Well it looks like I will be relocating. Last Tuesday I interviewed for a position at an Eaton facility in Fayetteville, NC. Among other things, they make motor control centers and specialized power management equipment for Applied Materials and Trane. The job duties would include managing new product development projects and responsibility for industrializing the various new designs. Today I got the job offer which includes a generous relocation package. I have decided to accept. Fayetteville is mostly known as the home of Ft. Bragg. But it is also known for it's high crime rate and abysmal public schools. As such, we have been looking for a home near Raleigh. We found a couple of great residential communities with great public schools in Clayton, NC which is 25 miles or so SE of Raleigh. Depending on where we decide to buy a house, my commute would be between 60 - 65 miles each way, about 95% highway miles on I-40 and I-95. The good news is that I would be driving opposite of rush hour traffic so the drive would take 60-75 minutes depending on speed. The speed limit on the interstates is 65-70. My current commute takes 50 minutes so no big deal for me. The VX is perfectly suited to such a drive. My last tank was 75 MPG in 50/50 city/hwy driving. On the highway portion of my current commute I am getting 76+ MPG at 55 MPH. If I can get away with 55 MPH on I-40 and I-95, I should be able to get mid 70's mpg year round. Possibly more with aero mods.
Hi Dan: ___Congratulations on the promotion! I think you are going to find the relocation packages a gold mind in disguise as long as you can get your family to go along with the change. ___And on to the change … Is there any smaller towns between Raleigh and Fayetteville that might cut that commute down somewhat but still maintain the higher academics you and you wife are looking at for the children? The reason I say this is what if gas goes to $5.00, $7.00, $10.00 or even more over the next 10 years? That commute (mine included) is already ugly enough and I have a car pooler that takes away 1/3 of the drive every other day … ___I am just trying to add a bit of realism coming from someone whose job location changed and was offered a relocation but stayed for the family. Looking back, I wish I had taken the other choices available to me at the time. ___Another note. The Carolina’s appear to have the cheapest non-RFG/non-Ethanol fuel in the nation and have for quite some time. I believe it may have some of the best roads for hypermiling in the country knowing Rick Reese was doing the South/North Carolina commute along the coast up into DC for his 500 + mile weekly grind and did quite well in the FE department as well ___Good Luck with the new and more prestigious position and keep us informed of the move. ___Wayne
Congrats! I was in the Raleigh area to visit a customer earlier this year and I have to say that it seemed like an awfully nice area. Actually, the biggest deal for me was that it was mid January and something like 50F for a daytime high...made the North East look like the ice chest that it is at that time of year . Anyway, I don't remember where exactly I was but I did manage to get lost in some particularly comfy-looking suburban commnities well outside of Raleigh proper. Your family and the education of your kids comes first, but I have to agree with Wayne that 120-130mi per day could get pretty ugly over the long-haul, even with the crazy numbers that you can pull off. Either way, good luck with the house hunting! I'll bet you're psyched.
hm a relocation wouldn't be a congrats unless your used to moving from time to time? I'm blessed with a short distance to work (8.5 miles) and my average time to work is usually 20 minutes so that gives the car enough time to work its magic. But boy for your long commute all I can say is... get an mp3 player loaded up with your favorate songs paired with a radio transmitter your going to need it! Good luck Dan! Well Im sure there will be those days where your going faster than 55 mph well before a huge gas price increase that is.
Thanks for the advice everyone. We have done some extensive house hunting over the past few weeks and studied the school situation. Private school is an option but in the Fayetteville area they end up being just on par with the public schools in Raliegh. At 5-10k per year for both kids, I could buy 1000 gallons of gas at $5-10/gal. That would be good for 70,000 miles. I would only be driving 32,000 miles per on my commute. Even the worst case scenario, $10 gal gas, cheap 5k/year school = 500 gallons @ 70 MPG = 35000 miles. If gas gets ridiculous, I could look at telecommuting as an option. I'm sure my boss would be sympathetic because his drive is longer than mine, both mileage and time. Since he is in Wake Forest, he has more traffic to deal with. We have already discussed carpooling but it doesn't look feasible for several reasons.
