Pop Quiz: Which fuel do you buy?

[LDB]

You've got to make a run from Chicago to Syracuse. There will be dozens of places along the way where you could buy fuel. You check dieselboss.com and find the J in Gary, IN is $2.339 and the J in Austinburg, OH is $2.399 and any others are higher still. You can hold 70 gallons if you stop in Gary or you can drive on to Austinburg and put in 110 gallons. If you stop in Gary you'll pay $163.73 for the 70 gallons and another $95.96 in Austinburg for the 40 for a total of $259.69. If you go to Austinburg and buy the 110 there you will spend $263.89 or $4.20 more. Where do you fuel and why?

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
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[JCK]

Well seeing that I have dual 60 gal. tanks, when ever that little indicator gets to the 1/4th level, and I Know I have about 150-200 miles left, I find the first pilot I come accross.
For most of us we have too much to worry about on the road then to figure out whos $20 bucks it is.
bad business man? huh? whatever, just go filler up, get the load done and filler up again.

peace out I have a poker tournament at pokerstars.com

 

[ABEJR2004]

I would say whatever it takes not to buy it in NY very high.


AbeJr
TranStewart #6680
Stand Tall & Be Proud

 

[LDB]

Actually you'd be better off buying it in Binghamton, NY at the T/A than any of the 3 Pilot's along the route in IN, at least if you get the same pricing with CD card that we do at Panther. More later. Anyone else?

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
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[LDB]

Well, for the two or three who may be interested here's the answer.

Where do you fuel and why? You buy all the fuel in Austinburg. For discussion let's say it takes 20 gallons to cross through IN and 30 gallons to cross through OH. When you drive through IN you owe 27cpg (cents per gallon) in fuel tax fees and in OH you owe 28cpg. That's $5.40 (.27*20) in IN and $8.40 (.28*30) in OH or a total of $13.70 in taxes.

When you buy fuel in IN you get a credit of 16cpg and in OH a credit of 28cpg. Notice that in IN they want you to pay 11cpg more in tax than they give in credit on your purchases. You would get $11.20 credit for IN and $11.20 credit for OH if you buy 70/40 for a total of $22.40 in credit. Subtract the $13.70 already used and you have $8.20 left when you drive into PA.

If you buy all 110 gallons in OH then you get $30.80 in credit or $8.40 more fuel tax credit than by splitting the purchase. Subtracting the $13.70 leaves $17.10 credit available as you drive into PA or $8.90 additional credit left in your account.

By buying in OH you put another $4.20 into your pocket before you pulled away from the pump. You also have $8.90 more credit left which added to the $4.20 in your pocket means by spending $4.20 extra you still kept $13.10 more of your money. As a solo figure on doing that two times a week and as a good running team four or $25/50 weekly differential. If money doesn’t matter at all then the $1000/2000 annually to solo/team means nothing and you should spend your time feeding the game machines and just fuel anywhere. Otherwise it’s all income tax free money going into your pocket.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
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[ABEJR2004]

Hey Leo,

Thats a good break down on the fueltax & credits. To often I slip into the "just getting fuel in every state hoping to balance it all out. Something else I need to go and tweek.


AbeJr
TranStewart #6680
Stand Tall & Be Proud

 

[LDB]

For D unit trucks it can make a big difference by the end of the year. Even with fuel as high as it is in NY it was cheaper for me to buy at the T/A in Binghamton with my Panther discount than to buy in IN for 23 cents lower price. I have better things to do with $100 a month than blow it on fuel. From the minimal response to this thread, I guess most D unit operators have $100 a month they don't need/want to worry about though. The money is there waiting to be recaptured though any time anyone wants to.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
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[nightcreacher]

if I'm not mistaking,indiana tacks on another 12cpg not on the pump

 

[LDB]

It's 11cpg above the tax collected at the pump. I mentioned that in my explanation of where to buy and why. The lowest price doesn't always mean the lowest cost. The difference can be worth $100 a month to a solo and $200 or more to a team.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
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Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[arkjarhead]

i wouldn't spend any money at the j unless i had no other choice.

 

[bambam]

i guess im luck i can fuel any where except the flying hook i'm a company driver

 

[Looney2]

Man my head hurts with all this fuel tax reporting stuff. I drive a cargo van now so I guess that it doesnt't matter but I was planning on getting a straight truck in the very near future but now Iam having second thaughts. To be honest, I thaught that fuel tax reporting was just an extra deduction at the end of the year. Now that I see all these posts about reporting, and where to fuel and where not to fuel Iam not so sure I want to buy a straight truck as I would be operating as a single driver anyways...Where's the Tylenol???lol

 

[RLENT]

David,

Man, I hear ya ...... talk about having to figure the angles .......... makes my head spin.

 

[LDB]

Many companies take care of the reporting and paying for you, deducted from your settlement if you owe additional tax of course. The point of my post wasn't that you have to do all the paperwork, it was to illustrate again how much money you can keep in your pocket if you take the time to check fuel prices. Using my Comdata card I get a discount at most chains. At T/A it can be as high as 20 cents a gallon off retail, depending on location. At Pilot I always get cash price minus 4 cents a gallon. I also have a Conoco branded credit card. I get a 3% rebate on all fuel purchases with it. Some J's are Conoco brand so at those I get 7 cents a gallon rebate or more. That makes charging it cheaper than paying cash. Factoring in fuel tax differences in the states a given run takes me through can mean as much as 30 cents a gallon combined savings for doing 10 or 15 minutes of research. I consider that a good trade off.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
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Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[jeffman164]

Makes my head spin !!!!!! How do you go about finding which states have the most taxes ? When you figure it all out then I would asume you would only buy diesel in those select states if possible. Right now I try to buy in In,Ky,Ga or Ok cause they usually have lowest pump prices. Not a clue about what taxes are levied though.

 

[highway star]

Jeffman, check out the anchored thread in the Newbies forum.

 

[LDB]

The latest chart I have is posted in the anchored thread. IN and KY are two of the worst states to buy in because they charge you much higher tax than they give you credit for when you buy. The price on the pump means nothing. It's the cost of the fuel that's important. Looking at the price on the pump is similar to looking at two 500 mile load offers of $1.20 mile and $1.50 a mile, just in reverse. If all we did was look at the "price" we'd say I'll take the $1.50 load. When we look at the "cost" we see that the $1.20 load also pays 30cpm fsc plus $100 toll money. By looking at all the variables we find we can either make $1.50 mile or we can make $1.50 mile plus $100. I've put examples in both threads showing the difference in cost of buying based on fuel taxes versus buying based on what's the lowest pump price. Read through the anchored thread several more times and maybe even do the math on paper as you go through it. Before long your head will quit spinning and you'll see a lot of free money waiting for you to capture it.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
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Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[ATeam]

In this case, fuel tax management is trumped by sleep management and next-run opportunities. Chicago to Syracuse is about 675 miles. One team member can drive the whole run, giving the other team member a nice block of uninterrupted sleep time (assuming this is an overnight run as many are). A fuel stop would likely wake the sleeping team member. Driving straight through maximizes sleep quality.

If business is the same in this run as it has been for us lately, we would likely receive predispatch offers during the run or dispatch offers shortly after delivery. Providing one team member the best-possible sleep enables us to immediately roll on the next run if one is available.

We would arrive at the Chicago pickup with fuel tanks full. If predispatched on the way to Syracuse, we would make our next fuel stop plans then. If not, we would refuel shortly after delivery in the Syracuse area so we would be ready for the next run. The fuel stop would be combined with showers for both of us before the other codriver goes to sleep.

This technique may leave some fuel tax money on the table. It also means we are less likely to decline runs we would otherwise take because we are too tired to drive.

Kindly note that freight flows differently for trucks of different types on with different carriers. If we delivered in Syracuse, we would half-expect to deadhead to New York City to pick up a load there before close of business the same day; a load that could take us to the west coast.

That does not happen all the time but it does happen. By managing sleep, we are able to be ready for such opportunities when they present themselves.

Considered alone, this fuel purchase strategy leaves some fuel tax money on the table. Considered in the context of sleep management and being prepared not just for the next run but for the next two or three that may come, it is a strategy that pays off.

 

[ATeam]

Leo, I appreciate your efforts to educate people about fuel tax and I am sure many others do too. But as others have reported, the numbers make my head spin too. Unless you are a numbers-oriented person, it is hard work to disect the large amounts of information presented.

I'm wondering if you can make it easier for those of us who find your admirable fuel tax dicipline hard to stick too. Could you simply list the top ten states to avoid? That would make it much easier for us to benefit from your info as we consider fuel stops along with everything else that is considered in a long run.

 

[LDB]

I'm afraid it isn't as simple as just saying buy in ABC and avoid XYZ. This is one component of our profession and as professionals we have to expect some things to take work and study on our part. I realize this isn't as simple as many things but it's not so difficult that an hour or two of studying it wouldn't master it.

I can say that three states to avoid, at least for me, are IN, KY and VA. They give a fairly small credit at the pump and charge you a higher rate than their credit. NY is another charging more than crediting but the difference is about 3 cents and the credit amount is one of the highest in the nation so it's still a good place to buy provided the math works out on net cost.

You get the highest tax credit in IL, MI, NY, PA, RI, WA and WI. That doesn't automatically mean it's best to buy there though. One trip it may be best buying in OH and the next trip it may be best to wait until you are in MI. You have to get the current price and then calculate the actual cost to know where to buy.

Once this is understood, which should be easily accomplished with an hour or two spent during a layover waiting on a plant to reopen or a 34 hour restart or when skipping one of the countless reality shows on tv, it only takes about 10 minutes to check dieselboss.com for prices along one's route. Another 2-3 minutes checking the company website for that day's T/A pricing, if you are fortunate enough to get great discounts like we do, and with 15 minutes or less work one knows where to fuel for the best savings.

I can appreciate wanting good sleep as well, however, for a team running 200k paid miles per year we're talking about potentially leaving $4000 or so on the table. That's more than I'd be willing to leave behind.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
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Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.