Open Roads for RV Travel: Saving Fuel and Simplifying Tolls

Food For Thought

Originally published January 4, 2025. Completely rewritten August 2026.

There are certain things about RV travel that sound simple until you add a diesel truck and a 45-foot fifth wheel to the equation.

Stopping for fuel is one of them.

When we’re traveling without the fifth wheel, finding diesel isn’t much of a concern. Hook 45 feet of RV behind Silver, though, and suddenly the question isn’t simply, Where’s the next diesel station?

It’s also:

Can I get in there?

And perhaps more importantly:

Can I get back out?

We’ve pulled into enough fuel stations over the years to know that saving three or four cents a gallon isn’t much of a bargain if you have to squeeze between parked cars, dodge concrete posts, and hope nobody blocks the one path you need to leave.

That is one reason Open Roads has become one of those quiet little tools we appreciate when we’re traveling.

Yes, we’ve saved money using it.

But that’s only half the story.

Sometimes the Best Fuel Stop Is Behind the Building

If you’ve never traveled with a large RV, the commercial truck lanes at a travel center might look like a place you’re supposed to avoid.

For us, they’re often exactly where we want to be.

Instead of taking Silver and our fifth wheel through the automobile pumps out front, we can head around back with the big rigs. The lanes are wider, the approaches make sense for long vehicles, and the high-flow diesel pumps are designed for putting a lot of fuel into a tank without making an afternoon of it.

That alone makes traveling easier.

Open Roads gives personal RV members access to discounted diesel at participating locations, including many Love’s, TA and Petro locations and a much larger nationwide network. The company’s current information says its network includes more than 3,800 locations. The card is specifically for diesel purchased through the truck lanes; it isn’t a gasoline discount card. (Open Roads)

The app is the part we use before committing ourselves to an exit. It shows participating locations and current discounted prices, which means we can look farther down the road instead of automatically pulling into the first travel center we see. (Open Roads)

That matters when you’re towing.

A fuel stop fifty miles ahead with plenty of maneuvering room may be a much better choice than the station ten miles away with an entrance that looks as though it was designed for Grandma Cooper’s car.

And if the diesel happens to be cheaper there, that’s even better.

Forty or Fifty Cents Starts Adding Up

Open Roads currently says members typically save 40 to 50 cents per gallon at participating locations, although the actual discount varies by station and location. (Open Roads)

We’ve routinely seen savings in that neighborhood ourselves.

On a ten-gallon fill-up, that wouldn’t get terribly exciting.

We aren’t buying ten gallons.

When you’re towing a heavy fifth wheel across several states, diesel disappears considerably faster than it does while running around home. Saving forty cents here and fifty cents there begins adding up over thousands of miles.

There are fees worth understanding rather than simply looking at the advertised pump savings. Open Roads currently charges personal users 10% of the fuel savings, and individual fuel merchants may have small transaction fees. Bank-account payment avoids a processing charge, while credit-card users currently pay a 3% processing fee and a one-time $5 activation fee. (Open Roads)

That’s why we look at Open Roads as a travel tool rather than some sort of magic discount card.

Know how it works. Look at the price in the app. Choose the stop that makes sense.

Then enjoy whatever it saves you.

Diesel and DEF Without Moving the Rig

Here’s another little thing that becomes a bigger thing when you’re pulling an RV.

DEF.

At participating truck lanes, Open Roads allows us to select diesel and DEF during the same fueling transaction. Once we’re finished fueling with diesel, we can return that nozzle, use the DEF dispenser and finish everything without moving Silver and the fifth wheel to another part of the travel center. (Open Roads)

That’s convenient at home.

On the road, it’s wonderful.

Fuel the truck. Add DEF when needed. Pull ahead. Get out of everybody else’s way.

Done.

There is something to be said for a travel day when the ordinary things remain ordinary.

Then There Are the Toll Roads

Fuel isn’t the only place where RV travel has become more electronic.

For years, we used an Ohio E-ZPass and it worked quite well throughout much of our travels. The problem comes when you begin wandering farther from home.

Different toll systems. Different transponders. Toll-by-plate. Bridges. Roads where you aren’t quite certain whether the transponder hanging on your windshield is going to work.

None of those things will ruin an RV trip.

They’re simply one more thing to keep track of.

Open Roads now partners with Innovative Toll Solution on what it describes as a 48-state nationwide tolling solution using a single transponder. According to its current information, the transponder covers vehicles and trailers and works across U.S. toll plazas and bridges, with one specifically noted exception: Michigan’s Mackinac Bridge. (Open Roads)

For people who spend much of the year crossing state lines, the appeal is pretty obvious.

One transponder.

One account.

Keep traveling.

There is one detail in that image worth pointing out. The coverage map reflects the program as it existed when the graphic was produced. Open Roads’ current information is broader, so I wouldn’t use an older map as the final word on where the transponder works. Check the company’s current coverage information before traveling. (Open Roads)

That’s especially important with anything involving toll systems because programs, participating agencies and payment arrangements can change.

There’s a Trade-Off With the Toll Convenience

The toll program currently has a one-time $36 setup charge. Of that amount, $25 goes into the account for replenishment, $10 covers shipping and $1 covers taxes. The annual fee is currently $24. Toll transactions are processed through the credit card placed on file. (Open Roads)

There is another detail I think RV travelers should know before deciding whether it’s right for them:

Transactions are billed at the Toll by Plate rate rather than an agency’s discounted transponder rate. (Open Roads)

That’s important.

The benefit here isn’t necessarily getting the lowest possible toll. It’s simplifying toll travel across the country.

Someone who spends most of the year traveling the same handful of states may be perfectly happy keeping the E-ZPass or regional toll account they already have.

Someone crossing the country with an RV may place considerably more value on having one transponder instead of wondering which tag works where.

Neither choice is wrong.

It depends upon how you travel.

Around the Campfire

If we were sitting around the campfire and somebody asked whether we’d recommend Open Roads, I’d tell them what I usually tell people about RV equipment:

Don’t buy or sign up for something simply because another RVer uses it. Figure out whether it solves a problem you actually have.

For us, the fuel program does.

We tow a large fifth wheel with a diesel truck. We travel long distances. We buy a lot of diesel. Being able to see discounted prices before we stop and use commercial truck lanes makes our travel days easier.

The savings are certainly welcome.

But being able to pull into a lane built for something our size might be the feature I appreciate most.

If you’re considering the fuel card, the current application requires identification and either bank-account or credit-card payment information. Open Roads says the standard card delivery is generally 15–20 days, with paid priority-processing and overnight-delivery options available. (Open Roads)

One more useful distinction: you do not have to be an Open Roads diesel fuel-card member to use its Innovative Toll Solution. The toll program is available separately. (Open Roads)

That makes sense because these really are two different solutions to two different travel problems.

Final Thoughts

Over the years, we’ve learned that making RV travel easier rarely comes down to one big thing.

It’s usually a collection of little things.

Knowing where we’re going to fuel before we reach the exit.

Having enough room to maneuver.

Filling Silver with diesel and DEF without moving.

Not wondering whether the toll transponder on the windshield will work when we cross another state line.

Saving some money along the way doesn’t hurt either.

Technology isn’t why we travel. An app isn’t going to make a sunset prettier, a campground quieter, or the view outside our fifth wheel any better.

But good technology can remove a few headaches between one place and the next.

And when you’re pulling 45 feet of home behind you, there’s something rather nice about one less thing to worry about.