8.9 MPG in a moving truck

[900Z1]

Had a 1970 Challenger RT got about 8-9 MPG

[JacobAziza]

I think the best way to maximize mileage on those things (besides driving 50mph) is to pack well. I rarely see one loaded to it's max, which means they could have gotten a smaller size truck.

I'll put what most people load into a 14' truck into my full size pick-up (and get 25-30mpg)

[Bicycle Bob]

I took days to pack my house and shop into a moving van. Remembering a friend who had had to re-pack three times to get the load distribution right, I measured the fender to tire distances frequently, so it went down evenly, front first. It really should have been plackarded with limits to such activity. With better internal shelving, I might have been OK with 2 or even 4' less length, but I doubt it had much effect on mileage. The load was tight enough not to shift during deer-avoidance. :-)

[dieselescort]

I drove over 400 miles this winter in a budget (international diesel) 24' box, avg 9.5MPG. Would have been higher if temps. had been higher and I wasn't pulling grade for 200 mi. beats a uhaul though--once had a gas 10' uhaul that got 4MPG over 100mi!!

[Devon Hynes]

Originally Posted by JacobAziza

I'll put what most people load into a 14' truck into my full size pick-up (and get 25-30mpg)

I'll put what most people load into there full size pick-up on my car....

[Honda100]

I used to work for a moving truck company and the 35 ft. GM3500s powered by diesel usually returned 8-11 mpg while the old gas powered 20 ft F-350s with the 460 motor usually did around 5-6 mpg. The 20 ft. Ford V10s would usually give back 10-13 mpg so that's what I always used for personal use...haha.

[jared1970]

I rented a GMC cabover diesel moving truck this summer to move. It was a 16' model. I calculated 14 mpg with it. I think this truck is the same as an Isuzu NPR. Seemed like a reasonably efficient moving truck. It had a fantastic turning radius and drove pretty well for a top heavy, stiffly sprung vehicle. If my vending business ever gets big enough to need a big vehicle like this I would happily drive one of these trucks every day. I really liked it.

[Miller88]

I rented a small moving van from Penske in the spring (afraid of UHaul's equipment). They, of course, ran out of the small van and I got stuck with their largest gas econonline based cube van.

This was, of course, to move a studio apartment. When I say the van was bigger than the studio ... it really was.

FIrst thing I did was top off the tank to the first click. Then put 12 miles on the van before returning it.

It took 3.6 gallons to the first click again! Nuts! Horrible gas mileage.

Looking back, it would have been cheaper to just rent a large trailer and use the Cherokee.

[Honda100]

Originally Posted by jared1970

I rented a GMC cabover diesel moving truck this summer to move. It was a 16' model. I calculated 14 mpg with it. I think this truck is the same as an Isuzu NPR. Seemed like a reasonably efficient moving truck. It had a fantastic turning radius and drove pretty well for a top heavy, stiffly sprung vehicle. If my vending business ever gets big enough to need a big vehicle like this I would happily drive one of these trucks every day. I really liked it.

Careful with the NPRs, they may be reliable and fuel efficient but they are ridiculously expensive to maintain. I know, I have a Mitsubishi Fuso right now for my business and it's by far and away more expensive than a typical E-350 diesel despite 23 mpg.

[trooper Tdiesel]

i remember renting U-halls a few times over a month moving.

at first glance i was like get the 14' its 19.95 a day !!! then i saw the 17' at 29.95 a day and said get it....rate per mile of the two was the same.

reason is the 14' was a older 1 ton and had a EFI 460
the 17' was the 1.5 ton model with the modern 6.8L V-10 mpg of the two where quite close...even though the 17 foot was near a 1/2 ton more empty...

they had about 5 of the 14s out front for sale and 4 more for rent...
i think there going away in do time....



same goes for the 24 and 26 foot models
the 24s have a EFI 454 they clam 8 mpg out of them.
and the newer 26s get 10 mpg they have the newer GM 8.1L