TSD Open Road Program Thoughts

[bgrhrdt]

I signed up for the Open Roads account, set it all up, and then looked on the app at what appeared to be pretty good diesel prices. I did my first fill-up and by the time all the fees were subtracted from the crazy high truck stop diesel prices, I only saved pennies on the total fill-up compared to what it would have been at most of the local stations. Here's what I found so far:

Pros: Fill up faster at the truck pumps
Availability of DEF right there at most pumps
Get in and out easily when hooked up to the 5er
Only have to go inside once per transaction

Cons: Hassle of dealing with confusing invoices on email (discount not applied on the emailed invoice - only when it hits your account)
No float - treated as immediate checking account debit
Losing 2% cash-back on purchases with my Citi MasterCard
Still have to go in for receipt
Not significant savings due to high truck stop prices

I admit I haven't used it more than the one time, but I really don't think this is going to work for me. Maybe at one time the discount was appreciable but not anymore it seems. I'd appreciate anyone's thoughts on this program.

[RickV]

Originally Posted by bgrhrdt

I signed up for the Open Roads account, set it all up, and then looked on the app at what appeared to be pretty good diesel prices. I did my first fill-up and by the time all the fees were subtracted from the crazy high truck stop diesel prices, I only saved pennies on the total fill-up compared to what it would have been at most of the local stations. Here's what I found so far:

Pros: Fill up faster at the truck pumps
Availability of DEF right there at most pumps
Get in and out easily when hooked up to the 5er
Only have to go inside once per transaction

Cons: Hassle of dealing with confusing invoices on email (discount not applied on the emailed invoice - only when it hits your account)
No float - treated as immediate checking account debit
Losing 2% cash-back on purchases with my Citi MasterCard
Still have to go in for receipt
Not significant savings due to high truck stop prices

I admit I haven't used it more than the one time, but I really don't think this is going to work for me. Maybe at one time the discount was appreciable but not anymore it seems. I'd appreciate anyone's thoughts on this program.

You have to do your homework on the day before travel days. I always check the day before I travel to see the prices at the regular stations vs the TSD ones. I get 5% cash back on fuel hen i use my Sam's Mastercard so that is one of the things I factor into it as the TSD card just takes it from checking. I also look at can I get into a regular station while hooked up. On our last move from Stony Fork Campground in Va. to where we are now in Whittier NC I used the TSD Card because even with the 5% cash back it was still cheaper $4.79 vs $4.34 and easy in easy out also got over 4 gallons of fresh DEF for just over $17. As for the fees 10% of your savings and a $0.65 transaction fee is not that bad especially when you factor in the convenience.
On a side note I had also tried the Mudflaps app and their prices seemed good because I could use a CC until I found out that the fuel purchases were not coded as such and my cash back was only 1%.

[ChuckS]

Don’t like truck stops.. haven’t found an issue yet where I can’t get my truck and fifth wheel into a local gas station on our travels and fuel

Out west the truck stops yesterday during travel from Idaho to Montana we’re averaging $5.28 for diesel.. we stopped twice for fuel at local stations and fuels for $4.89…

I do have a couple of gas CC and right now Phillips 66 / Conoco I get $.25 off per gallon of diesel by using their cell phone app linked to their CC..

I pay the fuel charges off every evening so there is no finance charge on my purchase . My LBZ engine don’t use DEF so we will keep running the old girl

[bsmith0404]

I like it and use it quite a bit. In my area I can get fuel at the local T/A cheaper than buying from the local stations, $4.17 vs $4.54. T/A and Petrol stops are much cheaper than Loves with the program. Luckily, we have a lot of T/As out west. For me it’s about convenience. I prefer to use truck stops while traveling. Most times they’re right at the exit east off/on have plenty of room to maneuver and the convenience of plenty of parking space and restaurants as well. Can you find regular gas stations where fuel is cheaper, sure, but I can easily look up prices of truck stops along my route and plan my stops. We tend to travel between 500-600 miles per day, I’m not wasting time looking for fuel that’s 2 miles off the highway in order to save a nickel.