Efficient Mototring: Part 2

Make a Plan

• Bulk your trips into one

Run errands on your way to and from work or while picking up the kids. It’s also a good idea to designate one or two nights per week to running all the errands on your list. Not only are short trips detrimental to your automobile, but they are inefficient.

• Find an efficient route

Speed limits, traffic lights, trains & traffic all play a role in the efficiency of your daily commute. Choose an effective time to travel as well as a route that avoids a lot of stop lights and railroad crossings. Not only will it save you time, it will save the stop and start fuel consumption. Do some research even if you think your current route is the best, or that there isn’t an alternative route. I used the same roads to travel to work for two years until construction forced me to reconsider my route. I now use the new, more efficient route exclusively. It is also important to know alternative streets that will put you out of the way of traffic accidents and other unexpected delays. But make sure these alternatives remain as efficient as possible. You may also want to choose a route that encompasses your daily errand runs.

• Prepare yourself before you leave home

Running home for that small yet important thing you forgot this morning is unnecessarily inefficient. If you find yourself running out of time in the morning prepare what you need the night before and leave it by the door. You’ll be sure to remember it when you leave.

• Go straight home

This may require giving yourself an excuse to go home after work. But giving into those last minute urges is wasteful in terms of your automobile’s efficiency. Give yourself a project at home. Get a pet or a good book, learn to paint or to play an instrument. I used to dread going home after work. It just seemed as though there was nothing to do, when in fact there is plenty to do. Learn to say no to yourself and to others. Have those buddies who ask you out to the bar or to eat out every night? Not only is your tab expensive, but the wasted gas is generally not worth the hangover.

• Research and buy online

Want to get the facts about that expensive new product you can’t live without? Do your research online. Not only does the web hold volumes more knowledge than the commission-earning, pimple-faced freshman that wants to sell you that new TV or notebook PC, but you can also read product reviews from people just like you. You’ll more often than not find much better prices online than you will in the stores. High priced items often are combined with free shipping as well. So have it delivered and save yourself the trip to buy it, and the trip to return it after you realize that notebook only plays solitare.