On NPR's On Point this morning I heard Jane Clayson say that roadside assistance organizations were getting more calls from motorists who were running out of gas because they were only filling up with the fuel they needed in the short term. They couldn't afford to fill up their tanks.
A guest on the show mentioned that this contrasted with a practice which became common in the fuel crisis of the 70's in which people would keep topping off their fuel tanks.
Keeping a full tank is better for your car than keeping a near-empty tank for a number of reasons. An empty tank means that any accumulated gunk in your tank has a greater chance of getting sucked into the fuel filter. Also, near-empty tanks are more likely to leave you stranded when you forget to fuel your car.
That said, I often let my own tank get low, which is something I never used to do if I could help it. I got used to doing that because I was getting 10 cents off per gallon at fill-ups with Stop & Shop's "loyalty program" in which they'd give you a coupon for spending $50 on groceries.
That encourages large fill-ups. If you're only getting the discount at one visit, it's cheaper to buy all your gas during that visit. To do that, you have to go longer between fill-ups.
It would be better for the consumer if you had a running loyalty bonus which applied as long as you were in good standing (perhaps up to some limit in gallons). That would make me feel more loyal than having to worry about whether I should waste my discount on a half-full tank. And, honestly, when I'm not completely filling up, I go elsewhere.
Stop & Shop are switching to a non-coupon loyalty program in my area. You get the discount "automatically" at the pump. You're supposed to be able to check the status of your credits by looking at your grocery receipt, but thus far my receipts have not been very clear on whether I've earned any bonuses or how much those bonuses are. I did get a discount (it looked like 20 cents) last time I filled up at Stop & Shop, but if I can't easily know whether I am going to get a discount or not, I will do most of my filling up elsewhere and only visit S&S infrequently. I don't appreciate when I feel like a store is making changes that make it more difficult to monitor your spending, especially when they sell it as an improvement for you.
In any case, I could probably save more money and fuel by setting up a hammock at work and just staying there overnight a couple of days a week.
Posted by James at June 30, 2008 3:27 PMThis was aired on NPR's All Things considered on 4 June 08: "Are Motorists Scamming for Free Gas?"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91163177
Forget "setting up a hammock at work and just staying here overnight a couple of days a week." Why don't you take home your laptop? Many people are negotiating working from home due to the high cost of commuting due to gas prices (also another story I heard on NPR).
Posted by: Patti M. at June 30, 2008 3:45 PMI do work from home, but infrequently. A lot of what I do requires contact with my coworkers. If I were completely a coder and that's all, telecommuting would make more sense. But nowadays that's only part of what I do, and physical presence is more required.
That said, as the price of fuel rises I think more seriously about what work I could do during a "work at home" day.
Posted by: James at June 30, 2008 3:49 PMI think it would be fair to have a day or two when you work from home, either per week or per month, whatever you can negotiate. Telecons and computer access make it quite easy and I work from home any time I have an appt. with, say, the dentist or a doctor, and I don't need to take a whole vacation day for a one-hour appointment.
Plus, when you're working from home, you can put in a load of laundry, which I love. Multitasking when it's useful is great!
Posted by: Patti M. at June 30, 2008 4:05 PMA friend of mine who works in MA has a 60 mile (each way) commute. She's actually doing the math and thinking that it might be cheaper to maintain an apartment close to work (in addition to the house she and her SO are buying) than it is to commute.
I guess that sort of thing is actually pretty common in Japan. Guys commute in for the week and stay in hotels or sleep at work four nights a week.
I'd like to see more companies embrace telecomuting, or at least a 4 day workweek (4 ten hour shifts rather than 5 eight hour shifts).
Posted by: David Grenier at June 30, 2008 4:40 PMFor whatever it's worth, it was a couple of weeks before the Fairhaven Stop & Shop started putting our "points" on the receipts. But now they do and it's helpful.
The points are now cumulative, so that you don't have to spend $50 at a time. You can spend $25 twice and still get the bonus. And if you spend $100 you get a bigger bonus - that is, more money off per gallon. I don't think it used to work that way before.
Posted by: Julie at June 30, 2008 5:02 PMI work from home 2 days a week since my company closed its satellite office essentially doubling my commute to about 80 miles a day. At 25 MPG and $4/gallon, that would be about $64 for 5 days of commuting. Minus four weeks of vacation is $3072 per year just to drive to work. That's outrageous, and I can't afford it.
So I work from home 2 days a week. (About $1,850 per year.)
Posted by: Chuck S at June 30, 2008 5:14 PMI hear you Chuck. The rise in the price of gas pretty much negated my raise this year. I may be working out a partial telecommuting arrangement as well.
Posted by: briwei at July 1, 2008 11:48 AMIt's a consideration for me -- if I'm offered a course on MWF, I might not take it, because that would mean commuting five days a week vs. two. Would it be worth the extra pittance? Factor in the stress of teaching every day and teaching an extra course, and the answer is no.
Posted by: Maggie at July 1, 2008 3:52 PM