Fuel Efficient Driving Tips from a Trucker

Truckers know how to drive fuel efficiently. The trucking industry depends on minimizing fuel costs for generation of competitive advantage. We can all learn to save on gas by picking up a tip or two from the truckers!



Think that 7 mpg is good fuel economy? Maybe when you are hauling 50 tons. Tomorrow's post has information on the Volvo FH16-700, a powerful truck with the I-shift transmission that you saw in today's video.

Five Hypermiling Techniques Demonstrated

Here are some basic hypermiling techniques you can use.



If you want to save on gas using the car you already own, make sure to read tomorrow's post as it has more in depth information on one aspect of hypermiling: coasting.

American Automobile Association Tips to Save on Gas

The AAA has some tips you can use to get better gas mileage.

Tips to Use Less Gas

Here are some more hypermiling tips.

Some Basic Hypermiling Tips

Hypermiling is the art of driving in a way that minimizes fuel usage. Your driving habits can have an enormous influence on how much gas you save. At the most basic, hypermiling is about maintaining a steady speed to avoid speed changes ... each time you slow down, you lose all of the kinetic energy stored in the motion of your vehicle, energy which came from burning gas. Note in the video the use of an instrument for showing instantaneous fuel economy. This kind of immediate feedback is a big help in learning to drive so as to save on gas. Without a device like a Scangauge or a built in dashboard fuel economy readout, you really don't know how different driving techniques are changing your fuel usage.

Emergency Kit

Do you carry an emergency kit with you in your car? You never know when you might run out of gas in the middle of nowhere or have a mechanical breakdown. Here are some items you might consider carrying with you.

30 Ways to Save on Gas

Here are 30 tips you can use to save on gas and avoid some pain at the pump.

Driving Habits to Save on Gas

Here are some tips on how you can adjust your driving habits to save on gas.

Plx Kiwi Gives Feedback to Help Save on Gas

Driving habits are a very major influence on how much gas we use. If you want to improve your fuel burn, it is a big help to be able to see the rate of fuel use in real time. Real time feedback is a great way to learn. The Scangauge is one device which can give you this feedback. The Plx Kiwi, featured in the video, is another.

Driving Tips to Save on Gas

One of the biggest factors in saving on gas is the way we drive. Here are some tips you can start using today to save on gas!

Remove Your Roofrack to Save on Gas

A roofrack increases the aerodynamic drag of your car, which makes it use more gas. If you are not using your roofrack, take it off. At higher speeds, aerodynamic drag becomes larger and larger. Lots of highway speed miles with an unused roofrack is burning gas for nothing. So remove that roofrack until you need to use it and save on gas!

Tips for Saving on Gas

Here is another fellow who thinks oil price will just go up over the long term. Here are some of his tips for saving on gas.

Slow Down to Save on Gas

Slowing down by 10 miles per hour can reduce your fuel consumption enough to notice, and for most trips the extra time taken is negligible. For example, consider a 60 mile trip. Driving at 60 miles per hour will get you to your destination in 1 hour or 60 minutes. Speeding up to 70 miles per hour will get you there in about 51.5 minutes. You saved only 8.5 minutes, but you burned through a lot of extra gas ( and money ) to do it.

How To Improve Your Gas Mileage

Some tips on getting better gas mileage. The very best way to save on gas is to drive less ... as the video says, carpooling and public transit are the gas saver's best friends. But sometimes these are not practical or do not allow for enough cargo and so on.

Quest for Low Drag Coefficient Body Shapes

At highway speeds, the aerodynamic drag becomes a large part of the resistance your vehicle must burn gas to overcome. Thus clean, streamlined body shapes are crucially important for fuel economy. Especially so at higher speeds. In the case of electric vehicles, whose batteries carry limited amounts of energy, low air drag permits use of less energy per mile which in turn boosts their range. Large scale alterations in the body shape are probably not in the cards for most people, but a couple of things you can do to improve your streamlining are to remove any roof rack or overhead cargo box and keep your car clean and waxed. A clean, waxed surface slides through the air with less friction.

Hypermiling for Dollars and Gas

Hypermiling is the art of driving in such a way as to maximize fuel economy of the vehicle. The Golden Rule of Hypermiling is probably "Maintain Momentum". Think of your gas mileage when you are braking or idling: you are getting ZERO miles per gallon!

Learn How Truckers Save on Gas

The trucking industry needs to operate efficiently to keep profits rolling in. So as a result, they are very interested in saving on gas. Every gallon of diesel not spent is more money in the owner's pocket. Thus truckers are a great source of tips on how to get better fuel economy. The video is a mine of handy gas saving tips. Of course, they are from the point of view of the trucking industry and talk about long haul diesel tractor trailers. But the principles are often the same and can be applied to your everyday driving habits with good results.

Tests Prove It : Tonneau Covers Help Trucks Save Gas

Pickup trucks can gain a significant aerodynamic improvement if they are fitted with a tonneau cover. That can lead to as much as a 10% reduction in fuel use. They say seeing is believing, and this video shows a road test which reveals the advantages of fitting out your truck with a cover.

How to Save Gas on Hills

One way to save some gas is to efficiently go up hills. The trick for fuel efficiency is to never accelerate up a hill. Instead, build up a little extra speed on the flat as you approach the hill. This way you will be accelerating on the level instead of accelerating against gravity. Then as you begin to climb the hill, allow your speed to drop away. You can recover the lost speed with the help of gravity while descending on the other side. Using this technique you will only accelerate on the level or with gravity, never against gravity.

The video demonstrates this technique. If you have a fuel economy gauge included in your dashboard or if you have added an after market one such as the ScanGauge you can directly see yourself that this technique works. For those without such a gas mileage gauge, the video will have to do. By the way, anyone interested in fuel economy should seriously consider getting a real time mileage readout instrument. The feedback is invaluable because without it you really have no way to know your current fuel consumption.

This Hypermiling Couple Saves on a Lot of Gas

This video details the story of a married couple who has earned their place in the Guinness Book of World Records for low fuel consumption. They give out some tips as to how they do their hypermiling. Watch and learn!