Gas vs Diesel

[nlambert182]

Make no mistake... there is a place for gassers and they're a smart choice in many cases. But having towed heavy with both, I would choose a diesel over a gasser regardless of how frequent it's being used. When you need it you need it. Save a few bucks at the pump, or slow down deliveries and miss potential deadlines and potentially a sale. It's all in what someone can stomach and the tradeoff they're willing to make for the reward. It's an individual decision.

Gassers make sense for service trucks or things of that nature but if you're towing more than 15k lbs frequently and over terrain, they just struggle. It's akin to why you won't find a gasser in many of the 40'+ Class A motorhomes. They're mainly in smaller and lighter class As and the Class Cs. Even the Super C runs diesel. They're just made to haul.

 

[Choupique]

Yea, I knew it was going to be unpopular when I said it. It always is. Gas is the right choice. The reliability is better, Capex is better, opex is better. If it can do the job required it's the right choice in 2024.

There's always a bunch of immediate anecdotes of 3 year old trucks with zero issues at 5k miles a year. If you're tracking total cost for trucks, the best case for the diesel that doesn't live hooked up 24/7 is you break even vs the gas. One failure might drastically set that back in the red. It's a risk you simply don't have with the gas.

20 years ago our fleet was all diesels. Now the only diesels we have are the trucks that require it. The gassers get the job done for less money and less risk.

 

[andymax]

I would still like to hear more real world fuel mileage from both the diesel and gas folks both empty and pulling a heavy trailer.

I'm honestly confused why MPG is any real concern given your specific use case. We're talking about 8K miles per year in this case, and lets assume all miles are towing so:

Diesel - 8000miles divided by 10mgp = 800 gallons. 800gallons @ 4.50/gal = $3600.
Gas - 8000miles divided by 6mgp = 1333 gallons. 1333gallons @ 3.50/gal = $4667
Difference = $1067 Per year worst case.

Just off the top it takes you over 9 years to get your money back on the cost of the diesel engine. If your mileage is better than stated (likely) then the story improves in your favor. But again, this seems to be a business-only vehicle with very specific and limited use. My company's money would rent first, buy a gasser second, and buy a diesel third.

HOWEVER...if you really want the diesel, and the company's cash flow can easily support it, then just pull that trigger!

Andymax, renting is an interesting idea? Who would rent such a vehicle?

https://www.enterprisetrucks.com/content/truckrental/en_US.html and there are certainly others.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[stevenP]

Two of the most important words......exhaust brake. The cummins has it for trying to stop heavy loads, its awesome.

 

[mtnrider]

I'm honestly confused why MPG is any real concern given your specific use case. We're talking about 8K miles per year in this case, and lets assume all miles are towing so:

Diesel - 8000miles divided by 10mgp = 800 gallons. 800gallons @ 4.50/gal = $3600.
Gas - 8000miles divided by 6mgp = 1333 gallons. 1333gallons @ 3.50/gal = $4667
Difference = $1067 Per year worst case.



Good luck with your decision!

Where the heck are you that diesel is a dollar more a gallon than gas? My local diesel is roughly the same price as mid grade gas right now. I just filled up yesterday for $3.49 a gallon

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[star_deceiver]

If you’re really set on gas, check out a 5500 with 4.88s and the aisin behind the Hemi. But personally, this is diesel all the way.

 

[andymax]

Where the heck are you that diesel is a dollar more a gallon than gas? My local diesel is roughly the same price as mid grade gas right now. I just filled up yesterday for $3.49 a gallon

OP Shows he's in Washington. I'm in Ohio, clearly shown under my avatar. Currently the delta is about $.50/gal here, but it has varied wildly over the last year or two. I was just using these numbers as an example. I know fuel taxes are all over the map state to state, AND, that OP would own this vehicle for many years, and over the last several years we've seen major swings and deltas between gas and diesel, so it is reasonable to expect the same variation in the coming years.

Maybe I should I offer further calculations by state, major metropolitan area, or zip code? sheesh...just trying to paint a financial example for the OP.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[nlambert182]

Yea, I knew it was going to be unpopular when I said it. It always is. Gas is the right choice. The reliability is better, Capex is better, opex is better. If it can do the job required it's the right choice in 2024.

There's always a bunch of immediate anecdotes of 3 year old trucks with zero issues at 5k miles a year. If you're tracking total cost for trucks, the best case for the diesel that doesn't live hooked up 24/7 is you break even vs the gas. One failure might drastically set that back in the red. It's a risk you simply don't have with the gas.

20 years ago our fleet was all diesels. Now the only diesels we have are the trucks that require it. The gassers get the job done for less money and less risk.

I'd question realiability. It depends. Long term (minus the potential for an emissions equipment failure) diesel is typically more reliable and have a much longer service life. Before we talk about major failures in general, the Hemi comes with it's own risk. Neither are guaranteed to be trouble free.

CAPEX is better on a diesel if you're considering depreciated value. You can also recoup the cost difference between the Cummins and a Hemi if sold.
OPEX might be on the fence. It "might" cost more to operate, it "might" break even, or it "might" cost more. That's hard to decipher since it depends on use case.

All that said... a gasser could be a viable option, but it really depends on the need. There are other outside operational risks that can be influenced by the type of truck that are not specific to whether the truck is gas or diesel. These are things that only the OP will know in their specific use case.

 

[Tulecreeper]

I can tell you that my 2500 diesel towing a 6000lb boat on flat ground gets about 13 mpg round trip. 21ish mpg unloaded. Dragging a 10k lb trailer 75 mph across Colorado, about 10.5 mpg.

At $1+ a gallon more than gas, it takes a bunch of miles to get ahead. One SCR failure, or injector failure, or any failure to so with the engine drastically increases the duration to get ahead. At the mileage you are driving you'll never see it.

Methinks your mileage would be a tad better if you kept your max towing speed at 65 or less. And it would lower your odds of killing someone because you're towing way too fast. You know, just tossing that out there.

 

[Tulecreeper]

Where the heck are you that diesel is a dollar more a gallon than gas? My local diesel is roughly the same price as mid grade gas right now. I just filled up yesterday for $3.49 a gallon

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Pretty much everywhere I've been for the past 30 years.

 

[Tulecreeper]

Two of the most important words......exhaust brake. The cummins has it for trying to stop heavy loads, its awesome.

The 6.4/8-speed will do just fine on its own to keep your speed under control.

 

[nlambert182]

Pretty much everywhere I've been for the past 30 years.

Come to Alabama. I actually paid $.30/gal less for diesel last week than my wife and son paid for premium gas.

 

[mtnrider]

Pretty much everywhere I've been for the past 30 years.

I know you are a big "gas" guy but that's just a flat out lie. Seriously, statements like that are ignorant and don't do anything for your creditability on here.

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[runamuck]

Come to Alabama. I actually paid $.30/gal less for diesel last week than my wife and son paid for premium gas.

easy to find dsl cheaper than premium gas here too. to answer the op's question, I would sub-contract the hauling or rent/lease a truck just for the hauling season or buy gas dually for the least cash outlay and then depreciate the truck and deduct the fuel as an operating expense. always better in my view to hang on to cash when you can.

 

[Tulecreeper]

I know you are a big "gas" guy

Don't know where you got that from. I have no issues with diesels, or a particular preference for gas.

but that's just a flat out lie. Seriously, statements like that are ignorant and don't do anything for your creditability on here.

Name calling is more than childish. What possible reason would I have have to lie? And there is no ignorance involved as I know what I'm talking about. I am flat out telling you that the vast majority of stations I have seen in the past 30 years that sell both gas and diesel, the diesel has run anywhere from $0.50 more to $1.50 more and to my recollection I have never seen a station anywhere where diesel was less than gas. The last time I remember diesel being less than gas was probably back in the late 90's sometime.

 

[Motoman501]

It's strange here, diesel is currently $0.60 to $0.70 less per gallon.

 

[mtnrider]

Yeah, not sure what crap hole that guy lives in but up until the current administration diesel has always been the same or cheaper then gas except a few rare occasions. I've lived, traveled and worked all over this country for the past 30+ years. Also there is data to back that up, it's an easy search. It's laughable to say it's always been $1+ more then gas the past 30 years. Lol


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[White six four]

What type of gas are you guys comparing to diesel? Reg, mid grade, premium? I see premium mentioned which in WI by me is 91 no ethanol and usually .90-1.10 higher then regular 87 octane with 10% ethanol. Diesel is usually $1.00 more a gallon then 87 octane here during the "winter" blend months. During the summer with summer blend gas, diesel is usually a lot closer or the same as regular gas.

I really dont get the comparison between premium (which here is 91) to diesel prices in this situation. The hemi doesn't need premium. I would definitely be running the recommended 89 octane pulling the load the op wants too though. Around me 89 octane is usually 20 to 40 cents more then 87.

At only 8k miles a year fuel cost wouldn't even cross my mind between gas or diesel.

I would go diesel though with that heavy of a load or look into renting or subbing it out like was mentioned.

 

[mtnrider]

What type of gas are you guys comparing to diesel? Reg, mid grade, premium? I see premium mentioned which in WI by me is 91 no ethanol and usually .90-1.10 higher then regular 87 octane with 10% ethanol. Diesel is usually $1.00 more a gallon then 87 octane here during the "winter" blend months. During the summer with summer blend gas, diesel is usually a lot closer or the same as regular gas.

I really dont get the comparison between premium (which here is 91) to diesel prices in this situation. The hemi doesn't need premium. I would definitely be running the recommended 89 octane pulling the load the op wants too though. Around me 89 octane is usually 20 to 40 cents more then 87.

At only 8k miles a year fuel cost wouldn't even cross my mind between gas or diesel.

I would go diesel though with that heavy of a load or look into renting or subbing it out like was mentioned.

I've always (up until brandon) been able to get diesel within a few cents (+/-) of the cheapest (85/87) gas, and certainly Always cheaper then premium. Right now it is slightly more then 85/87 and about the same as mid 89 octane gas (it varies +/- a few cents).

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[chri5k]

For business use, I would be in the rental camp. An F550 diesel with a gooseneck hitch would be ~$9k for the six weeks including mileage charge. The expense should be deductible so there is that aspect.

Also, the factory warranty is considerably shorter when buying a truck for business use. With a rental, repairs and maintenance are not your problem. If it dies during harvest season, call the rental company to tow it away and bring you another one. When you own it, you are stuck with no harvest vehicle until the repair is completed. Could end up being some part on indefinite back order and you will have to rent anyway or miss harvest season.