Rising Fuel Prices - Are You Driving Less?

[SKing]

For real? I can't imagine the cost per mile in that rig compared to my CTD

16 mpg hand calc. Hwy is 17-17. 6 If you take a $40,000. diesel and what I paid for my truck $28,000. gas and take 100,000 miles at diesel at $4. 00 a gal and 17mpg. And then take a gas at $3. 15 a gal and 14 mpg and not including oil changes or any work needed on trucks (diesel higher) the diesel will cost $64,000. and the gas will cost $50,000. to run over the 100,000 miles. Now keep in mind to get a diesel mega cab like mine is around $45,000. And if you keep up with fuel cost you will see that diesel is going to run about $1. 89-$2. 00 more per gallon then gas this summer. My father runs oil fields for Exxon in south Texas and I am up to date with oil and fuel cost.

 

[BHaden]

Yup . Parked the 06 mega 3 weeks ago and bought a REALLY nice 3. 8 V-6/5speed 98 Mustang for $3000 that is getting a solid 28mpg in my daily 85 mile commute. I bought the Truck for retirement in a couple years, so I'm actually OK with it as I'm now racking up the miles on the Mustang rather than my truck or my wifes car (05 Jeep Liberty 3. 7). We carpool 3-4 days a week.

 

[klenger]

I just filled up for the 1st time in several weeks. $3. 759 at Frys before $0. 10 discount using the Frys's card points. Anyway, I drove 614 miles on a tank using 32. 9 gallons of diesel = 18. 67 MPG ($0. 20 / mile). While that may at first seem like pretty good milage, consider that 120 of those miles was towing my 10,000 lb 5th wheel for a weekend camping trip (Picacho Peak SP). I can fiddle with estimated towing MPG on my Excel worksheet, and I come up with about 13 MPG towing and 20. 9 MPG empty.



Even at $3. 75 / gallon, my average monthly fuel cost with the above milage is only $206. and my monthly elec bill for my all-electric house is $65.



That, my friends, is why I'm going to continue to go camping. I suspect that my 7400 lb truck gets better milage than 85% of the SUVs on the road.

 

[DirtRider]

$4. 30 a gallon here in Connecticut today ... ... UNF***IN real! If ya think diesel prices are bad ..... wait till ya have to fill your oil tank for heat!

 

[PAllyn]

Diesel fuel jumped $. 80 in the past 10 days so I am cramming into my wife little car for as long as I can stand it. Oil companies are making sure they get all of that IRS check - coincident that the bill for our fuel will come due about the same time that $600 tax rebate arrives. So much for stimulating the economy - the oil companies are going to get it all...

 

[brods]

$4. 30 a gallon here in Connecticut today ... ... UNF***IN real! If ya think diesel prices are bad ..... wait till ya have to fill your oil tank for heat!

I hear ya, this year the price of liquid gold has been brutal! At least one can help heat their house with wood, not much one can do with the truck.



$4. 20 here to top off after delivering some equipment. The truck stays parked with a full tank until needed. Old beater 92 Saturn still gets 35 city 40 highway. Not much fun, but it can hold a surprising amount of stuff and after filling up the huge 10 gallon tank, there is some money left over to buy food and such.

 

[Matt400]

16 mpg hand calc. Hwy is 17-17. 6 And if you keep up with fuel cost you will see that diesel is going to run about $1. 89-$2. 00 more per gallon then gas this summer.

Well your mpg is a little better than I expected empty. Maybe you don't tow much.

I get 14-16 towing depending on my weight and 20 empty, hand calc as well.

I paid 32K for mine and based on my needs- diesel will have to be $2. 10 higher than regular before my cost per mile is even with a gas truck that gets 10 towing at which point I still wouldn't consider it cuz I think the CTD will outlast it.

 

[cArNiVaLwOrKeR]

After plowing into a Caravan yesterday, Im driving alot slower now

Wow that was SCARY. .



JoeLee

 

[Jim Smith]

trucking deregualtion was our ally

The trucking industry would not have put up with this fuel mess a few years ago but deregualtion has allowed them to pass on the cost in the way of products. We private (non commercial ) owners now have no ally to help us. They would have shut down the country till something was done and believe me it would have changed. . Not so any more. This is my understanding of the problem . Thanks, ps , if we could somehow get organized we might still have a chance.

 

[WhiteSheep]

Perspectiver

I have parked by 4. 5 3/4 Cummins for an '08 Charger R/T R/T. I'll still use the Ram to tow and haul, but not as a daily driver. The Hemi Charger gets the same MPG on my 15mi commute (18mpg), but the fuel is 15% cheaper. The charger is way more fun to drive too. Sure, I could have purchased a hybrid or a V6 Charger. Life is too short.

 

[AMink]

Looks like I'll be riding my bike to work, but not until it warms up a little more. Riding to work is easy. It's about a 10 minute ride. Riding home is a drag. Up hill, against the wind at the end of the day makes it a 25 minute ride. :{ Wish I would have kept my old 250 Ninja! I'll probably be looking for a cheap 250 enduro bike for commuting. My wife drives an Expedition, so there's no savings there, either. But it is paid off!

 

[steved]

I could say both yes and no...



I am back driving the car now since winter is almost over (the wife drives it in the winter), so the truck is sitting... but it always does this time of year. I have a 106 mile daily commute... and I was driving the truck every day until today.



Am I going to drive less... nope. I am not going to limit my getting out because fuels has risen $0. 75. It is what it is... I have no control over it and I refuse to sit at home worrying about it. I plan on doing a lot of camping this coming summer with my new-to-me 5vr.

 

[DHuffman]

I drive my '05 Honda CR-V pretty much all of the time now. Not sure when I will start driving the Ram again on a regular basis.

 

[Matt400]

We were discussing this last night and when it gets warmer my wife and I will take the Triumph to work, should be fun and good excuse to get her on the bike!

 

[mgoncalves]

No, if anything I am driving more. I have been more interested in getting better mileage out of my trucks though.