In my latest gig driving over the road, fuel economy and price are extremely important. I use an 08 3/4 ton Chev with Duramax and Allison to tow a 28' Haulmark cargo trailer about 500 miles a day delivering auto parts and tires to various places in southeastern Arizona. There is some mountain driving involved and some city driving too. Lots of stops. With ambient air temps here in the +100's, the AC is always on -- as much to dry me off as to cool me down.
With heavy loads in the trailer I average 9.5 to 10.5 miles per gallon though it can go lower with high wind conditions. If I use Biodiesel B99.9, the miles per gallon go down to around 8.5 to 9.5. The Biodiesel has been price competitive here, but in the last ten days regular ULSD has been cheaper by up to 20 cents a gallon. During a re-gen, the exhaust smells a hell of a lot better with the Biodiesel than with ULSD. As soon as the hauler passes the hundred thousand mile warranty mark, the re-gen system comes off and economy should improve.
The Haulmark trailer is a blunt nosed tank, sorta like dragging a boat anchor around. We tried to find a similar size trailer with a V-nose, but none were available in our area nor in fact, within 700 miles. I'm told that V-noses ad maybe a mile to a mile and a half better fuel economy. They also pull better because they do not wag their tail so much at higher speeds. Honestly, after a long day on the road, I feel like a sailor getting off a ship after a long sea voyage, the world seems shaky for a while.
If I stay under 65 MPH, economy is not so bad, maybe in the 10.5 to 11.5 range. Without the trailer and with a full load of tires in the bed, I can reach around 16 MPG. Empty and running at 65, the truck will easily do an average of 16 to 17.5 MPG. On flat land the hauler will achieve 22.5 MPG at 65 MPH.
I put in a long day so thankfully I'm not running under CDL rules. The work is not exceptionally hard -- worst day was unloading 182 tires and about 50 other items. I've lost thirty pounds and regained some muscle strength, so it's been a pretty good deal so far. Not much money in it however.
I think most Americans care a lot about fuel economy, but we do what we have to do to make a living and go about our private lives as we want to. If that means a SUV is needed to haul the kids and dogs around, then you just can't complain about high fuel prices. In my case, a 3/4 ton crewcab pickup is needed to haul trailers. Yes, it's big and it intimidates other drivers a bit, but it's comfortable, cool, and it works hard and is still quite reliable.
If the speculators will stay out of betting on oil futures and let the consumer market work, I believe fuel prices will stay reasonable this year. If the speculators get involved again like they did last year, we're sunk!