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Across the country there are increasing reports of drivers who are gambling on completing their trip. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24920462/)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Houston_Traffic_Jam.jpgmsnbc - June 1, 2008

Brent Saba had just dropped a church group off at Philadelphia International Airport on Sunday morning and was heading north on Interstate 95 when it happened: His 15-passenger van ran out of gas.

Saba, a 24-year-old church pastor, made it to the shoulder just past the Ben Franklin Bridge and waited more than 30 minutes for someone to stop and lend him a cell phone. Then he waited a while longer for AAA to arrive with fuel.

With gas prices hovering at $4 a gallon, motorists like Saba are putting less fuel in their tanks — then coming up empty on the highway.

Though national statistics on out-of-gas motorists don't exist, there's plenty of anecdotal evidence that drivers unwilling or unable to fill 'er up are gambling by keeping their tanks extremely low on fuel.

In the Philadelphia area, where the average price for a gallon of regular broke $4 on Friday, calls from out-of-gas AAA members doubled between May 2007 and May 2008, from 81 to 161, the auto club reported.

"The number one reason is they can't stretch their money out from week to week," said Gary Siley, the AAA mobile technician who helped Saba.

"Some of them are embarrassed. ... They say, 'I was trying to make it till Friday,' and they couldn't do it," said Siley, who has assisted numerous out-of-gas motorists…http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24920462/

I used to be one of those put $10 and hope to make it to Friday types. Since I've started hypermiling I have been able to fill up the last 6 tanks all the way to the top and make them last 2 weeks instead of a week and a half, which would put me at just a few days before payday.

I filled up a few weeks ago at a small gas station in Homestead. It is a few miles east of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela river. An old steel town with no mills left. I gave the cashier $60 to fill the tank and she almost fainted. She said that car takes $60 in gas?
Well it took $57 that day. Most drivers in that area are probably only putting in $20 at a time so seeing $60 floored her. Lucky it was my 740 and not the 960 or she would have had to change her underwear. 20.3 gallon tank and it takes premium. :eek:

Hope there are no airline pilots in this bunch

Hope there are no airline pilots in this bunch

Scary, but the airlines are doing the same thing. They put only enough gas in for the flight in question (hopefully with a safetly margin added) so that they fly with as little weight as possible to increase FE. There have been complaints and concerns brought up about this. After the first plane diverts due to low fuel we'll probably hear more about it...

Or they could take a page from history of the 70s and wait until you're at 3/4 or 1/2 tank and then fill up. Won't take a lot to fill up and you'll have gas to spare. DUH!!

I'll top the topping tanks story. Bear with me a second. You've probably heard about the flooding in Iowa and may have heard about issues with hazards in the water, particularly gasoline. That's partly from the underground storage tanks of a client of ours at work. The recommendation in a flood is to use a full tank of fuel as ballast to keep (partly) empty tanks' buoyancy from popping them up through the three feet of sand and concrete pavement on top of them. It turns out that our client didn't fill all his tanks either because he didn't have a spare $80k sitting around or because he was "frugal". The flood came, his tanks surfaced and wrought havoc floating through inner city neighborhoods until they came to rest at a daycare center and a freeway ramp about half a mile away. Our client wants to keep a low profile so I can't show the actual amazing pictures of concrete exploded out of the ground and tanks in odd places, but here's a link to a picture of a similar tank that I helped decommission a few years ago to help you imagine-- http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/3631/cat/500/ppuser/824

Anyhow we have a crew headed up there to pick up the pieces tomorrow. We're also hoping to locate the tank that's still AWOL--it may be in Missouri by now:eek:

"Drrr, gas cost too much so I'm just gonna put $10 a week into my car. I can still go to the same places as before. It's ok"

God some people are stupid if that's what they think.

Unless you plan on getting rid of the car after you're done with that tank of gas, then just fill it up all the way.

LOL...has happened to me once. This was because I like to fill up (all the way) on a certain day like Wednesdays. Well I was trying to stretched the last fumes out but the yaris didn't let me.

Turns out that was my first 500+ tank. hehe

I top off every day I go to work. Depending on how heavy my foot is that day its between $12 & $15 a day, but my thinking is that, the same gas I'm gonna need in a few days will cost a few more pennies a Gal so why not buy it cheaper today. & yes Last year when prices dropped a little, I did run the tank to fumes before filling to wait for the lowest possible price.

Scary, but the airlines are doing the same thing. They put only enough gas in for the flight in question (hopefully with a safetly margin added) so that they fly with as little weight as possible to increase FE. There have been complaints and concerns brought up about this. After the first plane diverts due to low fuel we'll probably hear more about it...

Fuel can be up to about 1/3 of the total weight of a plane that is going to make a 5000 mile non-stop flight. Why carry that much fuel if you are only going to fly from Dallas to Chicago?
Some planes are above their safe landing weight when fully fueled. My wife visited Europe and on the return flight, an engine sucked in a bird shortly after takeoff. The plane circled around for 8 hours burning off fuel in order to be light enough to land safely.

I truly feel bad for people not able to fill their tank when they go up to the pump. I've been in that situation. I'm sure that most of these folks need to scrimp on nearly everything just to get through the month.

"Drrr, gas cost too much so I'm just gonna put $10 a week into my car. I can still go to the same places as before. It's ok"

God some people are stupid if that's what they think.

Unless you plan on getting rid of the car after you're done with that tank of gas, then just fill it up all the way.

The problem with that is the situation I often found myself in, that you don't have enough money for a full tank and all you can afford it $10 or $15. It's not really a matter of gas prices but more a matter of how money money you have available.

I hardly ever top off my tank. Less fuel = less weight = better mileage. I get gas at a station on my regular drive to work, so I'm not burning any extra either. The idea is to save gas, and not just see how long you can stay away from the pump, right?

I wonder how much gas is typlicly wasted by people who run out of gas on a major road. Even if they pull off, there can be a lot of rubber-necking.

damionk, take a day to top off the tank, drive until you've used up 1/4 of a tank and then go back and top off again. Another option is to drive until you have 1/4 tank left and then go into the station to add what you can afford and keep doing this as long as you don't go below 1/4 tank. I don't have a scan gauge and can't afford one right now so the only way for me to check mpg is by writing down tripometer on pump receipt then do the math. My wife goes by miles per tank rather than miles per gallon.

I top off every day I go to work. Depending on how heavy my foot is that day its between $12 & $15 a day, but my thinking is that, the same gas I'm gonna need in a few days will cost a few more pennies a Gal so why not buy it cheaper today. & yes Last year when prices dropped a little, I did run the tank to fumes before filling to wait for the lowest possible price.

1)How long is your commute?
2) Are you hauling heavy/bulky loads all the time? or 5+ pax?
3) If no to #2 and #1 is >50 mi, Why aren't you in a hybrid yet?!?

Not a hybrid yet because I'm a poor basturd with no extra money, a large family & still owe more for this car than its worth. Once I get ahead then don't worry, i'll join the crowd. If I could I would.... To add to that too, in just a few years time there is going to be, I think tons more options out there so I would like to see what is up and comming and actually works in the next year or two.

Having a plan and going where I can with what I have = no fear of running dry, barring someone icepicking my tank or raiding my gas when I'm not looking. If I'm at the point where I'm "stretching" the gas between paydays, then I would seriously need to examine my budget and do some serious negotiating. Of course, gassing up once every 2 weeks now makes that pretty easy.

Too bad a lot of people who can change to improve FE but won't, especially given the negative rhetoric about what we do... c'est la vie.

I wait until the gas light comes on these days to fill it up. There were days in the Buick, though, that I thought for sure I wouldn't make it... :o

It was predictable: If the car didn't start when facing downhill, put it in neutral then roll to the bottom of the hill. Then it will start.

my dad does this....His gas is hardly ever above E :eek:. I filled it up for him so he would still be able to fill up at half tank..a month later..its back down to E...

I had always filled up with half a tank of gas, but last 2-3 times did it in quest of getting 1000 miles...this tank may be the last one I do down to the gas pump light. for awhile.

Unless I'm on a trip and unfamiliar with the area, I always drive until E and then fill it up. If you can afford to fill your gas tank and if you can plan enough to drive until E you are saving on gas and time by making less frequent trips to the station.

I only ran out of gas once and with fairly good reason. All the gas stations for over 700 km's were closed in the desolate Canadian shield, because it was Thursday evening. Luckily I wasn't driving the Yaris with it's absurdly small tank or I would have ran out a couple hundred kilometers before Sault Ste Marie, as it was I ended up rolling into the outskirts of town less than a 2 km walk from the nearest Shell. Phewf.

I should probably explain why I go until the gas light: I have to drive 20 miles one way to get my gas, and 20 miles back. It's only worth my while if I'm below half a tank. To be really saving money it needs to be even lower. (And a 25 cent difference in price which makes for a $2.50 difference.) 3.59 in Ohio vs. 3.85 in Northern Kentucky last time I filled it up. And it's not that corn meth RFG crap.

I ran out of gas once...as I was pulling into the pump..I had to push a few feet to get the cap close enough to the hose. Wasn't trying to save anything...just wasn't paying enough attention.

The following bit got me wondering...

Research from The Nielsen Co. shows that drivers have been making more frequent trips to the pump but limiting how much they put in the tank.
Convenience stores, which sell about 80 percent of the nation's gas, are seeing fewer fill-ups, said industry spokesman Jeff Lenard.

How does this effect convenience store profits? From my understanding many make little to nothing on gas & hope to pick up incidentals. Do more frequent stops mean more money, or since people are broke, less?

The local TV stations were reporting that repair shops have seen an increase in the number of people needing to replace their fuel pumps because they froze up when run dry from trying to avoid putting gas in the car.

I have one (just one) credit card that I use for my gas purchases. I also have my internet bill and my netflix charged to that one card. I pay it off once per month and, by doing so, I avoid any finance charges which would make the gas even more expensive. I also never have to worry about how I'm going to pay for my gas. I'm not crowing - it just works for me.