Published: May 19, 2008 10:52 am         

Filling up with frustration

As gas prices rise, so do concerns while many are making adjustments with how and what they drive

By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com

With Memorial Day right around the corner, travel officials are predicting drivers will rethink their holiday travel plans. Locally, a number of drivers already feeling the financial strain in their day-to-day travel have been making a variety of changes in their driving habits.

“Many Americans are feeling a financial pinch this holiday weekend from record high gasoline prices and other factors,” said AAA president and chief executive Robert Darbelnet.

According to an AAA study, the national average price of a gallon of regular gas rose 1.8 cents overnight to $3.776. With prices already 67 cents higher than a year ago, analysts think that figure could increase to as high as $4 on a national basis in the coming weeks although consumers in many areas are already paying that amount or more.

To keep their fuel consumption down, several area residents said they already make conscientious decisions about their driving habits.

“I drive like 12 miles one way,” Debora Unkart said of her commute to Palo Pinto from Strawn. She fills up her car once a week.

“I thought $2.30 was high,” she recalled. “Now, I paid $3.63 [Wednesday] morning. How can they increase it every day?”

To help with fuel costs, Unkart said she carpools when she can with her sister, who lives across the street and works part-time in Palo Pinto.

“Other than that, you have to bite the bullet,” she said.

Mineral Wells resident Judith Thomas said she jumped at an opportunity to work in Palo Pinto County after driving to Fort Worth every day for four years.

“The average person driving to Fort Worth spends $150 to $200 in gas with all the traffic,” she calculated. “I was filling my car up two to three times a week [for] $45 to $50 each time.”

And that fuel cost doesn’t even count towards what she spent while running errands and the trips for the kids, she said. “I was desperate to find a job here.”

Both Lone Camp resident Neysa Formanek and Claudia Blair, of Mineral Wells, find that gas prices have impacted their time with out-of-town family.

“I don’t get to see my grandkids in Fort Worth because it’s too far to drive,” Formanek said. “We just don’t make trips into town to see our kids anymore. It kind of stinks.”

Even with her four-cylinder car, Formanek said, “I don’t make quick trips to the grocery store.”

To get gas, she said she buys that in Palo Pinto so she doesn’t have to drive all the way to Mineral Wells to fill up. Formanek explained driving to Mineral Wells for fuel would eat up any savings she would’ve made on the price per gallon.

Rising fuel prices put a damper on Mother’s Day for Blair, who’s “kids couldn’t come from Gainesville for Mother’s Day. I understood. You’re talking about $100 [in fuel] one way.”

“I don’t see all this stuff getting better,” Blair commented. “I’d like to know what the future holds. They’re going to have to do something.”

When driving is part of your job, however, fuel efficiency is high priority.

Famous Water Company delivers water “all over,” said Carol Elder, in Mineral Wells. They make trips to a number of outlying communities such as Bridgeport, Weatherford and Possum Kingdom. “We have not yet had to readjust [for fuel prices] but we’re going to have to look at it.”

They’ve already made a few changes, she said, including making bigger deliveries to some locations to reduce the number of trips needed to deliver water. “We definitely had to tighten up the routes [and] make sure we’re organized,” Elder noted.

As a copier repair technician, Shaun Beasley, of Wichita Falls, puts several hundred miles on his car on a daily basis.

“I drive 800 to 900 miles a week,” Beasley said. “I fill up every day.”

He estimated that he spends between $800 and $1,200 per month in fuel. One trip to Palo Pinto from Wichita Falls costs $35 for the 200-mile roundtrip.

Although he’s reimbursed for mileage through his employer, he said he takes steps to ensure the best mileage out of his Mitsubishi Gallant. That included a change in his vehicle. Beasley said he sold his Ford F-150 pickup for the car because of fuel economy.

“I drive 60 mph. That’s as fast as I go. My miles per gallon went from 22 to 29 mpg by doing that. … Just because the speed limit is posted 70 doesn’t mean you have to drive that fast,” he explained. “I watch my RPMs [revolutions per minute] and don’t accelerate at lights.”

There are several other things drivers can do to improve the fuel efficiency of their vehicles, according to www.fueleconomy.gov. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maintain the Web site jointly.

According to their Web site, factors such as driving sensibly and observing the speed limit can benefit fuel economy by as much as 33 percent. The site stated that aggressive driving – speeding, rapid acceleration and braking – wastes gas and can lower gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent around town.

Gas mileage also decreases rapidly over 60 mph, according to the site. It states, “As a rule of thumb, you can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional 20 cents per gallon for gas.”

Other suggestions offered are to remove excess weight in vehicles, avoid excess idling and use cruise control to maintain a constant speed. According to the Web site, “an extra 100 pounds in your vehicle could reduce your miles per gallon by up to 2 percent. The reduction is based on the percentage of extra weight relative to the vehicle’s weight and affects smaller vehicles more than larger ones.”

Keeping a car’s engine tuned, properly inflated tires and checking and replacing air filters regularly are other ways of getting the most mileage for the money.