Gassing up Diesel

What is easiest and best strategies for gassing up diesel while in midtrip.  I have F350 pulling 36ft 5th wheel, 13ft clearance.  I have only had to stop once so far, and it was at truck stop, they were 3 and 4 deep at each pump filling up trucks.  Many of them were just sitting empty waiting I guess.  Is this norm?

Thanks

The lines vary by location and time. We've often found several empty lanes, and other times found several commercial trucks in front of us. If you need to go inside after filling, be sure to pull forward so whoever is behind you (or will be behind you) can get to the pump. BTW we have a 38 foot motorhome.

Old Football Coach said:

What is easiest and best strategies for gassing up diesel while in midtrip.  I have F350 pulling 36ft 5th wheel, 13ft clearance.  I have only had to stop once so far, and it was at truck stop, they were 3 and 4 deep at each pump filling up trucks.  Many of them were just sitting empty waiting I guess.  Is this norm?

Thanks

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Look into getting an auxiliary fuel tank so you can fill up before hooking to your fifth wheel.  I definitely will be getting the second fuel tank when I order my new Dodge Ram cab/chassis.

gravesdiesel said:

Look into getting an auxiliary fuel tank so you can fill up before hooking to your fifth wheel.  I definitely will be getting the second fuel tank when I order my new Dodge Ram cab/chassis.

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Just keep in mind though, if you go the aux. tank route, to extend the distance between fuel stops, you are going to be adding hundreds of pounds of weight to the truck when it's full.  If you are already close on maxing out the truck's payload, just keep in mind the additional extra weight.  I've got a 42 gallon aux. tank on my truck and between the weight of the tank, fuel pump/filter assembly, and the actual fuel.....I'm pushing right at an additional 500 lbs.

xrated said:

Just keep in mind though, if you go the aux. tank route, to extend the distance between fuel stops, you are going to be adding hundreds of pounds of weight to the truck when it's full.  If you are already close on maxing out the truck's payload, just keep in mind the additional extra weight.  I've got a 42 gallon aux. tank on my truck and between the weight of the tank, fuel pump/filter assembly, and the actual fuel.....I'm pushing right at an additional 500 lbs.

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Very true, especially if his 36 footer is also a heavy model.

We use RV pumps when we can find them, truck pumps when we can?t. It sounds like the OP just had bad luck at the truck stop he fueled at. I have never had to wait behind more than 1 truck. Then again, we are impatient and have been know to just head to another truck stop down the road if one is super busy. This is why we never get below a quarter of a tank of fuel, and frequently start looking about half a tank, just to have options.

My rig is just a tad shorter than yours and I rarely go to truck stops. I have no problem getting into most Walmart (Murphy) gas stations and the diesel is usually cheaper. If I do have to use a truck stop on rare occasions, I stay away from the biggies (Flying J, etc) because they're usually too crowded and more expensive. Other than that, I have rarely had a problem getting into other gas stations that have diesel.

I had a brother in law who gassed up a diesel once,,, it wasn't pretty.

;D I put 6"x6" 'DIESEL FUEL ONLY' decals on our fleet pickups after a couple of incidents. I try to scope out the station for an easy entrance and exit, one I was at this morning would have been a no go had I been towing. Haven't yet had a problem with the trailer.

Welcome to The RV Forum, Coach!

Old Football Coach said:

What is easiest and best strategies for gassing up diesel while in midtrip.  I have F350 pulling 36ft 5th wheel

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Truck lanes at truck stops have high speed pumps, and the filler nozzle is a wider diameter than the F350 fill port.  My 1999 F350 uses the same diameter nozzle as you'll find on gas hoses, so even if the tank could accept the faster fill rate there's no way to fit the larger nozzle into the filler neck.

This means you're restricted to using the automobile pumps or the RV lanes in places like Flying Js.  Usually stations that have diesel on the automobile pumps have it on the outermost sets of pumps, so this makes maneuvering a truck and trailer in and out a little bit easier.

It's wise to be aware of the overhead clearance, but most gas canopies have over 13'6" clearance, which is the highway height limit.  If they're lower they'll almost always have the impaired clearance marked on them.

Diesel motorhomes have larger tanks and fill necks that can accept the larger nozzle, so they can use the truck pumps if they want.

I have only had to stop once so far, and it was at truck stop, they were 3 and 4 deep at each pump filling up trucks.  Many of them were just sitting empty waiting I guess.  Is this norm?

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The protocol in the truck lanes is to pull forward when you're done fueling, then go inside and do the paperwork.  This lets the next truck in line pull up to the pump and start filling instead of waiting for the first driver to come back out.

It can take 10 minutes or more to fill a truck's tanks even with a high speed pump, so yes it can seem like the line is moving slowly.

I've been in truck lanes a few times, before I bought my aux tank.....and the truck nozzles fit just fine......2011 F250 diesel and now a 2016 F350 Dually diesel.

We used the truck pumps on our 2005 F250 diesel.  Never had a problem.  Looks like sometime between 1999 and 2005 Ford began using a larger fill tube. 

My F-250 also has a large fill tube and I have had no problems filling up at truck stops. You just have to get in line and go inside and fill out the paperwork.

Over the years we've been full-timing I use the big truck stops less and less because I hate sitting in line for ~30 minutes to buy fuel  I use a phone app called Trucker Path which identifies the major truck stops as well as thousands of other independent ones plus virtually every gas station that has a diesel truck pump (high volume).  The smaller, independent truck stops are usually far less crowded than the "majors"; often there is no line at all.  Prices are usually equal to or better than the major stops.  I've yet to have any trouble getting into any of the stations listed in Trucker Path, but if I have any concerns I use Google Satellite and Street View to scope things out.

Quite often, before we leave in the morning I'll scope out a fueling stop that's ~300 miles from where we are.  That way I can pretty much identify the specific station I'll be heading for and sometimes I'll even enter it as a stop on my GPS.  IMO anything to reduce decisions I have to while driving is worthwhile.

My new coach being on a Freightliner M2 106 Chassis I am almost relegated to truck pumps. I have saddle tanks so the saddle pump is a time saver. I do have modern equalizers, but it adds about 10 minutes to the fuel stop, I am told. I have fueled up twice now, once at a mini-mart with one set of saddle pumps and no line in Wells, NV, and a Sinclair in Alamo, NV which is a double island. I've spoken with truckers who tell me "just take your time... everyone else does".

This coming weekend early I am going to go to a full on truck stop and get my first but not my last experience at a busy fuel stop. I'll be using the Petro Station at the Las Vegas Speedway just because of its proximity to my home, and it's busyness.

John Beard said:

This coming weekend early I am going to go to a full on truck stop and get my first but not my last experience at a busy fuel stop. I'll be using the Petro Station at the Las Vegas Speedway just because of its proximity to my home, and it's busyness.

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Our experience with major truck stops is that they are busiest early in the morning and then during the 11am-1pm period.  We try to hit them at around ~3pm when most drivers are trying to finish their driving day.

docj said:

Our experience with major truck stops is that they are busiest early in the morning and then during the 11am-1pm period.  We try to hit them at around ~3pm when most drivers are trying to finish their driving day.

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I was planning a mid afternoon run, thanks for the confirmation of my observations. I would normally fuel up around the 2:30-4:30 PM time frame because of how we travel. My wife and I are morning people, so we usually get started early and finish early, and I always get to camp with full tanks. Up till now we've had a relatively quiet gas engine. We might have to adjust our travel patterns so that we leave at a later hour due to the loud diesel engine. 

All new learning experiences.

I've found google earth to be a big help.  I look at exits at intervals that look like a good time to stop.  Then I'll take a look at the gas stations and how they're laid out.  My problem isn't finding diesel pumps, it's that the ones that are easiest to access are often ones that also have diesel.  Two of the big things I look for is an easy pull through to the pump, and I avoid exits that have a bunch of gas stations/restaurants on "outer" roads.  Those always seem to be difficult with a trailer, and everyone is confused.

I often find a lot of the smaller stations are easier to deal with because there's less traffic and clearance is rarely an issue. 

You can look for stations with the pumps laid out parallel to the store front rather than perpendicular to it as well. That way you won?t be trying to make the tight turn between the islands and the front of the store. We are gas, but with the 30 foot trailer behind the truck, we too, have to be careful when choosing a spot to refuel.

One downside of truck stops is the fuel is usually more expensive due to taxes.