Have you ever wondered how big a semi-truck fuel tank is? They look enormous, and some trucks even have two.
As a general rule, a semi-truck fuel tank runs between 120- 150 gallons, and many semi-trucks have two tanks. Filling up a semi-fuel tank is not only expensive but adds a lot of weight to the truck since a gallon of diesel weighs about seven pounds. How far will a tank of fuel get them down the road?
If you want to learn more about semi-trucks and their fuel capacity, read below.
How Big are Fuel Tanks on Semi-Trucks?
With semi-trucks traveling hundreds of miles per week, it is easy to see why they have such huge fuel tanks. With 120–150-gallon tanks and many trucks having two tanks, that’s a lot of fuel to purchase at one time.
Diesel is up about eighty cents per gallon from 2020. According to current national averages, a gallon of diesel costs upwards of $3.21 per gallon. The average cost per tank of 150 gallons is $481.50.
Most truckers advise never to fill a fuel tank to more than 95% capacity because of the risk of spillage out of overflow valves and because diesel does expand and contract based on the temperature.
Experienced truckers also advise never to let tanks fall below 25% of the capacity. Many contaminants, including dirt and bacteria, accumulate in the bottom of the tank. If these were to be drawn into the engine, it could potentially cause issues for the truck.
How Does the Fuel Weight Effect Weight Limits?
Truckers must be aware of factors that could cause their trucks to be over limits and adjust for those to make sure they remain within limits that will not cause them to be accessed fines.
Fuel weight varies slightly with differences in the temperature, but typically it is less than half a pound. Sometimes truckers must adjust their weight capacity to keep from being overweight at weigh stations and when stopped by the highway patrol. Trucks found to be heavy limits typically get fined.
Sometimes truckers will only fill one tank or fill both tanks partially to keep weight down to avoid fines.
How to Get Better Gas Mileage
How can truckers get better Mileage? What factors affect fuel usage?
Several factors contribute to fuel consumption in semi-trucks. Speed, weight, and tire pressure significantly affect how much fuel a truck uses. Other factors that can affect fuel costs include the weather, traffic, and engine maintenance. So, how can you cut back on fuel costs?
Higher fuel costs can sharply cut into truckers’ profits when paying anywhere between $480 to $960 each time they stop for fuel. Improving their miles-per-gallon or MPG is obviously of great importance. Several factors are vital to enhancing MPG Include managing speed, weight load, and tire pressure. To learn more, read below.
Speed
Speed is critical to maintaining if you want to keep fuel costs down. According to statistics, a truck going on a 2500 mile haul will average 5.9 Mpg that decides to up the speed by as little as ten mph will use an additional 132 gallons of fuel and cost on average an additional $422 in fuel costs for the trip.
For best mileage, trucks should stay at 65 mph. At 75 mph, fuel consumption goes up about 27 % and arrives only slightly faster to your destination.
A 2500-mile trip at 65 mph will take you 38.46 hours to complete. The same trip going at a speed of 75 mph will take 33.33 hours to complete. That extra fuel costs you $422 or $84.40 x 5 hours.
Weight
Every pound of weight on your truck decreases fuel efficiency. Lowering weight either by cutting back on the amount of fuel purchased at one time or reducing freight weight or other stuff in the cab can reduce fuel costs.
Tire Pressure
With eighteen tires making sure tire pressure is correct is very important to help reduce fuel costs. Your steer tire pressure should be set at 110 psi if you have a 12000-pound front axle. In dry conditions, a psi of 95 is good.
Other Factors to Fuel Reduction
Maintaining your engine will help keep your fuel costs down. Driving a sluggish truck or needs a tune-up will use more fuel than a well-maintained one.
Traffic affects your fuel if you are breaking and accelerating a lot. Keep these things to a minimum. Minimize coming to a complete stop.
Weather can affect fuel costs. When driving in snowy areas or heavy rain, you will likely use more fuel.
To Conclude
Although semi-trucks can carry large amounts of fuel in their 120-to-150-gallon tanks, sometimes it is best to adjust the amount of fuel to give you better gas mileage and less chance of fines. Factors like speed, weather, maintenance on your engine, tire pressure, and weight all affect your fuel consumption.
