Fuel Costs - Our RV Trip to Alaska

People have asked us “how much did your five-month RV trip to Alaska and back cost?” Since we keep accurate fuel and mileage records a summary of those costs was easy to compile. Here are the results:

Total miles traveled: 14349 miles 
Total fuel usage: 1319.5 gallons

Average fuel mileage: 10.87 mpg

Those are the basic numbers. We pull a 33' New Horizon FW with a GMC 3500 Duramax/Allison truck (unfortunately with a new engine installed just prior to the trip … don't ask). The truck and trailer are just under the 22,000 lb max combo in weight.

The lowest towing MPG segment of the trip was from Casper, Wyoming to Billings, Montana in those rolling hills and against a 30 to 40 MPH headwind at 7.2 MPG.

Our total fuel cost was $4096 (US). That includes the cost of 514 (US) gallons purchased in Canada. For our calculations, I used 0.26417 as the conversion factor (liters to US gallons), and a dollar conversion rate of $0.88 US to $1.00 Canadian (current at the time of the trip).

The highest per gallon cost was in Canada, averaging $3.77 per (US) gallon. The most paid per gallon was at Toad River, BC at $4.06 (US). The lowest in Canada was at Lethbridge, AB at $2.49 (US).

The per gallon cost in the US, averaging, was $3.06 (US) with the highest paid per gallon was, no surprise, in Healy, AK at $3.89 (US). The lowest was in New Mexico at $2.15 (US).

The five-month trip began on May 11 and ended on October 8^th,

Failures included:

• two of the four aluminum rims on the trailer failed
• one tire holed by a nail (non-reparable)
• one bearing failure on the trailer that also destroyed a tire
• one injector in the Duramax.

Those same friends ask us if we'd do it again. Short answer—in a heartbeat. George Bruzenak

Photos by George & Jaimie Bruzenak

Comments

[Jennifer]

Thank you for posting this! I am trying to estimate a budget for my trip to Alaska/Arctic next summer so I appreciate your sharing.

Jennifer

[George Bruzenak]

Thanks for the comment, Jennifer.

If there is one thing I could suggest is that you determine your actual fuel mileage before you go, and the mileage for the route you want to travel. Our trip was over 14,000 miles and that accounted for the large fuel expenditure.

Good luck and safe travels,
George

[bathmateus]

Interesting posting. Thanks for the info. Keep up the good work.
Bathmate

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