Diesel drivers: What's it cost you to fuel?

[Earth_First]

I help manage a mid-size landscape company in New York state.

In the last week, we've seen the prices on diesel increase nearly fifty cents to $4.08 per gallon.

As a business that depends upon vehicles that depend on diesel power, you cannot imagine how this affects our bottom line.

Add to this the crash in the housing market and the recession, and we're looking at tough times ahead.

I'm just curious to see how others are making out, and what others are paying across the country.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

1. I saw it at $4.10 today in Southern California

I don't drive a diesel but I saw that on the pump and it took my breath away. I paid $3.50 for a gallon of regular gas this morning.

[Jane Austin]

2. $3.59 in Central Texas

Regular around here is $2.99. Why is mine 60 cents more?

[woofless]

3. $3.91/gal. in Bellingham,WA today.

Thank goodness we don't use the diesel truck that much. Will put a crimp in camping trips, but thats about it.

[Digit]

4. In the early 80's, I drove a diesel Rabbit, and diesel was ALWAYS more costly

I had heard it took less to refine diesel, and should be cheaper than regular gas, but it never was.

I understand your pain, though, having to try to keep afloat with prices so high and jobs so scarce.
I hope you do okay through all of this.

[ThomWV]

9. Are you sure about that?

Because as long as I have been driving diesels (mid 90's) up until recently the price was always considerably lower for diesel compared to regular gas, usually in the neighborhood of $0.20 per gallon or so less. I was very much suprised the first time I saw diesel selling for more than regular gas - because the it was something I had never seen in the first 5 or 7 years of driving one of them. Your experince seems to have been just the opposite of mine, but then back in the 80's dieself would have only cost around fifty cents a gallon or less.

[Digit]

12. I am positive

Maybe it was the aftermath of the gas crisis back at that time....just like it seems to be happening again now.

[bklyncowgirl]

5. $3.76 last time I put gas in my truck here in Jersey--up another 3 cents the next day

I bought a diesel primarily because a few years ago diesel was cheaper than gasoline and the added mileage that a diesel engine gets seemed a smart thing to do.

Silly me.

I don't use my '92 F250 for much these days, except for pulling my horse trailer and hauling big items around but even I am feeling the pinch. I can't imagine how busineses are able to afford this--except by passing the costs along to consumers. Every damn thing you buy from groceries to lawn gnomes gets hauled to the store on trucks fueled with diesel.

This cannot be good for anyone.

[Baby Snooks]

6. Price of diesel = price of milk

As the price of diesel goes up, so does everything else. Few people really stop to think about it. But diesel is what drives the trucks from the farm to the grocery store so to speak. And an average 50 cent increase is significant. As is the $2 plus increase in the price of natural gas for April which means significantly higher electric bills for most of the nation. And probably even higher in May.

We are not in a recession. We are in a depression. And it will only get much worse. And probably get much worse very quickly.

And what does this president consider a priority? Keeping the banks and corporations afloat.

And what does Congress consider a priority? Keeping the banks and corporations afloat.

We simply do not matter. To the Republicans or to the Democrats. Few of whom have any concept of the reality of the economy.

[Papagoose]

7. It's going to hit $4/gallon any day in N Georgia

I have a coworker who drives diesel - he tells me the cost per gallon is still offset by the mileage he gets. His expectation is that he'll still come out on top, as opposed to using gas, until it reaches $5/gallon.

[ThomWV]

8. First off don't by fuel at gas stations, get yourself a supplier, and other information

I filled up last week at $3.57 a gallon. The street pump price on that day was running right around $3.79. What you need to do is find a local fuel supplier that caters to commercial trucks and start yourself an account. Basically what you will be doing is buying from a wholesaler and the savings will be about $0.25 a gallon on average. So that's a start. Oh, make sure they have a small nozzel pump for small trucks. Big trucks have larger fuel inlets than small trucks do and the pumps have much larger nozzels that will not fit in your truck's gas cap hole. Very important.

Next thing is your fuel economy. Diesels get great fuel economy when its hot and not so great economy when it is cold, the difference can be as much as 6~8 miles per gallon. Winter time sucks. So try to arrange your truck use accordingly.

Then there are oil changes. Diesel engines hold lots of oil. It will cost you an arm and a leg to change it. My Ford holds 4 gallons of oil, by contrast most gassers hold 5 or 6 quarts. So if you change your oil yourself you have to figure a case of Rotella (they use special oil too) which is going to cost you about $50. Then there will be the $15 filter. So if you change our oil yourself its going to run you $65 to do it, about 4 times what it cost to change it in a gasser. Along that line, once you have done your break-in period and have had your first oil change you need to have an oil test done (Blackstone Labs) and then again after your fist normal use oil change. Ask them for a recommendation on oil change interval. If your drivers are not idiots you can save considerably by testing your oil and doing exactly as your oil analysis recommends, which is often a much longer oil change period.

It might surprise you to learn that some of the 'tuners' or 'chips' that improve performance (and the things really do work on Diesels) also give a remarkable fuel economy increase. When I added 40 horsepower to mine it concurrently increased the fuel economy by 3~4mpg. You have to be careful about combustion chamber temperature when you do it though and for the most part you can't use it if you are towing heavy (over 4,000 pounds or so) loads over irregular terrain. I use mine to tow an 8,000 pound load on level ground but shut it off when I get into the hills.

In the end you will really like a diesel. I will never buy another gas powered truck after owning a diesel, there just isn't any going back once you get the economy and power that a diesel give you - there is just no comparison in how much nicer a diesel is to drive.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

10. I just called Mr. Wonderful to check the diesel prices

here in Chicago. He said it's 4.09/gallon in the City proper and $3.99/gallon out here in the SW suburbs of Cook County.

He's been bitching about the price of diesel for about 4 years now. He can't figure out why it's so much more per gallon than regular gasoline. After all diesel is a by-product of the refining process and it should be cheaper.

He drives a Ford F350 van.

[madokie]

11. I noticed last night that it is selling for 3.59.9 here in northeast ok

regular was about 30 cents cheaper. The cost of diesel pretty much gets passed on down to us through higher prices for all our products we purchase. And for the ones who can't pass it down its out of business time.

[Ikonoklast]

13. I need to fuel up in the morning before I head out

Right now I'm sitting in upstate NY, $4.09 a gallon. It will cost me around $900.00, yes, that's $900.00 to fuel up, and I'm not even all the way empty; I can hold three hundred gallons of diesel.

Do the math. 300 X $4.09. And, I have to do that every third day I operate out on the road.

Or go out of business.

I'm not willing to be an alarmist, but very soon you will see $10.00 loaves of bread in grocery stores, if this trend line in transportation costs continues.

The rates to haul freight have not kept nearly kept pace with costs, and because of not keeping up with spiralling costs of operation, the cheaper carriers are going out of business at an alarming rate. As they leave the industry, those that are still here are trying to charge shippers and brokers accordingly.

Shippers and freight brokers are living in dream world still thinking they can get their product moved for a dollar and a quarter a mile, when $1.75 a mile is break-even point.

Freight is starting to sit on docks because carriers are unwilling to haul it at a loss.

I just hauled a load of juice to a Wal-Mart DC. It paid $3.00 a mile, including 124 deadhead miles. $0.77 of that went out the stack as burned diesel fuel, per mile.

Go down the road and throw a dollar out the window every seventy-two seconds, for every hour you drive. See how long you can do it.

I'll be lucky to come out of this area on $1.50 a mile. That's a dead loss for me.

I spent more on diesel last year than on my truck, trailer, maintenance, all taxes, insurance, health insurance, house payment, car payment, and take-home pay combined.


I know exactly how the cost of fuel impacts my business.

It's killing it.

[momophile]

14. $3.59 for diesel; $4.10 for biodiesel - in Colorado

went with the regular diesel this time.

[Pachamama]

15. $4.15 a gallon in Northern California....just tanked this evening....

And meanwhile my other cars take Premium which is going for $3.79....

Atleast the Diesel gets better mileage....I'm trying to determine which to drive more and where it works out best...but its shocking to see the cost rises just in the last few weeks...