Newbies finding diesel fuel

The above is great advice and makes me feel better about starting to look for diesel at the halfway mark. The two 5 gal diesel tanks in the bed buy a lot of piece of mind. I only try to stop at truck stops when hooked up but have used some easy access gas stations. My GPS has a setting for locating stations with diesel but access is always a consideration.

pennysmom09 wrote:
We are new 5w owners, have been out a few times within our state and near by. We've learned everything the hard way ! We have conquered backing into the hitch, leveling, hooking up the utilities, etc., but the one thing intimidating us from venturing out further is finding and maneuvering into gas stations. Any helpful hints would be appreciated!

Don't wait until you're on the Big "E"..:W

Plan (enough) ahead to be able to "pick or pass".

If you don't think access is adequate, go elsewhere.

BTW - if/when you are unhitched, fuel up - even if it's just to top-off.

~

Pilot Flyin J website has a trip routing feature that lists all their truck stops. We use it all the time. Also look for Petro, TA and Loves truck stops.

Ditto on a handful of replies above:

• Start looking for fuel at 1/2 of a tank, you get to be way pickier than if you're at or under 1/4 of a tank
  
• Carrying extra fuel is something that I'm going to start doing after a particular empty stretch of highway on my last trip
  
• Truck stops are your friend- go around back and use the truck lanes
  
• (If you do use truck stops, be mindful of etiquette - pull forward after you pump to let the next truck into the pump while you go inside and pay)
  
• Look for the Flying J RV'ers card
  
• If you're a smart phone user, my wife has used Google Maps to get a satellite view of the upcoming gas stations (and food stops) to determine if we could likely make it or not
  

We are feeling better...thanks for the good tips!

truck stops have the best deal

X2 on all the above. There's no problem finding fuel at RV-friendly stations on the interstates. When I get down to about 1/2 tank I start looking. In been my experience there has always been a fueling station (truck stop or travel center) somewhere down the road before I reach 1/4 tank.

When using secondary roads you have to be a little more judicious. If running low on fuel and a smaller station is your only choice you may have to unhitch nearby in order to safely reach the pumps. I've had to do that on occasion but it's very rare.

Of course, you can carry extra fuel in a 5 gallon container just in case. I used to do that when I first bought my truck/fiver but found that I really didn't need it (not all stations offered ULSD fuel in the early days, which is required in my truck). Today, I have no trouble finding the right fuel.

downtheroad wrote:
Good advice above from 2oldman
Also, I often go out and fuel up without the trailer, after we have pulled into a campground and unhooked for the night.

X2- This is the way we always fuel, as we never drive further than the range of the fuel tank.

I know this may be a hassle.

We started carrying two filled 5 gallon diesel fuel containers in the truck bed.

Doing this has saved us twice:
Once because I got trapped on road with a low fuel light where I couldn't U-turn for quite a while.

Another time we took off from a pretty remote campground on a Sunday thinking we could fuel in a small town nearby.
The station was closed.

The ten gallons gives us an 80-120 mile safety net.

*
Also for me the laminated road map I bought was a big help too... :)

When I reach half a tank, I start looking for a place to fuel up. This allows me to be more picky on where to stop.