Update - Diesel lane tips/advice
Picked up the rig and have had an issue free trip so far. I used the advice provided during my truck stop fueling...thank you all, it made everything a bit less intimidating. Just dropped off my copil...
Forum Discussion
You may be worrying too much about this trip. It's 1200 miles from Phoenix to Houston. You'll probably only need fuel one time, maybe twice.
Now... everyone is giving advice on the big truck stops.....we don't use them. Half the time the RV lane is too close to the building even for a small RV to exit and the truck lanes are loaded with truckers taking their time.
We just completed a coast to coast trip across the US in October and used one Pilot near Lake Havasu that we know has cheap prices and easy RV access and one other truck stop on the route. Because this discussion always comes up on here about pricing and discount cards, I made a personal note of prices while on our trip. The average truck stop was 10 cents a gallon more for diesel than a local station such as a Chevron, Shell etc. A couple were 5 cents cheaper, one was the cheapest around and the rest ran about 15 cents more.
We use the PenFed credit card that pays a 5% discount when used at the pumps....5 percent, not 5 cents. At $4.00 a gallon for diesel, that's 20 cents off per gallon. It just doesn't pay to monkey around with these truck stop discounts.
Lastly, worse than some of the trucker lines at the big truck stops, are the RVer's themselves. I know we all consider ourselves courteous RVer's , but some will take a half hour shopping, washing windows, having Martha run in and out of the store several times because the discount card didn't work and so on. We're retired and not on a big hurry, but waiting a half hour behind someone who is inconsiderate at a fuel pump is aggravating.
Get comfortable with your new rig. Spend some time in a large parking lot and see how sharply it will turn and where it will fit, even with a tow car. This way you'll feel comfortable using most stations and won't be paralyzed by the fear of smaller stations.
Now... everyone is giving advice on the big truck stops.....we don't use them. Half the time the RV lane is too close to the building even for a small RV to exit and the truck lanes are loaded with truckers taking their time.
We just completed a coast to coast trip across the US in October and used one Pilot near Lake Havasu that we know has cheap prices and easy RV access and one other truck stop on the route. Because this discussion always comes up on here about pricing and discount cards, I made a personal note of prices while on our trip. The average truck stop was 10 cents a gallon more for diesel than a local station such as a Chevron, Shell etc. A couple were 5 cents cheaper, one was the cheapest around and the rest ran about 15 cents more.
We use the PenFed credit card that pays a 5% discount when used at the pumps....5 percent, not 5 cents. At $4.00 a gallon for diesel, that's 20 cents off per gallon. It just doesn't pay to monkey around with these truck stop discounts.
Lastly, worse than some of the trucker lines at the big truck stops, are the RVer's themselves. I know we all consider ourselves courteous RVer's , but some will take a half hour shopping, washing windows, having Martha run in and out of the store several times because the discount card didn't work and so on. We're retired and not on a big hurry, but waiting a half hour behind someone who is inconsiderate at a fuel pump is aggravating.
Get comfortable with your new rig. Spend some time in a large parking lot and see how sharply it will turn and where it will fit, even with a tow car. This way you'll feel comfortable using most stations and won't be paralyzed by the fear of smaller stations.
