So how do you plan fuel stops?

Iwas leased to Admiral Merchants and we had T-check cards that when used at TA or Petro saved us say .20-.40/gal. off pump price. There is a Phone No. at TA central we could call and get fuel pricing at any TA or Petro,worked very well. Only drawback was your log had to match when you bought fuel. Let's just say you earn how to deal with that.

 

i fill before i pick up especially meat plants so they cant overload me. My last trip of the week i run the tanks low and fill first trip of next pay period After a lil while you will get a sense of what your mileage is on certain trips and be able to figure where to buy fuel cheapest or just put in a splas of fuel to get you to a cheaper state http://www.truckstopreport.com/ is a good site listing truckstops i also have a pocket truckstop guide lists all the truckstops by route and state
http://www.truckmiles.com/FuelPrices.asp will give u daily prices by state

 

I use mapquest, fuel stops are after scales if possible and when I plan to shut down for the day.

I try to use what truck stops are in route and purchase the least expensive fuel as possible with parking in mind, even if I have to pay for a shower it works out to be frugal on the fuel cost.

I do not fuel in New Mexico or Arkansas

 

I have my own routine. first I have fuel cards, that enable me to pump 1st, then pay after. I will look at my route & then look at the online prices of fuel. en example would be to look at all the flying j's & the Loves truck stops, compare their prices & keep a index card of the state, exits & price per gal at each. when running o.t.r. I do not stop unless I have to. so I will figure, where I will be at a certain point & fuel, shower, eat at one place.

since I run local the last couple years, it has been quite a while since I fueled when loaded. weather local or not I always try to fuel when empty. less wear on my spread, tires & brakes & fuel to get going again. I know that is always not an option. I always fill up before parking, that way I am always ready. I try to go down to the last 200 miles before fueling. 8- 10 hours is about normal for me. with the fuss & b.s. at some places, I do not want to stop more than needed. also prefer running at night. the convienance of paying at the pump, or just my preference, as far as easy access off interstate e.t.c. outweighs saving 2-3 cents per gallon.

if I can save 3.00 but have to deal with b.s. rather pay the extra $3.00 & fuel where I like. as you go o.t.r. you will have your favorite, times & places to stop.

 

i also try to fuel at least once a week at all the big dealers so i always have shower credits. At least once a week i have to incorperate a fuel stop where they sell def at the pump $2.69 a gal compared to $13.99 for 2.5 gal jug and you have to pour it in yourself

 

and welcome to trucking. hope you do well.

 

when ever i need fuel i stop .no rhyme or reason to my stops .i don't like to be below 1/2 tank no how .

 

I use my carriers fuel price webpage... its updated daily. Any one of the fuel price reporting services can provide you with the same data.

But that's not all. I paste the data from the states I'm traveling through into a spreadsheet. I subtract the state tax from each stop, sort by location to eliminate out-of-route locations, then sort by price low to high. This only takes a few minutes. Then I know where the lowest base-price fuel is in my route. I always fill my tanks (2 @ 100 gallons) with the cheapest fuel.

The deal with state sales tax is that with IFTA you only pay what you're going to pay. If you overpay your fuel tax, its refunded; underpay you owe some money. That means that unlike tax on gasoline - all the tax money goes to the government, IFTA fuel tax really doesn't matter when you're looking for the cheapest fuel. Subtract the tax off, and get the best price on the fuel alone.

Georgia and South Carolina are good examples... frequently you'll see lower pump prices there compared to say Florida or North Carolina. That's because they have a lower tax rate - you put less money into your IFTA account, and pay more for your fuel in GA and SC.