Heaven knows there are many ways to travel. But between air, land and sea there reign several long-standing and established methods. One such mode? The grand old truck or road transporter. 

In some ways seeing the world via road is one of the better ways to do it. Hitting the tarmac at your own pace, stopping when you want and sleeping whenever the time feels right are just some of the positives for traveling in this way. Couple that with the joy of sitting behind a powerful machine sliding through the wilderness and you’re onto a sure winner.

Still there are many reasons to consider travelling with diesel trucks and many advantages and disadvantages that come with doing so. In this post GoingAbroad.org hopes to explore these a little further and learn more about what travel of this type entails.

Advantages

Diesel engines are often much maligned as being inefficient or ineffective but the opposite is generally true. Here are some of the more common advantages that clear up such common ways of thinking.

Reliability

Travel with a diesel engine and you’ll have a much more reliable ride than you would with other fuel alternatives. More rugged and robust, diesel vehicles are cut out for long distance journeying. Meaning you’ll have much less to worry about if undertaking an epic cross-country road trip too.

Fuel costs are generally less with diesel too. Thanks to its high rpm cool units, maintenance is less of an issue.

Mileage

Typically delivering 25 to 30 percent better fuel economy than gas engines, traveling on diesel will get you a lot further on whatever budget you have. As it contains more usable energy it’s efficiency is better than gasoline too.

Faster

Providing far more torque to the driveshaft, a diesel engine burns fuel more effectively than gasoline counterparts. As a consequence most diesel engines are faster from a standing start and get you to destinations faster.

Disadvantages

Of course you have to take the rough with the smooth and traveling with a diesel engine is no different. Check out some of this cons that throw the debate over traveling in this way into the open.

Cost

Diesel used to be cheaper than gasoline and is, depending on how you look at it, more efficient. But the price of it is often comparable and even a little more making it not as cost effective as you might first assume. What’s worse is that diesel is most likely to rise in price too due to the cost of competition.

Workhorse-like

Although diesel engines function differently and more efficiently than gasoline ones that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily what you want. Most owners liken diesel vehicles to slow and steady workhorses rather than flashy, speedy and mobile modes. That’s definitely something to consider if your trip is on something of a time scale and you need to somewhere at a certain time.

Regular Maintenance

You’ll still need to keep your engine in good condition despite diesel’s robust reputation. Changing the oil, air and fuel filters will be a commonplace activity and something you’ll need to both understand and get used to.

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The advantages and disadvantages for diesel travel is more complex than perhaps first meets the eye. Hopefully, with the information provided however, you’ll have more of an idea of exactly what direction to go in considering your next great road trip across the plains.