[Michael]

nobody is using PC Maps anyway. Time is better spent on joining the Brady knows everything board to compare notes.

[Archived]

hey now… i use it 🙂

[Jack]

Ronald,

I just impeached you and retracted my vote and told Jon we need to increase your dues.:)

[Larry & Diane]

I have a lot of travel scheduled for the first several months of 2015, and my trip planning is definitely going to involve the PC maps. One huge advantage for me is now I can see all the potential fuel stops along the route. I don’t know if others who use the fuel discount program do this, but I have a personal window for refueling.

I refuel anywhere between 675 miles and 1000 miles. The lower number gets me the 10 cent discount on all fuel without the $1 fee, and at the higher number I still have a comfortable amount of fuel on board so I am not going to run out. Now I can bounce back and forth between maps to pick over night stops and fuel stops and places to eat. Now Ronald and I want everyone to add their favorite overnight spots, eating places, and points of interest to the maps.

I don’t think we can impeach Ronald because he is doing his best to herd our members into doing the right thing. For being a concerned member and his contributions to the maps I think we should cut his dues in half.

[Corey]

Is there any interest in adding the Pilot Travel Center locations to the map? I realize the connection of Love’s to PC, and I do use the great discount program. However, Love’s is not always the most convenient, there are about twice as many Pilot/FJ locations as Love’s, and Pilot offers a pretty good discount program also. Not to mention Pilot is a hometown company for Jon and I.

I think it would be a nice addition.

[Archived]

I like having the Love’s available on a separate tab. I’m very familiar with the location of the Love’s just north of Rockford, IL (Rockton or Roscoe I think) and the one southeast of Eau Claire, WI (Oakdale). The position of the icons for these stations on the map is “off” by at least the width of one icon. I presume the lat/long data entered was correct and this is just how the map presents everything.

Keep up the good work!

[Archived]

John,

We would certainly not be opposed to adding the FlyingJ/Pilot stations on a seperate map. It took quite some time for us to get the Loves in place, mainly because we have to have the Lat/Longs. Alicia worked really hard putting that all together for us.

So, since you’re in Knoxville, if you would like to contact FlyingJ/Pilot and see if there is a datebase of locations with Lat/Longs, go for it. We’ll adjust your dues….

[Mike]

John,

If you want to run with this go ahead. Pilot is in our home town and I know they are responsive because before they had the Good Sam’s relationship it was a pain to pay cash for fuel. Walk in, wait in line, give them a wad or Bnejamins, go back out, refuel, move the coach forward. Go back in, wait in line, get change, drive away.

With the Pilot RV program it is more expensive than Love’s but for a lot of folks it would help to be able to access a PC map for their locations. Would they be willing to provide a bulk listing of their locations AND pay Joe to load them on our map?

And in anticipation of any question abouit pressing them for a fuel program, speaking for myself, Alicia has worked far too many hours on our behalf for us to take a maturing discount program and switch it over to another provider, but if they are willing to let Profit Tool be an aggregator and are willing to work with Profit tool I would be actually willing to wear a suit and tie and meet with them to see what we can do. We are well over 1500 members and climbing so our potential participation is now starting to amount to a lot of gallons.

[Paul]

OK…First of all I need to admit I am SO anal about fuel prices..sometimes doing contortions worthy of a slalom skier just to get to a cheap diesel pump. It’s bad, I’ll admit!

With that said, my two favorite items when it comes to buying fuel are GAS BUDDY app on my phone…and, even better, is the Sam’s club Mastercharge card….5% off on fuel purchases.

If anyone knows something better, I’d love to hear about it

[Archived]

Btom,

There are some great fuel programs out there, and with a little searching anyone can find some really cheap prices.

I have 30 minutes away from home diesel prices that are at least 20 cents less than my discounted price at Love’s. Closer until recently was a 10 cent cheaper place. And I would use the opportunity to fuel up there all the time I went by.

But when we travel we are on a mission so if fuel is not in sight from the interstate exit I am not going to use it because when I do the math the few cents or dollars I save will not often make up for the inconvenience. Each mile I drive literally costs me about 60 cents in fuel alone. At ten miles off my path, meaning a 20 mile trip to refuel I have spent $12.00. At that point I need to pump around $250 worth into the coach before the discount on the additional fuel reaches my pocket. Adding to the reluctance are two things besides distance. First, a lot of cheap fuel locations near where I live cater to diesel pickup trucks so the pump nozzle is small which takes forever for refueling. Then the pump shuts off every $75 or $100 dollars unless I walk in and leave my card or cash, which is more inconvenience.

And finally most are not bus friendly and often I would see myself waiting behind a car blocking the pump or parked to restrict my access while someone is inside buying scratch-offs.

The point is so far we have no perfect answer, but as you point out we do have a lot of options, all of which are going to satisfy our needs.

The greatest fuel discount from my perspective is to improve my mileage. Just a 1/2 mile per gallon improvement is the equivalent of an 8% discount which in todays average price where I live is 30 cents per gallon.

[Archived]

According to another site, adding Lucas to your fuel will get you in excess of 1 mpg.

Don’t shoot the messenger.

[Jim]

I have a great bridge for sale, along with some AZ oceanfront property in case anyone is interested.

OK, I am pulling someone’s chain. I have found over the years that getting accurate fuel mileage information is not something available from the message center or pro=driver, nor is it available on a few tanks of fuel.

There are considerable difficulties in filling our tanks to the same leverl every time. There are many factors which influence when the fuel nozzle clicks off so while a tank or two, or even a few more gets a slight indication of actual mileage, it is safe to say I feel more comfortable with accuracy when I am using about 10,000 miles of refueling.

But even if we can fill the tank to the same level every time we still cannot be sure of our actual mileage except to say for those specific one or two refuelings it was XX per gallon. It will come as no surprise that we can have significant swings in fuel mileage depending on a wide variety of factors. For example, an eastbound trip during the winter when winds are typically the strongest is going to get results that differ by a farily wide margin compared to a westbound trip along the same route. A 10 MPH difference in driving speed will have a large effect on mileage. If the driving is on relatively flat terrain it is going to be much more fuel efficient compared to terrain in which the coach is constantly going up and down. It doesn’t have to be mountains either. Drive to or from Branson MO and you will see how much those hills eat into your fuel.

Towing? running OTR? Cold weather? Even those things play a role in mileage. The point is before I claim any change to my fuel, my engine, or my DDEC software affects my mileage I look for 10,000 miles or so of data over varying conditions. Keep in mind that we still have to recognize the laws of physics are not suspended when we make changes. We are still trying to push 50,000 pounds of barn door through the air, up and down hills, dragging some rolling dead weight, and as much as we all want the silver bullet improvements in mileage are gong to likely come about in small increments, and to make a huge impact like 1 MPG it is going to take serious adjustments in how and when and where the coach is driven, or even serious mechanical changes to the engine.

Some companies have modified the Series 60 with elimination of the EGR, all of the EGR components, replacement of the turbo and elimination of the V=pod that controls the turbo on EGR engines, plus they have reprogrammed the DDEC, all serious modifications, and they are reporting 1 MPG improvements.

While adding some fluid to my fuel or crankcase is far easier than the changes listed above plus changes to driving habits, until I see proof of fuel mileage gains I remain somewhat suspicious. However, I heard of this great liquid that will grow hair. I cannot wait to try it.