuel on the OH Tpk was $3.419.  Other stations along the route ranged from $3.299 to $3.439.  I will fill tomorrow at $3.189, drive around here for 8 days, and then go 300 miles to MD where diesel is currently $2.999.  My best savings so far was $.46 per gallon on 70 gallons.  Usually it is $.10 to .20 per gallon savings.

Wayne & Jinx
2017 F-350 diesel, dually
2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

[noteven]

I like to be able to carry enough fuel that I don’t have Range Anxiety.

[hemsteadc]

On 7/1/2021 at 10:25 AM, Steven@146 said:

Someone just the other day told me that if you have an RV, and are concerned about fuel mileage and or the cost of fuel you are missing the point of having an RV. While there might be some truth to that, keeping your fuel cost down is also important. 

I drive a big truck and almost without fail the first question out of anyone's mouth is "what kind of fuel mileage do you get?"  I answer politely, but what I really want to say is "I am comfortably retired and don't pay attention to fuel prices. I fuel up where it's convenient, not cheap.  If I cared about fuel mileage I wouldn't be driving this, but just the same I am happy you get better mileage."

Edited July 10, 2021 by hemsteadc

[sandsys]

3 hours ago, hemsteadc said:

I drive a big truck and almost without fail the first question out of anyone's mouth is "what kind of fuel mileage do you get?"  I answer politely, but what I really want to say is "I am comfortably retired and don't pay attention to fuel prices. I fuel up where it's convenient, not cheap.  If I cared about fuel mileage I wouldn't be driving this, but just the same I am happy you get better mileage."

When I was asked about milage on my diesel Sprinter and I answered 18 mpg they thought I was lying because everyone "knows" diesels don't get that kind of mileage. I also had a guy ask me if the noise of the diesel engine bothered me. Since it was idling while I talked to him through my window I asked if it was bothering him--he hadn't realized it was running. Oh, the things people "know"!

Linda

[Alex G]

Sams Club is my most favourite. Also do not forget to buy from a busy station. In my expriences say they can offer the best quality fuel too. 

[Jinx & Wayne]

I've been reading this for a while.  There seems to be very little discussion about driving habits.  The best savings I found was identifying my mileage sweet spot.  That is the point where you are getting the best mileage at reasonable highway speeds.  For me it is 59-62 mph and 10.5-11.0 mpg.  If I travel any faster than that fuel consumption jumps. If I start hard from stop lights it jumps.  At 64 mph it jumps down from 10.5-11.0 to 9.0-9.5 mpg.  At $3 per gallon that is a 30 cents per gallon price increase.  So drive smoothy at a speed that is economical.  Keep watching ahead; it is better to slow a bit and avoid stopping or major acceleration to get back to speed.

Wayne & Jinx
2017 F-350 diesel, dually
2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, Jinx & Wayne said:

There seems to be very little discussion about driving habits.  The best savings I found was identifying my mileage sweet spot. 

Years ago the service manager at an RV dealership who was himself a long time RV owner gave me that same advice. He suggested that most RV combinations would have a speed for best fuel mileage that fell around 60(+/- 10) mph,  and that once you find it each additional 5 mph increase in speed would lower fuel mpg by 10%, or if you get 8 mpg at 60 you will get 7.2 mpg at 65 and 6.5 mpg at 70.. Over the years I have found that to be pretty good rule of thumb. 

[Barbaraok]

62 mph is the motorhome's sweet spot.  After 15 years, and 160K+ miles, that's where she get 8.5 mpg - not bad for moving a 32K lb home bouncing down the road. 

[Blues]

16 hours ago, Alex G said:

Sams Club is my most favourite.

There's a Sam's Club in the far west suburbs of Chicago that has diesel.  I was very surprised to find that its diesel is no cheaper than the places in the vicinity that have dedicated truck lanes, which obviously offer much easier access for a big RV than any Sam's Club. 

The gas at this station is well priced, but for some reason not the diesel.

[palmeris]

TSD now has a new web site , Open Roads

[Darryl&Rita]

2 hours ago, palmeris said:

TSD now has a new web site , Open Roads

That's not TSD.

[palmeris]

Yes, that is their new site

What I find of interest is this statement from their site..

.Have a gasoline vehicle? You're in luck! Coming in early 2022 we will be offering a gasoline discount card as well as the diesel card. 

[Darryl&Rita]

3 hours ago, palmeris said:

Yes, that is their new site

What I find of interest is this statement from their site..

.Have a gasoline vehicle? You're in luck! Coming in early 2022 we will be offering a gasoline discount card as well as the diesel card. 

I stand corrected. I'm used to the TSD website, with their logo prominently displayed.

[franco-bolli]

Great information here.
I've been using the Turbo Diesel Register web site for a while and have seen multiple post from long time RAM truck owners that have had bad fuel from LOVES and Flying J. As I recall, most had to do with water or another contaminant in the fuel.  As a result, it's been many years since I've used a LOVES or Flying J. As another poster in the thread mentioned, those stations are typically more expensive than other vendors in the area. Although, another poster brings up another good point about avoiding a crappy station because it's cheap, they may have bad fuel they need to get rid of!
My most recent dilemma has been finding real #2 diesel fuel, that isn't cut with biodiesel. Sometimes up to 15 or 20%. 

This is from the owners manual:

• Under no circumstances should oil change intervals exceed 15,000 miles (24 000 km) if operation occurs with greater than 5% biodiesel blends. Oil change intervals should not exceed 6 months in either case. Failure to comply with these Oil Change requirements for vehicles operating on biodiesel blends up to B20 may result in premature engine wear. Such wear is not covered by the New Vehicle Limited Warranty.

• B20 Biodiesel capable: The engine may suffer severe damage if operated with concentrations of Biodiesel higher than 20%
   

First, I do change the oil before 15k.
second, I avoid biodiesel whenever possible.

I mention this because on route 84, between Idaho and the pacific coast, There are a LOT of stations that have biodiesel. There doesn't seem to be an alert on Gas Buddy to tell you which station is straight up Diesel #2 or which contains biodiesel and what the concentration is.

Personally, I spent A LOT of hard earned cash for the truck, and feeding it fuel that could damage the engine is something I avoid whenever possible. I have (and will do this again) purchased only enough biodiesel from a station to get to another station that does not have biodiesel.

OK, this is starting to sound like a rant, and that wasn't the intention.  Just voicing my preference in fuel, not starting a political debate about anything.

What I have done is created an excel sheet that tries to capture the truck operating expenses and approximate fuel usage and converted it to a cost per mile.  With this information, I can tell if it's worth driving 5 miles off of a highway to get to a fuel station to save .10 per gallon.  Usually, the breakpoint depends on how many gallons would be purchased. It would be great if the folks at Gas Buddy would incorporate something like that.

 I may reconsider the gas buddy card...
Thanks to all of the contributors to this thread, it's been enlightening.

[sandsys]

Iowa has a lot of biodiesel which my van would not like. So when driving south on I-35 I saw a sign for a place that said, "NO ETHANOL" I stopped there for diesel. I was right that they had non-bio diesel, too.

Linda Sand