Calculated MPG

If you keep track of your MPG and you notice it decreasing, you know there is a potential problem before it becomes a problem.
Some people just like to keep records and track their expenses. They just add fuel usage to oil changes, etc..
I remember one poster who uses a spread sheet to track their MPG.
That, to me, is overkill. But each to their own.

marpel wrote:
Have read a number of posts, in different site forums, describing posters hand calculating their mileage.

Some post that they record details at every gas-up and have kept meticulous records since they purchased their trailer/fifth wheel (for years), to show the exact MPG.

I suppose I can understand doing so for a short time after acquiring a particular truck/trailer combo, to then know that combo's MPG, in various conditions.

But, what is the purpose of going beyond that nice to know? And, has doing so caused anyone to change their driving habits or impacted a decision to choose a particular route to their destination?

Just curious.

Marv

Old Mark Twain proverb "If you have to worry about MPG or have to ask the price of fuel, you probably should give up RVing" :):):)

The same reason people do many things - because they enjoy it. Doesn't matter if it makes sense to you or me, if it makes them happy then have at it.

marpel wrote:
Have read a number of posts, in different site forums, describing posters hand calculating their mileage.

Some post that they record details at every gas-up and have kept meticulous records since they purchased their trailer/fifth wheel (for years), to show the exact MPG.

I suppose I can understand doing so for a short time after acquiring a particular truck/trailer combo, to then know that combo's MPG, in various conditions.

But, what is the purpose of going beyond that nice to know? And, has doing so caused anyone to change their driving habits or impacted a decision to choose a particular route to their destination?

Just curious.

Marv

i 've been noting the odometer mileage on our gas purchase receipts for, well, forever. why? i like knowing. but then i was that kid who kept a ledger for his allowance. :B

I happen to be on the far end of that spectrum.

I have kept track of every penny I have ever spent on my truck for 100% of every category since the day it was new, August 15, 2006.
I can tell you exactly how many liters of diesel I have put in it and how many times I've put fuel in it. I have a log book for it all.

I have tracked my MPG since new and can tell you that it has actually gone up in recent years rather than down.

For me, it is my work truck and 100% writeoff at tax time.

So, why do I do it? Because I can, and I enjoy it, I like statistical facts about my own vehicle. I like to know how much life I get out of a set of wiper blades, or a pair of batteries etc etc. I enjoy it. So why not?. I have all the receipts for everything spent too.

One example: My Michelin tires have exactlty 129,571K, or 80,511.68 miles on them. Not bad for an always loaded dually work truck.

Some of you are shaking your head right now, I just know it! :B

I also found a wonderful, amazing app for Android that helps me keep track of things. I like it so much that I took my paper logs and went back to day 1 and entered everything into the app.

Close studying of this data has taught me the sweet spot of driving speed for my particular rig, where I get the best fuel mileage.

I do it because I'm a geek and I get a kick out of doing stuff like that.:)

I check it every now and then. No need in adding more stuff to do, especially on a trip. People already take too long after filling up!

I'm not very concerned with my MPG's. If I get courious I may look at the lie o meter on the dash. Oterwise I just fill and go.
In the grand scheme of RV'ing fuel cost is not the deal breaker for me.
It's quite the opposite. I have enough sunken and fixed cost that the cost of fuel become negligible.

I recorded date, gallons and location for each time I fueled for the past 10 years and close to 100,000 miles of RV travel. I have to admit that the gallons are the least useful information and I rarely calculate mileage except for average over many fill ups.

What I have found most interesting and useful are the location data. When taking a new trip, it can be interesting to see the routes and times it took for past trips.

I don't track MPG, never have. I know I need fuel when the needle tells me and I am going to go where I go whatever the cost. Frankly I get a little annoyed that the truck's computer tells me my MPG. There's really nothing I am going to do with this information. There are plenty of dashboard lights and icons to alert me to a problem. Funny, I'm an analyst by trade - specifically in data governance. Maybe being responsible for Billions of pieces of data daily is part of the reason I like to dumb it down in my personal life.

I keep track of our long trips. For example. With our 2020 26XD class C on a Ford E450 chassis used about 1,350 gallons of gas on last years 9600 mile cross country trip. We spent about $3700 on gas.
That comes out to 7.1 GPM. The average cost was around $2.75 per gallon.
This year we are planning another cross country trip of roughly the same distance. So out of my new cowboy hat that I bought in Eagle Nest NM on our trip last year picked this years fuel cost as being around $3.75 per gallon. Roughly $1350 more this year. I suspect it will be more though. Anyway, This won't stop us from going, it just means I have work 4 days per week instead of 3 to make up the difference. Retired but healthy knock on wood! For me I like to plan ahead a little.
Oh I also added in another 10% of our campground costs, but that is another thread.