We usually try to plan out our fuel stops somewhat, and that also includes differences in price from state to state. Most of us with diesel pushers have an advantage of a large fuel tank and considerable range. We use Pilot Flying J almost exclusively as the truck lanes are easily accessed, have large capacity pumps, and we have a Good Sam/Pilot Flying J card that gives us a discount over and above even the cash price. Also on a trip like we are on now, knowing that New England has few Flying J's, we wanted to plan to get fuel as far into the Northeast as we could so we could travel around without worrying about fuel for some time.
Well, what a shock! Normally we'll find a few cents difference between states, but what we found this morning was unbelievable. We wanted to get way up in Pennsylvania before we fueled so we could easily travel all the way north to Maine and most of the way back without refueling, so I opened the Pilot Flying J app and found several truck stops near Wilkes-Barre, great. Then I checked the price, WOW! More than $.50/gallon as compared to VA! I couldn't believe it, so I went online to investigate and found out Pennsylvania has the highest fuel taxes in the nation. It sure surprised us. We are both from PA and never were aware of it, of course, it's not like we spend much time there.
So by looking around at our route and fuel needs we found we can fuel near Port Jervis, NY, right where we leave I-84 to head north on Rte 209. Wilkes-Barre prices are $3.759, and Montague, NJ is $3.399. That, my friends is significant enough to make a difference.
So be sure to take a look at the individual state prices as you travel this year, sometimes just a small adjustment to when and where you fuel can make a significant difference in fuel costs. Heck it'll get you a nice glass of bourbon:-)
2 comments:
Ahh couple of things.
The Peoples' Republic of Pennsyl-tucky passed er, were given, a 48 cent gas tax increase last year to try and rebuild the Penndot road design failures from the last 40 years. So the fuel dealers around the border of the state will reap the benefits of the legislatures' near sightedness.
The Andy Griffith show was filmed on the Paramount Studios back lot in Los Angeles, not North Carolina. The "lake" where Andy and Opey went fishing, was a reservoir in the San Fernando Valley.
Now, now, now, I never said the show was shot in NC. Mt Airy is where Andy was born and they still hold Mayberry Days every year celebrating the sitcom. Yes, they have taken advantage of that fact so there is a lot of "Mayberry" around.
It's funny when we lived in PA a million years ago, we never realized or maybe it didn't yet have a liberal bent, kind of like what started to happen in NH while we still lived there and much, much more to date. Either way to cross the border and see the jump in gas and diesel prices is something! Regardless of the reason I was trying to remind folks to make sure to take a look in advance at the individual state's fuel prices. But it is true PA roads were some of the worst in the country, we'll have to see if that increased revenue will actually find its way to the roads.
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