Drop a Car's Tailgate, Don't Fix the AC and Other Gas-Saving Methods

I'm an experienced road warrior and my parents suffered through the gas crisis of the 1970s. As I watch the price at the pumps in central Ohio rise to $3.49 and above, it's time to start practicing a few gas-saving strategies again.

Drop your tailgate

I can remember my dad doing this when he owned a short-bed GMC pickup in the late '70s. Of course, when the Little League team filled the back of the truck for a trip to the Dairy Shack, the tailgate was closed. Dad had a 70-mile daily commute for work and the theory was that the open tailgate would reduce the drag and subsequently save money
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Back then, he saved about a gallon a week, he said. Today, that's a savings of $182.00 a year!

Don't repair your air conditioner

I arrived in Louisiana in August 2004. It was hot and humid, and I can't describe how much I appreciated the AC in my Dodge Intrepid. One month later, it was still hot and humid when my AC went on the fritz and the repair shop in Baton Rouge refused to fix it because of a leak.

When I compared my expense reports from month to month, I spent $70 less of my company's money on gas after my air conditioner died. We had the same monthly schedule, with more than 5,000 miles of road time, so my travel was the same.

Drafting

If it's good enough for NASCAR, it was good enough for my son. Fortunately, he usually tucked in behind a semi-truck while I was asleep so I didn't have to watch. During our final three months in Louisiana, we were using his newer-model Chrysler Concord.

While not a huge savings because I'm just not comfortable acting like a race-car driver, I did notice some occasional dips in the expense reports. The weeks that my son drove more miles were usually about $15 less in gas than the weeks I spent more time behind the wheel.

Invest in gasoline cans

My parents have perfected this routine to an art form. They buy their groceries at Kroger every Saturday. Mom's PT Cruiser has a 16-gallon tank and Dad manages to squeeze 12 gallons into two five-gallon cans. With their normal monthly grocery spending, they save 30 cents on every gallon of gas. Kroger usually limits the bonus savings to four fill-ups per month, but my parents manage to keep both vehicles filled all month long and save $33.60 a month.

Make do without

The best habit I developed and still stick to is refusing to run to the grocery store for something I've run out of. A 20-mile round trip in a Chevy Suburban uses more than a gallon of gas. At $3.50 a gallon, that quart of buttermilk you need at the store is going to get expensive.

(And, by the way, homemade biscuits made with sour milk tastes just as good and come out just as fluffy. Pour one tablespoon cider vinegar into a measuring cup and fill with milk to equal one cup. Let it rest for five minutes and then use the sour milk to make up your favorite biscuit recipe.)