diesel lanes

[boingram]

...just stepped up from a 25 foot tt behind a tundra to a 39 foot fiver behind a 3500 duramax. ..
....a little freaked out about negotiating diesel pumps. ..familiar with flying j rv islands. ..but what about the possibility and etiquette of using semi diesel lanes. ..thx..,bo

[0rion]

I've used the truck stops for several years now in my duramax. Love them. We just had a local place here redo their diesel area and they installed the hi flow pumps when they did. Those things are nice. Don't blink or you missed the entire fill up. 😄

[ventrman]

Unfortunately. for right now I have a Gas Truck. When I can, I will get a Diesel. Right now when Towing, I try to find a Station where the Pumps are angled Parallel to the Road. When I do get my Diesel, I will be using the Truck Lanes.

[thomas201]

The truck islands a great for filling the DEF tank. Cheap and quick.

However, as others have mentioned, the front pumps, both auto and RV often give you the cash price when using credit.

[silvercorvette]

For me having a 95 gallon aux tank in addition to the 28 gallon tank is a big help.

#1 it allows me the freedom to pick and choose a station based on ease of navigating the pumps and price. I will never save enough money to pay back the cost of the tank but that is not the reason I got the tank.
#2 In SC fuel is cheap so I start of full. Land is also cheap so the stations usually have more room to maneuver. There are stations in NJ where land is more expensive and consequently the room to maneuver is so poor that have to disconnect the RV from the truck to be able to maneuver,and that is where having an AUX pump comes in handy, I can fill up from my own tank at any Wally world parking lot or rest stop.

#3 with 120 gallons of fuel I have a range of well over 1,000 miles which means that if I really want to stretch out the distance between fill ups I don't have to start looking for fuel till I have traveled at least 800 miles.

One thing that may be helpful is try to fill up your truck after you pull into a campsite. If I am staying at a campsite I will unhook and do sight seeing run errands then the last thing I do before I am ready to leave the camp site is to fill up my truck





The pump is not hooked up the battery, I use jumper cable clips when I need to pump fuel.

I use a gun cable lock on the nozzle to impede fuel theft, it has and auto shut of. It list for $400 but I paid a lot less at the store (it was on sale). You can save over $100 by getting a non auto shut off nozzle.

At 15 gallons per minute it take about 90 seconds to fill up the tank. I keep a stopwatch and time the pump I deduct 15 gallons for each 60 seconds and deduct that amount from the 95 gallon capacity which gives me a close estimate of how much fuel is remaining in the tank.

You will save some money by being able to buy fuel in a state where it is cheaper but it will never pay for itself the reason I got it was connivence and piece of mind knowing I had a rane of well over 1,000 miles

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200121024_200121024

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200306753_200306753

[Mtwoodson]

Courtesy as a SOP usually just makes life easier.

[Splashers3]

When using Flying J/Pilot I use the truck lanes - and my D/A can handle the larger nozzles...I always get out of the lane as quickly as possible...however, I have had truckers block me in while they were BSing with their cell phones....lucky there wasn't anybody behind me, and I backed all the way out until I could go around the fueling lanes....I was really ticked about how rude they were.

[rmalik1]

thedoghouse wrote:
I always use semi lanes and have no issue fueling

X2

[TakingThe5th]

I've had trouble with some of the cramped car lanes but never a problem in the truck lanes. I have found most truckers to be friendly and some ask about the 5er. My F350 can also accept the large nozzle.

As was said-be courteous, efficient and pull forward before you go inside to settle the bill. Park it and don't block the lane if you have other business.

[ken_white]

I prefer truck stops since the diesel is cycled through regularly so there is less chance for water contamination.

[cbshoestring]

Fuel islands are for fueling, and rudeness is rude no matter what you drive. I know people like to "Park" at the local gas station when fueling up....make a trip inside for road snacks. Doesn't help that many offer fast foods, etc... The truck fuel island is not the place to do this.

Grap a cup of coffee while paying for fuel...sure, that is not a problem. Make a trip to the Taco Bell, or McD's....BAD IDEA.

Gas station people don't care that you need more space, they only care about putting in their $10.00 of gas and getting a MONSTER drink.

The truckers understand that YOU are just looking for space, like they are. When I drove Rigs I really watched RVer's in the "truck" lot....make sure they know what they are doing. You are the small one back there....we watch out for the little guy who might disappear in our field of view.

[Reng8d]

My deciding factor is the height of the awning and ease of getting in and out at the car island, if I clear it then I use the car island, if not, then I roll around to the truck lanes.

[Toolguy5]

I go up front if I can otherwise I go in the back. Some places up front are just to difficult to get in and out.
Never had a problem in the truck area with nozzle not fitting.

[bfast54]

Agree on basically all the post so far ---when I'm pulling the trailer wether its commercial for delivery or my own
I always use the truck stop pumps .
Now if I'm not pull the trailer and I'm just driving the truck sometimes I have gone to the quote car islands and like they say you won't believe the idiots who pull up to the pump that has diesel ,and leave the other ones sitting open ---and they got to the pump ---they go inside they do all of their grocery shopping then they come out to the pump ----fuel ---get back into the vehicle and then sit there for 5 or 10 minutes while they're doing-- lord knows what ????
one time after I SAT for 15 minutes after all this going on -

I finally dumped my air horns on the car in front of me---- I'm sure they had to clean their seat-- but they did move.

[Coach-man]

Contrary to some comments I prefer the truck lanes. No guessing the height of the overhead, no idiots who pull up in front of you to use the gas pump at the only auto diesel pump when there are six other gas pumps available ! And it is a lot easier to manuver at the truck pumps. No problems with the Ram using the big boys nozzle!