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You run pretty hard if you are doing 35,000 per quarter. that's 2700 per week average. I am averaging about 2200 per week on my fleet @ about 5.9mpg.
Your mileage is IMPRESSIVE. I never averaged above 7.2 when I was running and that was many years ago on a 2001 engine with alot less epa bull****. What engine is your truck running? and are you willing to disclose what company you work for? I would really like a contact number for those wheel covers. I don't know the east coast very well, is it really flat? getting above 8 mpg is like a dream come true if it includes mountains.
As for adding extra miles with the wheels jacked up, it wouldn't work.
1) most companies track mileage pretty closely, and would notice an extra couple hundred added to a trip.
2) most companies figure your milage as: Fuel used / Loaded miles. Your loaded miles is fixed as a postal distance from the zip code of the shipper to the zip code of the consignee. so even if there is a detour and you have to add 50 driven miles, you still get credit for the same amount. And more directly, if you jack up the rear and add 50 miles, the ratio doesn't change except in that you used some extra fuel.
I wouldn't buy the lug covers. They stick out quite a bit more in my experience and while the surface is more aerodynamic, I don't think you will get much benefit with the extra mass/volume churning up the air.
If you really want the harley, you can cheat to get it. It's a lot easier to do since you are already so close.
lets say you are doing 8.3 mpg at 2700 miles per week. that is 314 gallons of fuel. now you know you need 9.3 to be sure of the harley so... 9.3 mpg for 2700 miles is 290 gallons. so each week you need to add 24 gallons.. or 5 a day (assuming weekends off). is ~$700 worth of personal fuel expense worth a $25k harley to you? I would say yes. If you can win without cheating you get a lot more respect though! but, honestly, in this economy... Take the freaking bike while you can get it. I know I can't offer bonuses like that.
The wheels that lift are called Drop axles or Tag axles and they are different than standard drive axles. The amount of weight your truck can pull has to do with the number of wheels (and the size of the tires) touching the ground. His truck can weigh 34k on the drive axles unless he has special supersingles on, but they looked normal. Adding a tag axle would allow him to weigh between 44k and 51k depending on where it is added, what kind of tire width, and state regs. This costs ~10k. Converting his rear axle to a drop axle would be quite a job, but since his rear axle does no actual driving its not undoable, just too expensive to be worth it unless he travels empty alot. (you can only weigh ~20k on a single axle, so it's only good for severly light loads).
Check your engine temps and Brake temps before you go adding any blocking material underneath the truck. Reduces airflow is great for MPG but overheating your brakes could mean death, and overheating your engine could mean loss of job.
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