I drove 45 minutes to buy stone for a patio, and the guy loaded my truck with concrete rubble instead

Terry Jones · 2026-09-25T13:35:05.410052+00:00

Last spring I finally got tired of hauling everything in my van and bought a used flatbed for $2,800 off a guy in Fort Worth. That is when my supply runs really changed. Before, I would make 3 or 4 trips a week and burn half a tank each time, idling in traffic on I-35 with the AC cranking. Now I plan one big run every 2 weeks, load everything at once, and save about $90 a month on gas plus maybe 6 hours of my time. The weird part is the truck got me buying local instead of driving to the big yard out by the highway. Last month I picked up 3 pallets of flagstone from a guy in Granbury, 20 minutes from my shop, and it was cheaper than the box store. All that idle time sitting in a parking lot waiting on a loader, that is the stuff people never count. Has anyone else cut their fuel use by changing how they source materials, or am I just late to this?

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I drove 45 minutes to buy stone for a patio, and the guy loaded my truck with concrete rubble instead | Climate Action - SMM Buzz