Community Forums

vegasmun · 01-20-2016, 04:55 PM

This August we're traveling up US 93 from Glacier NP to Calgary and then working our way east to Regina, Saskatchewan and back down into the States. We have a 43 ft. diesel MH w/ tow and looking for the easiest places to fuel up. I see a lot of cardlock locations and thinking they are for commercial truckers? I also see a lot of Husky's. Are they diesel/big rig friendly? And I see a number of Flying J and assuming they are similar to those in the States? Thanks for any information and suggestions.

jacwjames · 01-20-2016, 05:11 PM

We went though Glacier on our way to Alaska in 2009. We didn't have any problems finding fueling stations and didn't specifically look for large truck types.

I did find a website that had weekly posting of fuel costs in most of the major cities with the station listed. I used this to plan my stops and saved quite a bit of money.

Gasbuddy now has a presence in Canada.

USA National Gas Price Heat Map - GasBuddy.com

luckyd · 01-20-2016, 06:14 PM

Most Husky stations and Flying J's are big rig friendly.
Cardlocks are for trucking companies.

Your credit card will work at all service stations and
unlike the USA, you do not need to enter your ZIP code.

1ciderdog · 01-21-2016, 10:31 AM

We have driven twice to Alaska and once to Nova Scotia and never had a problem fueling the beast. If you stay at an RV park ask them about fueling and prices.

tnrvers · 02-04-2016, 02:10 PM

vegasmun

Sorry I didn't see your post earlier.

We did a month and a half of central and eastern British Columbia and western Alberta last year, and came back to the states out of Calgary via 4 onto I-15.

During our complete meandering route we never experience any problem getting fuel and most of the time got it at places such as Fred Meyer, Safeway, Costco and Sam's Club because of the price savings. Never had a problem using the credit card as ours didn't charge an "international use fee" and we got the current exchange rate, also at no charge, which substantially lowered the price of fuel. The exchange rate was somewhere around $.77 US to $1.00 Canadian. Our unit is a 39 foot Bounder Diesel Pusher and we tow a Grand Cherokee, 3 foot shorter than you, but should give you a good comparison.

You didn't say what kind of time you have, but if it were me, before heading east since you will be in Calgary, I would explore both Banff and Jasper National Parks. We preferred Jasper over Banff, but the area around both are beautiful and should be on everyone's bucket list. If you only have time to do one, be sure to include a visit to the Columbia Ice Fields, I promise you we not regret it.

Hope this gives you a little more insight.

Tom and Barb
2000 Bounder 39Z

Ron_H · 02-07-2016, 07:29 AM

You will find very little difference in regard to fueling in Canada than in the US, other than the measurement being in "litres" rather than "gallons" and the price. (3.78541178 litres = 1 US gallon) If you want to know your true cost of fuel, don't forget to include the monetary conversion including any service fees charged by your bank or credit card provider.

Card locks are intended primarily for commercial vehicles who have a charge card with that fueling service. Some, who have a retail store that is manned, will take payment and allow you to fuel but many are unmanned and inaccessible to you.

There are not many Flying Js up here, but a few, and they operate the same as those in the US. Husky is a Canadian oil company predominantly located in western Canada. Many of their highway locations are trucker oriented and will have lots of room for large RVs. They also have many urban area stations that are designed just like other neighborhood gas station and those might or might not have room.

The bottom line is that finding serviceable fueling locations won't be an issue. As is the case in some areas of the US, where there are long stretches with a major city, be prepared and don't run off the bottom half of your tank unless you know the distance to next fuel location. As in the US, fuel may also be higher priced outside of urban or high traffic areas so save your self some money and plan your fuel stops wisely.

For me, I have a 150 US gallon fuel tank and its range allows me to plan fueling at the most economic locations. As an example, fuel prices are higher in BC than Alberta so with a range of over 1000 miles (mountain travel mileage) I can avoid buying fuel until in BC, getting it in the US (preferred) or Alberta. I use Gasbuddy.com to check ahead on current diesel pricing.