Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-97.125.90.114-20150622020843/@comment-15636815-20150622120052

You just discovered one of the best parts of the game, in my opinion. You must learn to balance your resources. In this case, you must calculate whether the extra cargo received from the diesel bonus is worth the fuel tax spent to acquire it.

As you discovered, the tax usually outweighs the diesel bonus on short runs. Most of the time, a run of 3 hours will bring a profit from the diesel bonus. Be careful, though! Some of the high-power diesels need to run for 4 hours or 6 hours to be profitable. And occasionally, you need speed + diesel, so you pay the tax, anyway.

Oh yeah, and watch the Special Offer for tax-free locomotives. They're always worth the cost of the gems. ;-)