vance650

parking this fuel guzzler every chance I get and driving my junkyard special metro, 40-45 mpg.

djbikeman

That was pure sarcasm and directed at only one person. I live in the heartland and see farm trucks worked hard every day. I meant no disrespect, just trying to get a laugh out of it all.

essgeetee

Keep driving it just like I was, no point in having it if I don't use it. If things get too out of hand, I'll get rid of it. If it were paid off, it'd be one thing, but I am certainly not going to make a monthly payment on something I don't use.

HOHN

For now, I'm just minimizing how much I drive my truck. So far, I've been able to keep it down to less than 100miles a week. Heck, I've gone 2 weeks with not racking up 100 miles.

This has really helped keep costs down. I mean when fuel is expensive, all you can do is either miraculously triple your MPG, or you can simply drive less.

Even at this reduced usage, that's still $25 a week for fuel on the bad end of my mileage-- $20 if I'm on the hwy.


I'll say this: Super Googan is raising some VERY good points, but people are shouting him down? Why? I don't think he ever said no one had a right to complain about fuel costs-- just that most people are living far to close to the limits of their means (or beyond) to where they can't absorb even a small increase in fuel cost-- never mind the massive increase we've seen lately.

My fuel costs since I bought my truck have tripled. I hate it just like you do.


But I'm lucky because I have a little control over the cost-- I have the luxury of parking my truck.

My heart really goes out to those guys out there who need their trucks to put food on the table who are HAVE to rack up miles to do their job. They are getting creamed by this. They are stuck. They can't just stop working. They have to work harder to offset the higher fuel costs, and the harder they work, the more the fuel costs hurt that extra effort.

It sure makes a white collar job look a lot cushier.

Hang in there, fellas. It can't be this bad forever.


JH

rockcrawler304

Like others said, I too can cut back on some of my "wants" to get more of my "needs" which I am doing. I can afford the increase of fuel AND my payment on my $36k truck. But I also have the right to complain of the rise in cost of fuel. My biggest complaint is how it drives up the cost of EVERYTHING ELSE.
An extra $100 a month in fuel (for me) hurts but is not the end of the world. Everything else that has gone up really hurts the most and that is what a lot of people do not really see. About a month ago I paid $1.12 for a dozen eggs and last weekend I paid $1.88. Small increases like this in most of the stuff we buy daily or weekly adds up A LOT!

TurboTed

I use it for towing the fiver a couple months of the year. Use it for long highway trips or bad highway(winter) conditions. Other than that, it sits in the garage, and I drive the Alero to work, for short distance trips, or around town. No town driving for the Cummins, except to "fill-er-up"! Oh yeah- did I mention I'm watching a lot more TV lately??

Super Googan

I was really just trying to comment on the new American way of life. People are living way above what there income warrents. Just look at the housing crisis! People can point fingers at the mortgage company's and predatory lending but the truth is people purchased more house than they could afford or got greedy and tried to buy homes to flip for profit. The flippers and the people trying to live above there level of income are the people who caused this crisis!
The greedy people who purchased homes to flip for profit and got trapped when the variable interest kicked in before they could unload there investment.
I just don't feel bad for the people that need 2 new cars
a house that's twice as much as they can afford 2 big screen TVs and $20,000 on there credit cards.
Way to many people living on the edge today. Just for the American dream of having more house,car,boat,motorcycle or toys than they can afford.
Then when these jerks default on the loans WE PAY FOR IT!
With higher interest rates and goverment bail outs.
This thread just got me thinking about these jerks when I thought of people who buy $40,000 dollar trucks and can't afford the fuel.
I understand the high fuel prices suck and things are tough for a lot of people right now. Heck I don't like paying for diesel either but I live in a house that I can afford with a truck that I can afford. When the cost of living goes up I know I live within a budget that can absorb it!
OK guys I'm gonna shut up now before I give myself a seizure or pi*s to many people off.
Sometimes I just need to vent.

BgBlkTrk

^^^^^^^^^^^I know exactly what you mean-I don't feel bad for people that overextend themselves, but on the other hand, I don't feel bad for companies that delved into "predatory" lending either: both parties were well aware of what they were signing on the bottom line for, and now both are crying for handouts because they either can't afford their lifestyles anymore, or don't make as much profit as they did 2 years ago. But this is waaaaay off the subject of this post, so I too digress.........

Tree DR

So parking the truck is the only way to save or slow down some. I live in my truck everyday for work. My only advantage over most is I control my income and can pass on the extra cost to the consumer as long as there is a consumer.

05HDRAM

Right there is the problem. It's not that the extra cost for fuel can not be paid, but that extra money will not go back into the economy. The extra money I spend on fuel comes out of my budget for everything else. That means no more accessories for the truck and fewer upgrades to the house. I have been telling all the charities that I used to give donations to call me when Diesel drops back to $3.

The only thing I was able to do at this point was change my work hours so I don't have to sit in as much traffic. I really wish the Gov't would put some effort into better or more efficient traffic patterns instead of putting ridicoulous mpg regulations on the auto makers. I don't care if you drive a car that get's 70mpg, your still wasting fuel sitting in bumper to bumoer traffic for miles, it just doesn't cost as much. Still a waste.

GSW

I agree with everything contained within the above post. Personal responsibility is a thing of the past.


On topic, obviously the price of fuel drives up the prices on everyday items that are reliant on energy to deliver and/or produce. It sucks, but this is really the extent of what we can do at this point. Tips and tricks for energy/fuel conservation are always relevant topics for discussion, but it's even more important thanks to our severely flawed oil production/extortion/speculation/regulation/taxation system.

cwoodall

This has been good because I've learned a few things doing some research. Some major contributing factors to these high diesel prices include the fact that here in the US, we have a disproportionate production capacity of gasoline and diesel, hence high diesel demand. China and India are becoming major diesel users in leaps and bounds, hence high demand. We have to import much of the raw feedstock for diesel production. Now, that being said, the US is sitting on about 25% of the world's total coal supply. The process for making diesel from coal has been around since the 1920's, but it's been expensive to utilize...that was when oil was under $60 a barrel. Now that oil has topped $110 a barrel, this technology may/should perk up. Because the US has such vast coal resources, it makes sense to me that we use our own domestic stockpile and reduce the amount of imported product. I'm not sold on the idea that the big oil companies will focus on this enough to really make something of it. That's a shame.

805gregg

Parked my 03 1 ton and bought a Jeep Liberty diesel, get average 25 mpg now. Use the Dodge just for towing.

SolarExpress

I dont need my CTD. I drive it because I like and at the time of purchase, I could drive a full sized diesel truck for a lot less than a gas powered equivalent. I filled up last week for $142.00. When I bought it, it would cost $60-$70 to fill up, once a week (650-800 miles). My wifes '01 Intrepid now gets street duties while the CTD is making my garage look pretty. It still costs $80-$90 a week to run the Intrepid (even at 25+ mpg). The $50 a week I save powers the wifes 12 mpg Aspen.

Super Googan

Back on topic...
Remember to check tire pressure and run on the high side
for better mileage.
I remember reading that the tailgate spoiler on the 1500 ram is for improved fuel economy through aerodynamics.
I have no idea if it's true or what the real world mpg improvement is but may be worth a look for guys that spend
a lot of time on the highway

Clean fuel and air filters may also help to some degree