[slowmover]

Interstate is always best choice. Even if somewhat longer. For purposes of less stress and higher mpg. I'm a truck driver, I route plan constantly. Choose the Rand McNally Commercial Road Carriers Atlas. Look at the main US map. Choose the Interstate[s] corresponding to best route (I'd avoid California, but I'd be willing to pay the extra; worst state in the Union).

Plan your stops. Use a low estimate of fuel economy. Choose a truck stop such as Flying J/Pilot (use app). All the amenities. Same side of road as travel direction if possible. Breaks every two hours or 100-miles. Assume 50-mph average speed for planning (no matter how fast you travel, 58 or 62, 50-mph covers fuel stops and short breaks when looking at engine run hours versus total miles).

Windshield cleanliness important, but side glass and mirrors more so. Clean at every stop. Interior too.

Adjust drivers seat posture to upright and close enough not to have to "reach" top of wheel. Then with a helper adjust mirrors to capture vehicle edges without turning head.

Read on how to set marker triangles if breakdown occurs. Must be set within ten minutes. Done wrong almost universally. Class II safety vests. Get drivers side 20' from highway shoulder stripe if possible. Stop where traffic can see you from a man or more behind you if at all possible. Do not leave headlights turned on. Just four ways. Obviously, carry some food and water.

Check tire pressures before leaving dealer. Insist he inspect tires. Complete tread. Do your homework and know how to inspect tires for outward signs of problems.

Once packed, secure items with load lock or other devices. Shifting cargo cab screw up your day.

Best speed is below that of commercial traffic (63-65/mph). By running 62 there will be no passing thus lane changes, etc. Steady wins the day. Do not ever exceed 600/miles day. It's too wearing.

Set the cruise control and let it run the truck. It'll be better than you, and especially so over the course of the day. Your job is steering and braking, not engine management.

The one FE tip worthwhile is to add some Howes Meaner Cleaner. About $20 at truckstop. It'll help with complete combustion besides some injector cleaning. No one will have ever done it and the effect will last your trip if you do it first fill. Throttle will be more sensitive, and engine will hang on longer before downshifting.

Don't go searching for cheaper diesel. May not exist. May be polluted. WILL entail miles you don't want with traffic and stationary hazards. Hell, IRS is paying fuel bill so don't sweat it. Just use the J or Pilot.

Start early. Before dawn is preferable. Stop early. Do not drive into the night. Get most miles out of the way by noon. Continent-wide, too many people on road past 12, and they're out there till 10 or later at night (zombies; with no clue why they're out there). Average speed drops with heavier traffic.

Traffic coalesces about 50-75/miles from a major metro area. And those are generally 100-miles end to end. Expect to have to slow. Maintain quarter mile separation as you can, then 700 feet where possible. You may lose an hour from your trip plan in crossing.

Respect all posted and recommended speeds. If it's a 35-mph ramp, do it at 31. Do all braking in a straight line. You've screwed up if brakes are on into a turn.

What's ideal? Well, if you're out of the city and surrounded by other vehicles, you've screwed up. Separation distance is what safety is all about. Get used to slowing to let others around you. The low IQ types we've lately been blessed with travel in packs. They're unconscious drivers. Just able to hold wheel and get down road. Speed up to each other and hang there. We are a long ways from 1967 in this regard. They're not bright 12-yr olds with a license.

Your mirrors tell you the future. What's coming. The little infighting in these packs of cars. Who fail to understand that the left lane gives no right of way. Can't read, and won't. Or that entering the highway in a pack is illegal. Or that tailgating is pretty much anything under 100' of following distance at 65-mph. Assume stupidity. Not inattention, but genuine don't-know-what-to-do-stupidity.

Don't change lanes for entering traffic as you DO have the right of way in the right lane. Swerving will roll the truck. If you have to hit something, do it head on. Drive with headlights on and keep the truck upright and lane centered. Avoid lane changes to avoid problems.

Fuel out in the boondocks. Same for meals. Get across metro areas without stopping (restroom beforehand). WAZE an acceptable app. Truckers Path another. CB still a good choice (I wouldn't be without one).

Finally, make sure routing appropriate to high clearance vehicles. Great online videos of dozens of straight trucks (what you're driving) hitting low clearance bridges, viaducts etc.

Straight trucks create terrible bow waves. Worse than 18-wheelers. You don't have to change lanes to be courteous to someone stopped on the shoulder, as the effect falls with the square of distance, but moving over given traffic will help.

Break the day into legs of distance to accomplish. Use roadfood.com to plan some fun.

Take your time, and, as truck drivers say to one another in leaving, be careful.