Best App For Fuel Locations

[rshinds]

As a new motorhome owner and new FMCA member, I wonder if anyone has a favorite app for locating nearest diesel fuel locations?

 

 

[wolfe10]

rshinds,

Welcome to the FMCA Forum.

We use gasbuddy and then google map to verify the station is accessible to our size rig.

[manholt]

Depends on how big your rig is and size of fuel tank.  I start looking at about 650 mile mark and I always use a Truck Stop...that's on Freeway!  Secondary roads are trickier, so I use the same as Brett and start looking around 450 miles!  I got a 150 gallon tank.

Carl

[tbutler]

If you are shopping truck stops like Flying J/Pilot, they have handy booklets with locations and they list services (propane, diesel, DEF, etc.) offered at each location.  I'm certain other truck stops also have similar information booklets.  Many of us have found that the prices at truck stops these days are nowhere near competitive with other local stations.  I do check web sites like the Pilot/Flying J web site to get an ideal of relative prices from one state to another.  If I know I'm heading into a state which has lower prices, I'll wait to fuel until I get to that state.  If fuel in the next state I'm headed for is higher in price then I'll fuel up where I am before entering the higher priced state.  Over time you get a feel for which states tend to have lower prices but it pays to check.  Once in a while there are surprises.

As Brett mentions, Gas Buddy (an app for phone or tablets) is a very convenient way to find the best prices for diesel or gas.  You can search near your present location or you can switch to the map view and scan other places along your route to see where the best prices can be found.  Pulling into a regular gas station with a big rig takes some careful study and steady nerves.  I look for the dip at the curb of the street (look for scrape marks left by other big rigs as they drag their hitch or more).  Then I size up the location of the diesel pumps and determine the best way to enter and what the exit route would have to be.  You can tell some of this from Google Maps but you may find a fuel supply truck or another customer parked in a way that makes the diesel pumps inaccessible.  You may be able to wait out a temporary obstruction or you may just have to pass that station up and find another. 

On my first try in a regular station I scraped a cargo door on one of those barriers they put next to the pumps to keep you from running into the pump.  Lesson learned, I stuck with the truck stops until I had a better sense for maneuvering around fuel pumps and other obstructions.  Now I regularly refuel at Sam's Club, Walmart and grocery store stations.  With Gas Buddy I have saved as much as 40 cents per gallon over a Flying J that was just a few miles away.  One scrape though will wipe out any savings for a long time. 

[BillAdams]

Gasbuddy!  However, price is not THE reason to visit a particular station.  Will you be able to get in and out?  Is the fuel fresh?  (Very important).  I am a big fan of Pilot/Flying J but since they merged their pricing has skyrocketed.  Today I try to find anything else but the options are so slim that I usually have to just suck it up and go despite the higher price.  Recently in the Houston, TX area we were able to stop at a Buckee's and the diesel was $2.19 and Flying J at the next exit was $2.69.  The Buckee's pump cut off at $150 so I had to use a different credit card and start the pump a 2nd time but it was worth the savings.  So many "cheap" diesel locations have no provisions of any kind for an RV, much less a large RV or an RV with a toad.

Depending upon where you travel you also need to be aware that there are prices and then there are prices.  In OR the price on the sign is "with PUC" and you don't have a PUC so what you see you need to add .30/gallon as that's what us non-commercial folks will pay.  IN is another with pricing differences and AZ is a State with there is a discount for diesel if you are not commercial.  It will take some time to work it all out but you will get it and life will be good (even if you didn't get the best price)!  LIfe if good.  Fuel is required for our good life.  Don't let a few dollars get in the way of that fact.

[wildebill308]

9 hours ago, rshinds said:

As a new motorhome owner and new FMCA member, I wonder if anyone has a favorite app for locating nearest diesel fuel locations?

 

 

Welcome to the forum. As Brett and Tom mentioned, Gasbuddy is probably #1 but each chain hat there own program. Pilot/flying J, Allstays, Big Truck Stops combines several of the major players into one place. Walmart and Sam's club both have apps to help you find them. When not at the diesel lanes at the truck stop I look for diesel on the outside islands I try to see my way out before pulling in. The outside pumps will give you more room next to the pumps in most cases.

Bill

  

[manholt]

BillA.  Stay away from Buckee's in Mansfield, TX. I-45N...cost me 2.499, I asked why so high, we are in Texas was the managers answer.  OMG, headquarters and the founders are in and Texan...I told him that Buckee's on I-10 in Lulling is $2.199 and I would call the main office. 

[wildebill308]

Bill A. Have you tried just re running the same card? I have just re run the card when the pump shut off. I like Buckee's and they are expanding. There is a new station that is expanding fairly quickly called Fuel City. They have cheap prices and dedicated truck lanes. https://www.fuelcity.com/fuel-city-dallas So far just in North Texas.

rshinds, Keep your eyes open many gas stations have dedicated truck lanes, usually off to the side and separate from the car lanes. After a while you will know where you can get in and out.

Bill

 

[wolfe10]

The statement often comes up "but I want a station with FRESH fuel so I only stop at .........

Totally agree about fresh fuel, BUT (yes a big BUT) in today's digitally tuned-in world, doubt the "cheapest diesel station in 100 miles" is at risk of having old fuel.  Will probably turn over much faster than more expensive stations.

We have been in grocery fuel stations (HEB in Del Rio Texas comes to mind) where the 18 wheelers were lined up to fuel.  Ya, cheaper than any other station and enough room for the largest RV.  Probably pumped more gallons per day than all the other stations in town combined.

[manholt]

Brett, your right on, my place to fill up when I take 90E/W...I-10 is faster, but BORING.  Have talked to enough OTR's to learn that Company owned rigs, go to Pilot, Flying J, T/A or Love's.  Privately owned, go where the cost is lowest...there is a Chevron station on Hwy 59N, just before Livingston, Tx. that has great prices, also Hwy 149 just north of Mount Belleview, Tx. By the Correction Center (Jail). 

Now if you see no 18 wheelers in/or around a TS, there generally is a reason...I have run across some in different parts of the country that has a lot of trucks, but non at the pumps, they are there because of the food.  

[jleamont]

Curious, do any of you find it difficult to pull in and out of the smaller fueling stops i.e. ground clearance entering and exiting? I always lean toward truck stops for fuel, mostly due to the turnover rate, convenience and no issues with the parking lot size. I did get stung with a Love's last year with bad fuel, anyway......

I have tried to go to the cheapest place, could get in but had to unhook the toad to turn around and get out, then to make it worse it wasn't a high flow nozzle. I think I might have been there close to an hour . After that, no way unless its off an interstate and well advertised that they have "Truck Diesel".

[manholt]

Joe.  At 45 foot and a toad, I don't even try!  Only once, I was in a RV park and needed fuel for Aqua Hot.  I found a "we deliver low sulfur, no BIO fuel", 50 gal. minimum at $4.00 per gal., I took 100 gal.  Now, I come in with 100+ gal, to RV parks, summer or winter. 

[kaypsmith]

I use Pilot/Flying J when I can, because I have a FlyingJ rvplus card, this allows me to put in as much fuel, up to my card limit that I need. Also there is an automatic at the pump 8 cent per gallon diesel discount from the cash price, and I must pay monthly the entire balance (a true charge card), no balance = no interest. Also their app (MyPilot) is set up to notify my smart phone via text of every upcoming stop, closest proximity. By the way same card allows 5 cent discount on every gal. of gasoline and propane. 

[mypopslou]

I agree with Kaypsmith and use the RV Plus Card for the discounts at Flying J, Pilot and I believe Road Ranger is also part of Pilot. Never have an issue with enough room to maneuver and usually go to truck lane to fuel if they don't have a dedicated RV island, where it is so much quicker to fuel with the larger nozzles. 

[CarlAda]

I also prefer to use Pilot/FlyingJ with the RVPlus card.  Quick, easy, and reliable.  Might be a few cents more per gallon than the station 5 miles off the interstate, but I'm okay with that.

[manholt]

The last Pilot I was in, had a sign that said BIO up to 20%...I left.  Right down the road was another TS that had no BIO and .189 cents a gallon cheaper!   I probably took 90+ gallons.  My last fuel stop was in Lufkin, TX. April 26.  I got 99.274 gal. at $2.299 per gal. no BIO ! 

[kaypsmith]

At least in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee, BIO doesn't seem to be an issue yet. If I go where it is at that station, I will also go elsewhere, my OLD jimmy would probably croak if it saw much of it. 

[BillAdams]

If you want an app that will show you where all the Pilot / Flying J stations are located then this certainly would be the best app.  However, if you are looking for the best prices, Pilot / Flying J is likely the MOST expensive fueling option you can find.  Expensive is not always bad when you consider what might happen if you try to get in and out of a station with cheap fuel but not room for a big rig.  You just have to use good judgement (and Google Earth) to find cheap gas at a station designed to handle an RV of your size.  If you ONLY use the Pilot / Flying J app you will always pay too much.  I prefer to only pay too much when absolutely necessary.

[elkhartjim]

Buc-ee's, Bastrop, TX, was $2.149 today.

[wildebill308]

Jim, tell them how many diesel and gas pumps there were at Buc-ee's.

Finally got to fill up today after the trip last week. Kroger in Burleson Tx $2.099 I had some points so first 35 gal was $1.929., beats the Loves at exit 60 in Amarillo $2.649.

Bill

[elkhartjim]

I'm not sure but the one in New Braunfels, TX, has 120 pumps plus 83 toilet stalls.

 

[manholt]

Jim.  You count toilets?

[kaypsmith]

Must not have been in too big a hurry huh Carl.

[hermanmullins]

I wonder how many did Jim have to check before an empty one was found??

Herman

 

[elkhartjim]

I count by 10's. For you out of towners, Buc-ee's is a destination for some interstate hwy travelers in Texas.

Here are a few of their billboard slogans.

• "If It Harms Beavers, We're Against It!"
• "Clean Restrooms, We Guaranpee It"
• "No dancing the two-step in our restroom"
• "It's A Beaver!"
• "Restrooms So Clean, We Leave Mints on the Urinals"
• "Ice, Beer, Jerky: The 3 Food Groups"
• "The Top Two Reasons to Stop at Buc-ee's: #1 and #2"
• "A Bigger Kolache I Never Sausage a Thing"
• "Don't worry, P happy"
• "Epic Flush"
• "Don't stay thirsty my friends."
• "Worth the Wait"
• "The Eyes of Buc-ee's Are Upon You"
• "Buy a gift, leave a gift."
• "Don't pass our gas!

[manholt]

 

Jim.  I think you have a fetish !

Carl