RV LIFE Podcast
The RV LIFE Podcast, created by one of the premier companies in the RV industry, is for the RV Community with a mission to Educate, Entertain and Explore the RV Lifestyle. The Podcast will explore all things RV Life: living, working, exploring, learning. With hosts Dan & Patti Hunt, full time RVers, content creators, educators and explorers.
RV LIFE Podcast
Save Big on Fuel & Toll Solutions That Covers the US
In this episode of the RV Life Podcast, I (Patti Hunt) share money-saving solutions for RVers with Gina Leeper and Tara Rape of Open Roads. They discuss fuel cards, toll transponders, and a new VIP access program, designed to save time and money. There are some big updates to the program that you don't want to miss.
** Save an average of $0.46 per gallon at over 3,300 locations nationwide with Open Roads Fuel Card
**Toll Transponder:** A single device for tolls across 48 states, saving time and reducing fines. Innovative Toll Solution
**VIP Access Program:** Exclusive discounts on tires, RV parks, and more.
**Real Customer Savings:** Testimonials reveal average savings of $500-$1,500 annually.
Previous episode 2/14/24 Diesel Fuel Savings and The Toll Pass That Covers 48 States Listen on Apple , Spotify, YouTube or any podcast platform
Special Discount Codes: Click Link & Use Code
* RV LIFE Pro Click the link for 25% off
* Thousand Trails Membership Specialist Journey Membership
Call/Text Warren & Sharon Lewis 804-366-0798
* KoolRV
* Harvest Hosts: Code: HUNT20 % Off
* Open Roads Fuel Card save on Diesel Fuel
* Open Roads Innovative Tolling Solutions All 48 states
* Open Road Resorts Mention RV LIFE Podcast
* CLEAR2O Save 10% w/ Code: RVLIFEPODCAST
* National Vehicle Buy or Sell Your RV
* Music City Motorhome Expo Event * AirSkirts $200 off kit order Discount Code RVPOD
* Motorhome Tires: $50 discount ...
You may not know this, but there is a way to save money and time while traveling. I'm Patti Hunt and you're listening to the RV Life Podcast. Saving money on fuel and money on time on those tolls has been my most downloaded RV Life Podcast episode by far. It is two and a half times more downloaded than any other episode, so I know that this is what my listeners are looking for. So today we're going to talk to my expert guests on these products and we're going to talk about some really important updates that this company has made. But that's not all. You're going to hear from actual customers who have used these products and hear what they have to say.
Speaker 1:The RV Life podcast was created to educate, entertain and explore the RV lifestyle, with the mission to inspire you to live life to the fullest. What you need to know is brought to you by Open Road Resorts, and they have amazing locations in Idaho, nebraska, new Mexico and two locations in Texas. Now it's February and it is cold in most of the US, but there's hope that it is going to warm up, so if you are thinking about spring and summer, going to Yellowstone RV Red Rock Park in Idaho is a great choice. It's 22 miles from the west entrance to Yellowstone. It's two hours to Jacksonville, wyoming and Boisman, montana, and it is one of the most highest rated parks in the area. You could go online to openroadresortscom or call them and, if you call, let them know. You heard about them from the RV Life podcast. What you need to know RVers drive an average of 4,500 miles a year, but this number varies greatly because you have those RVers that are part-time or some time. I know full-timers could travel as much as 10,000 miles in a year. And toll roads in the US there are over 5,000 miles of toll roads. There are toll roads in 35 states and territories, so toll roads take up a lot of the country. I live right in Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia, and the PA Turnpike is the most expensive Turnpike toll road in the world. Yes, you heard that right. I have fact-checked it. It is the most expensive in the world. This, what you need to know, is brought to you by Open Road Resorts and you can check them out at openroadresortscom. But let's get to my guest so you could hear about how to save money on fuel and save time and money on that toll pass.
Speaker 1:Gina Lippert is the Executive Director of Open Roads. She is directly responsible for all marketing experts, financial accounting, customer experience and banking relationships. She also works with the business development director to continue growing the current fuel merchant network and introducing more of the RV community to the open roads fuel discounts. Tara Rape is also here with us and she is the member development manager and has been working with Open Roads for over 10 years. She is amazing and is so very helpful to customers. She and I talk a lot, so she is incredible. Welcome, ladies, to the RV Life podcast. Thank you, patty. Thank you, you are welcome. Thank you both for taking the time to be on the podcast with me. Gina, this is your second time and for my listeners I'm going to put that episode in the show notes, but today we have information and lots of updates, so anybody that's heard the episode before wants to stick around for this episode. So, gina, you live in Alabama. Tell my listeners a little bit about you personally.
Speaker 2:So yes, I live in Birmingham, alabama, currently. We are from Texarkana, texas, where I worked with TSD Logistics as a controller here before starting the Open Roads Fuel Card. We raised our family here. I've been married to my husband, jason. We raised our four kids here in Texarkana. We love the Arkansas Texas area. I guess three years ago my husband was relocated with work to Birmingham, so now the company's gave me the opportunity to work remotely for them. Travel back quite a bit back and forth, but just love the Open Roads and TSD family.
Speaker 1:Great Tara, how about you Tell us a little bit about you personally?
Speaker 3:Well, I have been with TSD for about 10 years. I was in the accounting department with Gina and then moved on over to Open Roads when we started that program, born and raised here in Texarkana. I did move away for a couple of years and went remote as well and moved off to Georgia for my husband's work. But we came back. So me, him and I got one little kiddo. But just, we just stayed here. That's awesome, thank you for sharing.
Speaker 1:Okay, I want to stay here. That's awesome. Thank you for sharing. Okay, I want to jump in. Let's talk first about the Open Roads fuel card. So tell my listeners, who've never heard about it, about that fuel card.
Speaker 2:So we worked for, as we had said before, a logistics company here in Texarkana. We had a fleet card for our trucks here and we were going to grow that with our broker group and a guy called my name he's a company at my RV and I'm like I guess, is it the fuel nozzle bits? And so he got a good laugh out of that. He's like, yes, I guess the first month we had about 500 customers come on, just a word of mouth locally, and I guess about two months in I had 5,000 customers. The RV community has loved the product and we've since changed that. We created our own company for open roads, our own set of discounts for open roads, exclusively for RVers, and we've grown that for the last five years. It's an amazing journey. The RV community is amazing to work with. We've made the best friends and best relationships through this journey and we're just very thankful for the opportunity we're now setting up about 143,000 customers.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's incredible and I know you guys aren't RVers and as an RVer, I know the RV community has definitely embraced both of you as, just you know, part of the RV community. And, yes, I agree it's a great community. But continue on.
Speaker 2:So we have we're sitting here now at about three about 3 300 different locations. We just added 500 additional ones on last week. They'll be coming on in the next. Uh, I guess the next two weeks we'll have that many cultures. The next month, have them on active. We have 28 merchants across the nation and uh, always growing that network. I also would just like to say on our website we have opportunities to suggest vendors or merchants to us. If you go into a store and you love it and you're like, you know Open Roads needs to be here. Has a diesel pump, has a truck lane to pull through. We need Open Roads here. Please, we encourage you to go out there, fill out that form and then we will reach out to that merchant and try to get them added for you.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let me just clarify. You said these are all truck stops, so I just want people to know I have been using open roads for as long as I've had the RV, so it's going on four years actually, which is amazing that it's been that long. So we got the Upper Merge Fuel Card. We had a diesel pusher and at the time it was TSD. The card says TSD and we're always incredibly happy with it and being able to pull into that truck stop is huge. That's a big deal. So they are truck stops. And then there are companies. We see along the way that I agree that that's great. You being able to, as a RVer, being able to say, hey, this is a great truck stop, can you add it, that's a great thing. So people need to really go on and add that. So take people through the process how do get this card? How do I sign up? What's it going to take?
Speaker 2:okay. So and I'll just add to that patty we were surprised that we were afraid that would be a negative for us having to go through that truck lane. We did not realize that was a huge positive that the rv community was like that's so much easier for us just to pull in and pull out so easily, and so that's that's been a real positive for the, for the program. I will just go with one, two, two on things before I get into the application process. Anyone that knows open roads has two fears. Anyone you talk to if they share open roads. There's two fears out there. One of those fears is social security number. We, starting January 1st, a social security number is not required for our card. We have partnered with a group, with Plaid, to do verification through Plaid automated on our website, and so social is not required to have an OpenRoads card and so social is not required to have an Open Roads card. The second thing that some people have a hard time with is the ACH giving us all your bank information. So we have found a solution for that and we've started a credit card option for customers going forward. That will be launched mid to end of February. We'll share lots of that on our social when we have that launched and ready. But we have tried to eliminate the two biggest hurdles for Open Roads program.
Speaker 2:So, going back to the process, so when you can get our website and there's an application link on our website, you'll go out there, apply and they'll ask you to apply verification, to verify it to you and when that's approved we transition to our office here. We will then pull that, mail that card out to you and get it activated. When you receive that card you'll have a control number. The new process is you will set your control number as part of the application. It'll walk you through that process and the application.
Speaker 2:When you receive that card, then you just go to the fuel pump. You'll swap your card in the truck lane. Swap your card, you'll pump your fuel and in less than five to 10 minutes it should show up on your app of the savings you received. So you you ask the question how do I know how much I saved at that pump? It's showing the pump price. So we have an app for open roads that you will download and it will show you all the prices across the nation as you are traveling. Then you can choose which merchant you want to go to, or if that price is worth the savings. The application process is zero. You pay nothing. Our things from the day one is maybe we can save you money. You can use our card. We take 10% of your savings. So if you save money, we keep 10%. There's no fees unless we save money. That's kind of what has been our logo since we began.
Speaker 1:Okay and I just want to clarify a couple of things. First of all, not using a social security number. I know you've never had a problem in the years that you've been doing this. You've not had problems with it, but it's great that is. As you said, people were having issues with having to give the Social Security number. So that's no more as of a month ago. So people are listening to this. The beginning of February, as of a month ago, you've done away with that. The same thing with banking giving the bank information. Again, you've never had a major problem. I was with the people from the company and they've never had a major problem. I was with the people from the company and they've never had a problem, but it was a stopping point or a hurdle for some people and you guys have worked to change that. And for what you said, february, the end of February you should people should be able to use a credit card. I want to clarify.
Speaker 2:I want to make sure that's clear. We do not have to change to a credit card. It's an option. It's just you can do your ACH or a credit card, the credit card. Unfortunately, as everyone knows, we're very transparent with our margins. They're very slim. With the credit card, we do push that 3% processing fee that the credit card company charges us to the end user fee that the credit card company charges us to the end user. So if you choose a credit card option, you will have to pay that 3% processing fee.
Speaker 1:That will go there and go to your settlement Again that on your settlement, patty will be itemized out as a line item credit card processing fee. Okay, so to be very clear, what has been done Now I will say that for me, when we did the first interview, it was you and I and Clayton Pickett and he's the money guy and very detailed and you know he spoke a little bit above my head. So for people who really want to understand, you were talking about margins and things like that. He did talk about some of that in the last episode and again I'll put that in the show notes, the bottom line, as people are listening to this right now, the end of the day for me personally, I just wanted to know I was saving money, period. Am I saving money? And we are going to listen to people who gave their testimonial when we were at the Florida RV show as to whether or not they saved money and how much. So we are going to get to that.
Speaker 1:The card I know, going through the process, there is a link in the show notes to sign up for the card. It was an easy process. I received my card. It was easy setup. You'll also hear some people talk about and for me as well, being able to pump gas at the pump and not walk into the store. Give my card, walk out, pump the gas, walk back in for a receipt and get my card back. That process, that streamlined process of just being able to put the card in at the pump, is huge and it's used for RVers. We don't want to tie up the lane for the trucks, we want simple, we want to get in and out, and so that's great, and we're going to hear some people speak on that in the testimonials. Okay, so fuel card, we've covered that. We've covered the major changes. Let's talk now about innovative toll solutions, and that is the toll transponder. So, tara, I think you're the head of that.
Speaker 3:Yes. So we have been partnered with Innovative for probably two years now to bring a tolling solution to all our customers, to where no more having to have five or six different tool tags stuck to your windshield. You get one transponder that covers the entire nation north, south, east and west, every road, every bridge, privately owned or anything that's going to be covered. And this transponder is just a slick transponder that suction cups to your windshield so you can use it in your RV, and you can also use it in your tow vehicle if you're traveling around town and aren't traveling in the RV at that time.
Speaker 1:Ok, so I'm going to add to that because I received the toll transponder. Talk to the person from the company when you sign up, it's twenty four dollars for the year. And when I started the episode, and when I said it again, you save time and money. Talk to the person from the company when you sign up, it's $24 for the year. And when I started the episode, and when I said it again, you save time and money, and I want to be clear on that and then you could chime in the time is that you have the one transponder. You don't have to worry about which one's in the window. But the money save and the money saving part of it for me using my EasyPass. Easypass covers a part of the East Coast.
Speaker 1:Well, the year before I got the transponder, I went through two tolls. I got a notification in my mail at my mailing service. By the time I got it and dealt with it, it was past the 25 days. They literally give you 25 days. So it was past the 25 days and they charge fines. So I paid $240, something in fines and I could not go back and fight it. It was already to collections. There was no fighting it. So when I say time and money, it truly is a time and money saver. So, and you said all 48 states, right, all 48 states.
Speaker 3:Yes, and I'll even go a little further with what you were just saying, Patty is we have a concierge service, so we are going to fight any dispute. We're going to fight anything on your behalf to make sure you are charged 100% correctly and in a timely manner. So because this is going to take out the pay-by-plate where you have to have that mail sent to you and you're trying to track it down and you get past that date and you're hit with all these fines. So within about two days or so, you're going to see these transactions on an app so you can keep up with it as well to make sure everything's running smoothly and that you're getting charged the correct rate and if there is something wrong, I know I could go through my app, I could email, I could call and say there's a problem here, exactly.
Speaker 3:We have somebody that's covering this and working. This is what they do. They are dedicated to fighting any disputes. They are dedicated to make sure your transponder is working 24-7. So we are here to make sure it's all happy, so you can just keep on trucking down that road, right.
Speaker 1:Now I did have a listener because Innovative as well as Open Roads are sponsors on the podcast, so I talk about you guys every week because I truly believe in the services that are provided. A listener asked a question if the toll transponder saves on the tolls, and I want to be clear it actually doesn't. It's whatever toll amount, so if you go through and you don't have a toll, you probably pay more if you don't have a transponder. Exactly.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:So you get charged.
Speaker 3:you don't get charged that discounted right Like say, you're on an easy pass road, you may get a special rate for having an easy pass transponder. Then there's a middle rate for having a transponder and then there's a pay by plate or pay by cash. So you're going to get that middle rate. So it is cheaper than the pay by cash or the pay by plate.
Speaker 1:Right, and again, just for the ease of it, knowing that I'm not going to deal with 200. And RVers that I talk to notoriously say, yes, I've got a fine here that I ended up having to pay. So just that peace of mind and that savings really makes a big difference. Okay, I think that covers the toll transponder. We're going to put information in the show notes and you guys are gonna let me know where people can reach out if they have more questions. There are links to the Open Roads Fuel Card and the toll pass in the show notes, but I also wanna talk about the new VIP access card. One of you both of you want to explain what that is, because that just launched. I didn't even ask you. Are we allowed to talk about it?
Speaker 2:We are allowed to talk about it. It is very early on, so we hope to have that launched. It will be in your app so you'll be able to access those discounts through your app. The technology piece we're trying to get rolled out in the next hopefully the next month to month and a half. We hope to have rolled out in the February. We had hoped before February but the technology piece just took a little holding something, just a tad bit, but we should have it by for the next couple of weeks. What we did is we have had the best partnerships around open roads and so we just decided with our partners we're going to put this together and share information about our partners everywhere we go, and so we put together a little discount program with those partners, which is growing Right now.
Speaker 2:We have a partner with RV Life, so we have an RV Life partnership on there, rv Life Pro. We have a transponder on VIP Access, as well as Lov's All Lov's RV parks have a 10% discount for staying in their parks, their overnight stays. We have Goodyear discounts built in for tires, for what every vehicle you need tires for and, as I talked about before, patty, we are a logistics company that costs carbon white, which that is, a black that goes into tires. So we have deep relationships with Bridgestone, michelin, cooper. So all of those discounts for tires will be growing over the next couple of quarters. Hopefully by third quarter we'll have all those brought on. But that tire piece can be very savings to all of our customers and so we're ready to partner with them on that.
Speaker 2:On our website we have all the information about VIP access. I know that we're working with Harvest Host to bring a discount in for Harvest Host and also with FMCA and that should also come out in the next few weeks. It's just ever growing. It's growing and we're going to get a lot of fun this year. So what we did is we said, ok, we're not quite there yet, right, not quite there yet, right. So we're grandfathering everybody in at this point at $99, because we we definitely have enough discounts to cover you more than $99 for the year in savings, but we are not to the end, we haven't got all built out. So anyone else's grandfather in at $99. That application is out there on our website that that price will stay for you at $99 as we go up with the other growth of the VIP.
Speaker 1:That's incredible, and I was there when you guys announced it and looking at the companies that you could save with and knowing that you guys are going to add to that, that's incredible. So I'm going to encourage my listeners to go on the website and check out the VIP access. That sounds great. Let's talk a little bit. You guys are also big on a charity that's called Charity Water and I have heard people from the company speak about this and it was just very touching. So can you explain to the listeners about this charity who want to take that one? They're looking at each other I'll start it for us.
Speaker 2:So we, we partnered with charity water very early on, with open roads. We at one point was four gallons to one, so every four gallons of fuel went through, we donate a gallon of clean water. You know, we've been very blessed with open roads through the years and so, and the charity we, we are very, it gets our heartstrings, I will just say. And so something we take for granted every day water bottles, I mean with raising poor kids, while we're all just sets around my house and I'm just like drink half of it, here's one, here's one, we take it so for granted. And to have kids, and you know young kids and families that cannot have clean water, is we can't even get our hands around that because our heads, because we're just we take it so for granted.
Speaker 2:So we've upped that charity of two to one, so every two gallons of fuel it goes through, a gallon of water goes out. Um, charity water is a great partnership. We've got to actually see the wells as they're being built in these different countries. We're at four continents now. We've touched seven countries and so we're just trying to continue growing that footprint.
Speaker 1:And people could actually go on the Open Roads website and see all of the great, amazing things that this charity is doing for people around the world.
Speaker 2:Right, and what we hope to do the next week. We're building out a lot of technology in 2025. That's a huge piece for us to help our creators with more information. There's lots of things we're building in that with more information just lots of things for building in that. But one thing we're doing for our members is when you feel with us on your settlement, it will tell you you just donated five gallons of water to one of the countries we work in and one of the continents, and so and kind of talk with that charity. So we want our members to really feel the change, the difference they're making, and so that's going to be coming out this next year so you can really get more information built around that will be shared with everyone.
Speaker 1:And I've seen where it shows on. You know my statement and it's very touching and, like you said, it's so important. I mean, water is just so important and we do. We certainly take it for granted. So that's amazing and amazing charity. And you guys just keep doing more and making it better. You went from one gallon of water to two. Just that's incredible. Okay, so let's, I want to lead into.
Speaker 1:I want my listeners to know that you ladies work for the company. You're probably a little biased. Everything you say is authentic and real and you know, I know, you are incredible people. You speak from the heart. But my listeners do not have to listen to you guys, to how great these products are. They can now listen in. We were all at the Florida RV Super Show in Tampa just a couple weeks ago and I had the opportunity to speak to a number of people. I think there were 12 different people I interviewed about the Open Roads fuel card and some of them talked about the toll transponder. Any of the people that were there that didn't have the toll transponder, that heard about it, knew they needed to get it. But I want my listeners to listen in on what actual customers have to say, for those of you spending time in the cold weather, I highly recommend the hassle-free RV skirting that inflates by air skirts.
Speaker 1:Rv skirting goes around the perimeter of your RV to prevent warm air from escaping. It prevents your pipes from freezing and causing damage and it saves you money on heating costs. It uses trapped air as a natural insulator. These products are made of heavy-duty, military-grade PVC-coated canvas and what's really great is how it sets up in minutes. It packs up pretty compact so you can store it in your RV. Our Airskirts is giving you my listener $200 off. Use code RVPOD, that is, r-v-p-o-d for $200 off. Just go to airskirtscom to find out about all of their products.
Speaker 4:Hello. I am James and I'm Kelly and we're the Road Ravers. We have been full-time RVing with our family since 2020, and open roads is one of our favorite ways to save money while we're on the road.
Speaker 6:We actually spent $4,000, or should have spent $4,930 on fuel last year. But thanks to Open Roads, we saved.
Speaker 7:In the nine months that we used it we saved $809.34, which makes it's easily almost a 20% savings with what we should have spent. We're super thankful.
Speaker 8:Made a big difference on what we were able to do. Hi, I'm Belinda. And I'm Dwayne. And we are all about the banks.
Speaker 10:Last year, 2024, we saved $1,027.95 without Open Rose diesel fuel card.
Speaker 9:We traveled about 10,000 miles during that time and we found that it was such a great value. It's such a great value. It's such a great tool to have. Yes. And we're really glad that we are part of the Open Roads program and it's worked wonderful for us.
Speaker 10:Yes, to be able to go to the truck stop and get in and get out with our 43-foot fifth wheel has been awesome and we've been using this for five years. Yes, so we suggest, of course, if you have a diesel, and of any type, get the Open Roads fuel car.
Speaker 11:Hi, we're Randy and Callie Bueheimer with RV Destinations Magazine and Podcast, and we're here to talk to you about Open Roads. We're really excited about Open Roads. We actually have a partnership with them, but the thing that we've been Open Roads members for three years, we've been with them for probably three or four years, before we even partnered with them.
Speaker 8:So partnering with them was honestly a no-brainer, because this is something that we've used for a long time. And then so we're here at the RV. My brain is going where are we? Oh, it's been a long day, y'all.
Speaker 11:The Florida Super Show. Can you cut on this? No, we're still running. You get it all. That's right. This is the end of the day.
Speaker 8:Yeah, we are in Tampa, aren't we?
Speaker 11:We're at the Open Roads RV Life. They're having a dinner here. It is Wednesday night at the Tampa RV Show. Yeah, I think so. She is completely sober, I promise you. But yeah, patty with RV Life Podcast came up to us and said guess how much that you saved with your Open roads card last year.
Speaker 8:And so Randy's like whipping out his calculator, like I'm going to figure this out.
Speaker 11:And I I guessed 800 to a thousand dollars and she said no, you've saved $1,500.
Speaker 11:I was blown away Now unlike probably a lot of our viewers, we track our fuel because we get to deduct a lot of cause. We're, we're moving in. You know, on behalf of the magazine, we spent $10,000 in fuel last year and saved $1,500. That's 15%, folks, that's a lot of money. But you know, here's the kicker is, you know, when we signed up for the Open Roads card, it was never about the savings. For me, I mean, that's a nice added value. Yeah for sure. Hey, 15% is 15%. But for me it was the ability to pay at the pump. It was always a pain for me to pull in, stop all the trucks behind me to fill up my motorhome. I had to go all the way in get my car pre-authorized come back out and guess how much fuel you need?
Speaker 11:Right, you have to give them an estimate. Stop it at 250 or whatever, come back out, fill the tank, go back in, get my receipt, come back out and then leave. With open roads, we just put it in at the pump, pull it out, fill up and we're on the road, and so that, to me, is worth it alone. That's right.
Speaker 14:The car. How big is your fuel tank on that?
Speaker 11:We've got 100 gallons. Well, the new one's 150 gallons. Oh yeah, that's right. So the RV we had last year was 100 gallons, but our new RV is 150 gallons, so we're expecting even more savings. Yeah, so we absolutely love OpenRoads. We just got their toll pass their response. We're excited about that too, so we're going to be using that all over the country. So if you don't have one, we recommend you get it.
Speaker 8:Just get one. It's a no-brainer folks. Yeah for the fuel card.
Speaker 11:it's free. It's free, it's free to save 15%.
Speaker 8:And then the toll pass. Patty told us 24 bucks. 24 bucks gonna cover all of your tolls all across the united states. Gotta do it, and you know the best part they don't even sell your name.
Speaker 16:It's truly free so sign up today.
Speaker 12:Hey everyone, I'm martha and I'm chris and we're venturesome couple we're also big fans of open roads yes, save that money.
Speaker 16:So we're really excited. Last year we had a big change. So we travel all the time show to show events and everything. We go to the Keys, we go all the way to Indiana and everything. So we had a dually, a one-ton dually, for five months and in those five months we saved $639.30.
Speaker 12:Yeah, absolutely awesome. Let alone the convenience of having the ability to go through the truck stops Saved us. We got rid of our dually and got gas, and we hate it. Don't do that.
Speaker 16:No. So what we love about Open Roads is that you can find any fuel stop all along the way. There's maps, I'll pull it up and I'm like, hey, there's one not too far from here, let's stop there and it's a great place because you go to the truck stops and the pumps are so much faster than us waiting in the gasoline line with our new truck and it's such a pain. So we've actually we haven't announced it yet, but we're going to go back to a diesel.
Speaker 12:Yes, the convenience alone makes it well worth the additional expenses when we're traveling full time.
Speaker 16:Yeah, but we're going to have to wait a little bit because we want to order one and find the right one for us. All right guys. We are Mike and Joni, with those who Glamp Together.
Speaker 17:And we're here with Patty and Open Roads and we love Open Roads. You think it's for the savings, right, but I love it more for the fact that I can pull my 53-foot rig into a truck stop and I don't have to worry. But the savings is still the icing on the the cake, right. 833.74 cents this year for weekenders, yeah, with about 14 000 miles of travel. So we love open roads.
Speaker 15:Go out, sign up to open roads I'm kara the wandering rv babe, and this is my driver, ryan howdy. Uh, so we just found out what we love open roads. By the way, we've used it for the. I'm Kara the Wandering RV Babe, and this is my driver, ryan Howdy. So we just found out we love open roads. By the way, we've used it for the last three years. We drove around a little less. This year we had some complications. Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 6:I had back surgery eight weeks ago, so I was injured like nine months ago and so we've been kind of stationary. But if I were to have guessed, I would have only guessed like maybe 200, $300.
Speaker 15:That probably would have been where I thought cause we didn't travel as much this year, but we saved 500 and something over 500 bucks this year just using open roads, and I will have to say I love open roads, I love the app, I love being able to like find places along our route, and we try to monopolize the dual purpose in everything that we do, cause, you know, it's RV life.
Speaker 6:Everything needs two purposes.
Speaker 15:Yeah, fuel, stop bathroom break, you're golden.
Speaker 6:But what I will say as the driver um, my biggest gripe about trying to get into smaller gas stations that are sometimes cheaper than loves or TA or any of the others a hundred percent is about trying to get into smaller gas stations that are sometimes cheaper than Loves or TA or any of the others 100%. It's just hard to get in with a big old, huge 40-foot rig and so being able to just stop at the Loves and get the same price as the Circle K down the road is amazing.
Speaker 15:It's great, or sometimes even cheaper than that Sometimes yeah. But we know we're always going to get in, which is awesome.
Speaker 3:Hi, we're Jesse and Corey from Finding Our Someday.
Speaker 5:So with Open Roads Card, we've only had it for six months and we did one cross-country trip. The rest was spent in Alaska, where there isn't any available gas stations, and in Iceland, which is definitely another place, but we saved $503 in just one cross-country trip, which is pretty incredible.
Speaker 8:Absolutely amazing. That's some serious either travel time or fixes for your RV. So it is so worth it to be able to save that money on diesel.
Speaker 7:Hey, this is Rob from RV and Plug. Hey, when we shot season two of RV and Plug, we really leaned into our open roads relationship. We saved $281.60 this season, and not to mention that's just our business account. Me personally, I saved much more. So I would highly encourage you to take advantage of Open Roads and save as much as you can.
Speaker 18:Hello, this is Blake from RV Life Gen, also part of the Rally Show team for RV Life and a brand ambassador for Open Roads. As an RVer and a diesel fuel user, I can't think of a better program than Open Roads for saving money on diesel fuel and, to be honest with you, I'm not really sure how much I saved this year. If I was to guess, I'd say probably around $500 this past year in savings.
Speaker 1:Okay, the number is actually $670.82. Unbelievable, and that's what everybody today has said. Nobody has guessed anywhere near their number.
Speaker 18:You might be the closest. It's unbelievable the savings that I get from the very first day that first fill up. I'm leaving a love station. I saved $1.35 a gallon. I'm driving away looking in all my mirrors expecting to see somebody chasing me down that something went wrong, there was a mistake, I didn't pay enough, I owed money, but no sure enough. It was good savings and the savings have continued since then. I love the program.
Speaker 14:Hey, I'm Kurt.
Speaker 16:I'm Melody.
Speaker 14:And we are.
Speaker 16:RV Plus Three.
Speaker 14:Well, there are three apps that are part of my RV life, and they have been since day one. The number one app is going to be RV Life Trip Wizard. Been using it for trip planning for three years. It gets me where I'm going to go, when I need to get there, and safely doing it. The other one is going to be tire minder Love it, keep it. It keeps me safe on the road and letting me know what my tires are going on. Number three and it's not necessarily in chronological order, but open roads fuel savings. When we decided to get on the road, we knew we were going to have to have some type of fuel savings or else we wouldn't be able to afford doing this journey.
Speaker 2:Yep, so we just found out that, figuring everything out, this year we saved a total of a thousand dollars in savings on our open roads which is absolutely amazing.
Speaker 14:Yeah, and it just keeps getting better and better every year and every fuel stop we do. It's open roads, if we can.
Speaker 15:Yes, definitely.
Speaker 1:We are.
Speaker 9:Sue and Mark Chandler. Our channel is Our Journey in Miles and Y-Y-L-E-S. Miles is our Class A motorhome.
Speaker 1:We're full-timers, so we're pretty much on the move most of the time, so you guys do a lot of travel, right, well?
Speaker 19:you know, since we're full-time and since she's a new grandmother and since, just like everybody else, we have a hometown, we travel in between our hometown and where we snowbird, and then in between repair facilities and then, finally, in between all those things I mentioned, we try to have fun okay, good.
Speaker 1:So now we're at the open roads. People could probably hear some background noise. We're at at the Open Roads event, gathered together with a bunch of awesome people. So I want to ask do you have any idea how much you saved? I know you're very analytical, so you want the number, but how much do you think you saved in 2024 on diesel fuel?
Speaker 19:Okay, so I'm going to give you my answer and then you're going to dazzle me, hopefully. I only know on the price per gallon because I'm of the club that I already bought the RV. I already love traveling with my wife and we're going to go wherever we need to go. So whatever it costs I'm going to pay it. So I've tracked for five years on an Excel spreadsheet on what the pun price was and what we finally paid when we looked at our printout that you get literally within, sometimes within 15, 20 minutes, you know, right from TSD Open Roads and I'm averaging, after five years, 46 cents off the pump price. So imagine that when you're pumping it and you don't have this card, you're paying 46 more cents than the Chan man is.
Speaker 19:Now when we were talking to some of the real movers and the shakers in the company here, they said state, us wide, the averages and everything you save 51 cents off per gallon. Now that includes the places where you save 51 cents off per gallon. Now that includes the places where you save less than that and it includes the places you save more than that Real-life usage going east coast to west coast, up down sideways, everything over five years. 46 cents to me is pretty close to 51. But you don't have to Last year.
Speaker 1:I literally have no idea. You have literally no idea, literally no idea. Okay, so this is we need a drum roll here, there, oh, we got one $1,020.78.
Speaker 19:Oh my God, Now, I didn't want you to see that she wants a high five.
Speaker 1:She's going to want to buy something and so she should. Yeah, she should, she should, absolutely. So those people saving money that could go out and buy something. But over $1,000 for a card right that doesn't cost any money to get. It costs nothing to sign up.
Speaker 19:No, when you think about it, depending upon what you're driving, that could literally be a complete set of tires for your fifth wheel, or close to it, you know or a shopping spree yeah right, I like the way patty thinks yeah or I was thinking maybe a new iphone, which I need. But well whatever it's it's saving. Yes, yes, that's good to hear well, thank you guys, so much. Hey thanks for having us on Patty.
Speaker 20:This is Dina and Gertie Explore the World, jeff Grant and Monica Grant. We are traveling full-time in our travel trailer. We had open roads for six months last year. I mean, that's not a lot, to be honest, when you travel once every three weeks. That's not a lot. Be honest, when you travel once every three weeks, that's not a lot, is it, jeff?
Speaker 13:no, no, but we saved how much I think uh, close to 250 in the first six months that we had open roads.
Speaker 13:We absolutely loved it, and you know we didn't know about it beforehand, but after we found out about it, you know it's a no-brainer for us.
Speaker 13:We drive a diesel truck and you know, anytime that we have an opportunity to save a few bucks on the road, that's great. Um, you know, is a no-brainer for us. We drive a diesel truck and you know, any time that we have an opportunity to save a few bucks on the road, that's great. Um, you know, especially as a family of four, we're trying to save it where we can because we'd like to be able to go out and do the, the fun things that we do when we're on the road. That's the whole reason why we went full-time anyways, and so to be able to travel and be able to spend that extra money on things like go into the amusement park or go into the to swim with manatees or whatever it may be. You know those are the things that we'd rather do. So if we can save a few dollars here and there, that's awesome, and so open roads has been tremendously helpful for us.
Speaker 20:I also want to point out the open roads is one of those systems that is a plug-and-play, so you put your information in. They take care of everything. You call them. If you have a problem, you follow up with them. If you have any issues, you're not going through a third party and they answer everything directly. So every time you think that you have some ridiculous hoop and hoopla to jump through, you're completely mistaken. You have the family that you go to and the family answers your question. So Open Roads has been a game changer. We love them. They make our life easier. They're not only a part of our family, they're an extension of us. So I highly recommend you check them out.
Speaker 13:Absolutely, and it's you know, the big thing that I like to tell people is it's not just exclusive to RV family or RV travelers or people who travel. If you have a diesel truck, you're crazy to not try this, because you can save money any day, and if you're filling your tank just like everybody else to drive back and forth to work, it's a no-brainer, I mean, unless you have exponential amounts of money and you don't really care. But that's not the life that I live, unfortunately. So you know, for me it was awesome to find something that was specific to diesel and it fit what we needed and again, like Monty said, I highly recommend it to anybody who's driving a diesel truck.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm going to ask you guys another question Do you use OpenRoad's innovative toll solutions? We do.
Speaker 20:Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:How's that been?
Speaker 20:We have actually really enjoyed it because it is a one-stop shop. There are so many tolls in this country from state to state that you have to navigate and you have to figure out what the prices are and how to pay those tolls. Ask somebody that, again, has only used it for a short period of time because we didn't know about it the first part of the year and we were having to pay those bills when they came to our snail mail residential address, which we don't live at. We don't live there.
Speaker 20:So we had to chase those down Like what's the fee going to be? Are we going to get a late fee?
Speaker 18:How are we going to?
Speaker 20:figure that out? What's the fee going to be? Are we going to get a late fee? How are we going to figure that out? What can we figure out massachusetts made we love you, you're beautiful states, but doggone it. Your guys's tolls are, like crazy, really big. So, um, this one stop toll pass situation has been amazing. It's a game changer. Like you put in your window, it doesn't matter if you're a toll be a tow behind vehicle or you're a C class or you're an a class, it doesn't matter. You just put in your vehicle. It's already registered. You go through the toll, it pays it. The amazing people at openroads. If there's an issue, they follow that up for you. Do you have to sit on on the hold with that and deal with that? Absolutely not.
Speaker 1:No you don't.
Speaker 20:Like Tara and the rest of the team are like, let me take care of that for you Again, extension of your family. So why? Why are you people doing this on a state by state basis?
Speaker 13:You're being, you're being ridiculous, like let's make this happen it works almost everywhere that there's maybe like two tolls in the whole US that it doesn't work on, and we have been victim to that. We don't live at a physical address, so we've had bills mailed there, we've missed them, we've had late fees, we've had fines. All kinds of stuff happened with there, and then not to mention like having to pull over to pay a 50 cent toll and then get back on the wear and tear on your vehicle. For us it was like pop that thing in the window and not have to worry about it anymore. You charge everything through your app and it kind of handles itself. It's awesome. It's amazing.
Speaker 1:Okay, so that was 12 different customers that have been using OpenRoads anywhere from six months to a year. Some of them have been with the program for three, four, five years. I went around and asked each of those people. Tara and I kind of set this up. I went around and asked each of the people that I interviewed what they thought their savings were going to be and they, you know, tried to figure it out in their head. I had a couple of people actually go through math in their head, trying to calculate what they might have spent on gas and what they would have saved. And then I said to them so I made them guess, and then I said to them this is what you actually saved because, tara, before this event, you sent me what their actual savings were from all of 2024, into that January when I did the interview.
Speaker 1:The biggest, this person that saved the most money out of these 12, he was trying to calculate in his head. He keeps a running tab of gas costs, fuel costs, and he said I think it's somewhere between $800 and $1,000. I'm thinking closer to $800 is what he said. I don't believe he said it on camera and I told him he saved $1,502.63. He was blown away, like most of the people there. Nobody got close to the number they actually saved. They all were way under. So the program works. Bottom line, the program works. I know I've saved lots and lots of money. The program absolutely works. Toll transponder the ease of it just again amazing. For $24 a year it's just to save that hassle to have one toll transponder in my RV or in my car or in a rental car Just an incredible way to travel across the country on those 5,000 miles in 35 states that have toll roads. So I want to thank you, ladies, so much. Let's tell my listeners where they can reach out. So I know you have Facebook, instagram. Where can people reach out?
Speaker 3:So we have a fantastic Open Roads Facebook group and I encourage all our members to go on there. Join that group. You can talk with other members, you can ask questions. I'm always on it 24 7 and it's just a good place to gather, share information and the name of that is just open roads. If you type it in your facebook search bar it'll pop up. We also have a business page that's also called open road, so you follow and like our business page and you can stay up to date and then also join that group so you can stay in touch with all of us here and all the other customers.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, and I am amazed when people jump in and ask a question, they have an issue, they're standing at the pump, and how many times you actually, Tara, jump in and answer them. So I don't know how you do it. It's like you are always on or you have a bot. No, I don't think so, but I don't know how you do it and certainly you know people that may have a problem or concern. There's amazing customer support, which is so important when it comes to businesses today when you can contact customer support, get a real human being. You, ladies, were incredible. Thank you so much for sharing these incredible services that I think every RVer should have. My personal opinion every RVer should have. I just want to thank you guys so much for being on the podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you, patty, so much for having us.
Speaker 1:The ultimate VIP event for RV buyers is Music City Motorhome Expo. It takes place in Lebanon, tennessee, and it is from May 31st to June 4th, and you can be the first to see the 2026 model year coaches from all major manufacturers, with limited attendance. You can test drive all you want. You could chat with the manufacturers, product developers and engineers. They're also providing seminars, three meals a day and amazing entertainment. Last year I attended this event and it was incredible, and I cannot wait to be back this year. I highly recommend this event. Just go to musiccitymotorhomeexpocom to find out all about it.
Speaker 1:It's now time for the Feature Campground of the Week and it is brought to you by RV Life. This week's Featured Campground is Thousand Trails, henning Cove in Arley, alabama, and I picked this because that's where Gina is from. This is a Thousand Trails Campground, but you do not need to be a member to stay at this campground. This RV resort has 146 sites and it is in the beautiful North Alabama. It is an RV campground on the shore of Lewis Smith Lake and I looked at many of the pictures on the campgroundsrvlifecom site and this place looks beautiful, just amazing. It has so many great pictures and you could check all of those out by going to campgroundsrvlifecom. The campground does have full hookups. It has pull-in sites, dog parks and cabin rentals. It has a solid 8.8 rating on the RV Life Campgrounds website with 125 reviews. It is so easy to book this campground. Just go to campgroundsrvlifecom and then search 7,000 Trails, hidden Cove and you could see, like I said, all the amazing pictures that I've looked at. You could see tips, a full list of amenities, you could see everything there is to know about this property and what is really nice is, once you are there, there's a great big red book now button so you could book your stay at this location very easily.
Speaker 1:Rv Life Campgrounds is part of the RV Life Pro suite of products and is the most comprehensive source of RV parks, campgrounds, resorts, as well as city, state national parks, corpse of engineer properties and so much more. Just go to campgroundsrvlifecom Now. If you are not yet a member of RV Life, you could still check out the campgrounds, but if you're not a member and want to be, there is a link in the show notes for 25% off the RV Life Pro suite of products, which includes your trip planning, which is Trip Wizard, your RV safe GPS campgrounds, like I said, all the campground reviews, there's a maintenance app and there is a master's class and that is all included. Check that out in the show notes. I want to thank my guests so very much for being on the RV Life podcast and I want to thank you, my listeners, for staying tuned and remember life is a journey. Live each day to the fullest, without regrets. I'm Pettie Hunt and you've been listening to the RV Life podcast.