[Dick]

I use Gas Buddy for my pickup, I think Waze also has a fuel app.

[Dick]

When I am trip planning I go direct to the Pilot, Loves and Gas Buddy sites.

There is no doubt I can get cheaper fuel off the interstate, but I have a window of 750 to 900 miles for refueling and I am not going to go far off the interstate to save even $.25 a gallon (which could be $300 or more savings theoretically.) I say the savings have to be calculated because every 6 to 6.5 miles of somewhat local miles is a gallon of fuel which eats into the savings by getting away from Loves or Pilot.

But there is also the factor of getting fuel at other than a truck stop being tight spaces, and worse a diesel nozzle intended to fill pick up trucks. It takes forever to pump 125 to 150 gallons. Then there is the convenience that our fuel discount cards provide. I can pull into Love’s, pump fuel at 10 cents less than the cash price after swiping my card, and when I am done i drive away. That convenience is worth its weight in gold.

But if time has little value it is easy to find cheap fuel, especially on Gas Buddy or similar sites.

[Archived]

Gas Buddy. Its good, as along as someone has updated it. We’re in the Polk City, Auburndale, Winter Haven Florida area. Gasoline prices jumped 20 cents overnight and a number of the stations didn’t have update prices at 2 and 3pm. Diesel prices seemed stable.

[Archived]

Price and accessibility are 2 VERY different things! It really pisses me off on a daily basis that I have to pay what Pilot/Flying J charges but I have to pay them that stupid premium for the ease of access. You have to fight the fight you can win and you have to accept that not all battles can be won.

[Ron]

While I use the Love’s card we obtained through the PC Forum as often as the price is “good”, I find ourselves buying fuel off the interstate. Sometimes only a few hundred yards like Weigel’s just off the I-40/STH 72 interchange on the way to ETLC. We’ve stopped there a few times and have saved substantially over the heavily discounted price at Love’s with the card. Only downside at Weigel’s is they don’t have a truck pump so the fill is a little slow and they stop each fill at $100. I suppose if I went in I could tell them $500 and not have to recard every $100.

Using GasBuddy we watch for fuel prices from the Interstate to the campground and back as well as on the non-Interstates we seem to travel on quite a bit. On our recent trip from Wisconsin to Florida we filled up at the Citgo near our house using their truck island (its almost always the least expensive in the area) went to central Florida on a single tank of diesel; filling up at a truck island in a small town. Turns out another hour down the road we found diesel a little less expensive in Polk City, FL.

I won’t “chase fuel” off the Interstate, but I won’t restrict myself to the big chains on the Interstate either.

Over the last 4.5 years of owning a coach and being cognizant of diesel prices, it seems the price differential between big chain truck stops on the Interstate and the “local” stations in town has widened. I don’t know if others have a sense for that or not.

[John]

The fuel card is an EFS card. EFS online efsrc.promilesonline.com will show all EFS accepting stations in a specified radius with current price.

[Chuck]

Good point from Rudy, the EFS card you have works at many off interstate locations and you pay the cash price. Remember to use the 2nd card you got without the “L”.

Just look at the price difference, .30 per gallon at some of the off interstate locations.

[joel]

How do you get a EFS card? Hey Rudy remember me you inspired me to get into Aqua Hot in 09?

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1999 XLV X-6872,  liberty #440

[Chuck]

Just tried the address that Rudy gave and it ask for username and PW with no option to sign up if new?

[Davy]

I’m using the Trucker Path app for finding fuel prices. It appears that all listings are truck accessible but this one isn’t always updated just like Gas Buddy. Coming through Emporia VA 2 weeks ago, I found fuel 2 miles past the Interstate located Pilot for 30 cents a gallon cheaper. I think I paid $2.85 WITH a credit card that I get 2% on. Pilots, TSA’s and Loves turn over their inventory quickly so their fuel is generally fresh, but sometimes I worry about the little out-of-the way fuel stops. So far no problems though…..

[Dick]

I like Loves and use the Pilot/FJ app as back-up . I always try to use high volume fuel stops for ‘fresh’ fuel. Touch wood, I’ve never had fuel problems.

If I’m planning a trip into unfamiliar territory I also use TruckMaster.

[Doug]

Art,

Go to the big blue box that says Fuel Discount.

[Dan]

Chuck,

Please look at Truk4u’s post above. That is the website I am referring to. I have never had to register or log on to that site.

You might also do a Google search for EFS Locator.

[Chuck & Katrina]

Thanks Rudy

We all want to save a penny here and there especially on fuel.

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2000 Featherlite H3-45

2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Leesburg, FL

[Corey]

We lack horsepower when it comes to getting serious discounts because we do not have the numbers of fuel discount users pumping the gallons required to get someone’s attention.

If we had substantial participation in terms of the percentage of members signed up for the program and we who participate were pumping a lot of fuel using the program we would have the attention of fuel outlets.

Even a small truck fleet pumps a lot of fuel because the average truck is going to use about 20,000 gallons annually. I might use 2,000 gallons so we lack the volume of fuel usage that would allow Tom and I to flex our muscles and negotiate for substantially better discounts.

The key is not only signing up, but using the program so we can sit down at the negotiating table and do much better.

Having said that however fuel is not a big cost of ownership with depreciation being the biggest expense associated with ownership, especially on newer coaches.