Fuel planning

Most Lease Ops will do that because that next fuel stop is $0.03 cents cheaper than the fuel stop 150 miles prior. They're sucking up all the dirt on the bottom of the tanks which will cost $0.30 a mile for the next 10,000 miles to fix, that's if they make it at all. nothing worse than running out of fuel 60 yards from the pumps and having to pay a tow truck $375 bucks to tow you up to the pumps to save $0.03 per gallon.

 

I had that happen once. Shipper gave me the seal so it was up to me to seal the trailer at my convenience. What i did was take all my ice chains and put them in the back of the trailer and locked itbut did not seal it. Got past the last weigh station en route and put my chains back where they go and sealed the trailer and delivered.

 

This time of year in a 48 OTR application? Hell no I'm not running low for any reason. Besides, I've heard regularly running below a certain amount (roughly 1/4 tank) shortens the life expectancy of the fuel pump. Also some APU's have a hard time pulling fuel from near the bottom at cold start up, especially after having gone through significant altitude changes.

I rarely go less than about 35% in winter, 25% in summer. But on the other hand I don't like stopping for fuel more than once a day and I like our 1300 mile range tanks.

 

I observed an owner operator a few weeks ago stopped on the eastbound off ramp (a steep incline) to the Flying J east of Gallup carrying a 1 gallon fuel container back to his truck. He passed 2 truck stops 35 miles back but wanted to stretch it a little more for whatever reason. He came up short and it probably cost him good money and significantly shortened the life of expensive fuel system components.

 

It happened to me last winter, I underestimated the amount of idling I would need to do in the extreme cold and the several parked regens at high idle, the truck ran out of fuel about 12 miles short of the truck stop. Had to pay about $175 bucks for a tow truck to pull me into a little gas station. I ferried about 30someodd gallons in a 2.5 gallon gas can over to my truck. Truck still would not start so had to get ahold of T/A Roadsquad to come out with a fuel pressurized pump to pressurize and prime my fuel pump, they charged about $350 to come out. I already had the fuel filters topped up so luckily didn't have to pay him to do that little $100 dollar job. All in all it was about a $600 preventable expense.

 

I don't know why ppl wait untill theyre driving on fumes to get fuel unless it's out of just plain laziness.I use to get fuel at the end of my shift or maybe a couple hrs before im done driving depending where im at.

 

I only have 100 gallons total capacity. Usually stop every 350-400 miles, but will stop short if I don't know where the next fuel stop might be. Most I've ever pumped was 86.5 gallons...needed fuel near the end of my day, staying at a motel, and I don't park anywhere other than the house with full tanks if I can help it. Since my fuel gauge doesn't work, all I've got to go by is "miles since last fill-up", and I figure worst case scenario of 5 mpg. I get better than that, so no worries even if I have to stretch it a little longer. Yes, sometimes I DO need to fill up twice in a day, but I'm usually looking to get out and stretch my legs a bit by then anyway. Used to do the whole "10 hours straight through" thing down the interstate, but you miss so much when you do that. SOOOO much more to this great country of ours that you just can't see from behind the wheel tooling down the interstate. I'd MUCH rather run the 2-lanes through small-town America, stopping every now and then and chatting with the good folks who make the country work.

Which is another reason I avoid the big chain truck stops. When you have to fuel as often as I do, you don't want to waste time waiting for the idiot ahead of you to finish his 30 so he can move his truck. Usually I'm in & out in 7-10 minutes unless I find good conversation...then it might stretch that to 15-20 minutes or so.

 

In summer I can easily run 2 typical days on a tank (I've stretched it to 3 days once or twice when working close to town. In winter I fill up every day. Personal vehicle rarely ever gets below half. Having an almost full tank saved my butt this summer I tell ya.