That while I don't have any scientific evidence to back anything up, I drink when I'm thirsty, and I do fine. That being said, I have to agree with Paul on the health benefits in general of drinking water. Sipping water is great for those who are trying to quit smoking (use a straw, and it helps). It is also good for those who eat out of boredom (sometimes I'll drink hot water in the evenings when I'm watching TV instead of downing a bag of Cheetos.)
64 ounces is usually gained easily through other decaffinated liquids, not just water, so I don't worry about getting too much lone H20 (plus the water tastes icky where I live.)
Water is good. Dehydration is bad. And that's the simple point to the whole thing I think. Prevention is worth a pound of cure, and with cure costing sooo much money these days, I'll take it as a frugal tip.
A few years ago I got stuck behind a truck going through town. I quietly cursed my luck and fumed at the driver for going 3 miles in a 40-45 mph zone at 32 mph the whole way.
It was only as he accelerated out of town that it dawned on me that he'd gone 32 mph the entire way. He had driven on a busy road, at 6pm, through 8 traffic lights and never once touched his brakes! He knew what the best speed was to reach all the lights when they were green and after all the waiting cars were out of his way.
To this day it remains one of the most impressive driving accomplishments I have ever personally witnessed.
THAT is how you can save gas: no by following right behind a truck, but by following its lead. The driver's profit may depend on maximizing his mileage, so why not learn from his experience?
Xin Lu is asking anyone to use trucks as a means of saving gas. I think she is simply letting people know of a good way go a little slower than the average driver without causing a traffic situation (or getting flipped the bird.) As a general rule, the truckers I know are very good at what they do. Following them from a safe distance (i.e. driving in the same lane as them, not tailgating) has many benefits. They generally know the road, and other drivers are less likely to cut in front of you to get behind a truck. In my city, if you leave a safe driving distance between you and the car in front of you, it is perceived as permission for another car to cut in and secure the space (which is very dangerous.) Trucks own the road here, so I think of them as the older brother of the highways. Works for me.
Why not even check the guidebooks out from your local library? When we went to Europe a few years ago, my mother checked out books on London, Paris, Germany, Spain, and Austria, and took them to Europe with us. If you misplace them, you'll just buy them from the library, and if you don't, you've just saved yourself the money!
Please don't listen to this, driving behind trucks is a horrendous idea, and in fact probably the least safe spot on the freeway.
1) tires can come flying at you if the truck has a blowout
2) you will be driving in the right most lane, and people will continually be merging in front and behind you (to exit and enter the freeway)
Please don't do this, fine you want to save money and not go fast, drive in the center lane at your desired speed, it is fairly easy to pass people that don't move and don't do anything unpredictable.
I've had a great experience with WikiTravel. It often has the favorite "locals" restaurants, and gives a great run down on the basics of a destination.
I think the entry here covered the fact that following too close is not safe. I was worried when I first saw the title, but you really covered your thinking about why it would be a trade off that any adult responsible enough to be reading a personal finance blog can interpret as a bad deal. The threat to health is too high to allow for this idea to be truly feasible. You have provided information from both sides and I applaud your efforts. I'm disappointed to see some of the other comments discouraging your information because I doubt they read the whole entry before becoming offended.
I got dehydrated on a hike last summer and ended up spending a day in ICU at the hospital. One day and an ambulance ride cost $30,000. After insurance, my little adventure cost about $4000. Now, I'm a fanatic about keeping hydrated.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. There was just a news story debunking the 8 glasses a day myth - no basis for that either. How about drink when your thirsty - that's your body's way of telling you it needs more water.
oh and the bullet point on water and cancer prevention is not just laughable, but insulting.
I can understand driving behind a truck to combat lead-foot, and to avoid arousing the ire of other drivers, but to be safe you'd have to be pretty far back. If you're far enough back that the truck itself is not a danger to you, other drivers might start getting irritated with your speed because they can't necessarily pass you and the truck at once. Best to hang back far enough that they can pass you one at a time if you're going to try this tactic on a two lane highway or other situation where passing is difficult, but then they've got to make two maneuvers, so I'm not sure you've gained anything with regard to not pissing people off.
In the photo on this post, the perspective of the camera shows that the following vehicle is too close. If you can't see the truck's mirrors, the truck driver almost certainly can't see you--and from that close, you can't see much of anything ahead of the truck. Likewise, driving beside a truck puts you right in the driver's blind spot and blocks your own vision of the other side of the truck.
As a motorcyclist, I do everything I can to keep as much distance as possible between myself and large vehicles, and there's no way in hell I'd let one block my vision like that. Riding near a truck makes it hard to see and hard to be seen. Add in the dangers of the truck itself, like tire blow outs or insecure loads, and they've got red flags all over them. I even avoid passing them without at least one lane between me and the truck if I can avoid it, and always pass as quickly as possible so as not to be stuck next to it.
I keep as far away from trucks as possible on California roads. Fortunately, most of my travel is on roads with 3-4 lanes so I have little interaction with big rigs. In a few short years that I've lived in SoCal, I've seen first-hand numerous items fly off of trucks (ie. tires, oranges, rocks, boxes, etc.) and seen my share of accidents involving larger big rigs and passenger cars. Its not pretty.
There might very well be a safe distance to follow a truck and save some money on gas. But like other supposed tips I've read about (ie. shedding a full size spare, buying cheap tires or brakes, not regularly maintaing your car, etc.) it doesn't seem like the risk, however small, is worth the reward. Especially for cities like LA where we are virtually married to our cars.
My husband and I drove from the UP in Mi to FL averaging 55 mph and trying to drive behind trucks -- although not to close and at a safe distance -- and we made the whole trip for $180! We have a Subaru that gets 28mpg in highway and the trip is about 1,600 miles -- we were very pleased and relaxed too since we weren't rushing to get anywhere! Just be safe.
yup that's true. The rocks are annoying. My husband's windshield got cracked by one of those rocks. (He doesn't follow trucks to save gas. It was just an accident.) I do change lanes when there are rocks flying at me, but it never happens when I am 200 feet behind a grocery store truck. Most of the time it is the trucks that are carrying gravel or dirt that cause flying rocks.
The next time you are in line to check out and you are unloading your cart of 600 items, let the person behind you with only an item or two go first.
I also like to take my daughter to Build a bear factory which can be expensive sometimes, so I wait for coupons and discounts. Sometimes when I have multiple coupons, I like to give them to someone in the store with little kids. That way they can get a little extra too.
This is an interesting article. Being behind a truck would cause you to drive slower (usually) or at least keep you mostly to the slow lane, thus saving you money. And if you are very careful about the distance that you are from the truck, it could in theory provide more savings for your fuel usage.
BUT there is another risk that hasn't yet been mentioned... the fact that all trucks (especially large ones, even with mudflaps) kick up rocks at your car... that leads to dents, rust spots and sometimes cracked windshields. I've driven enough years in California on major highways to know that even in a lane next to a big rig can be a prime spot to be "hit". So that cost risk would have to be included in any "savings" you'll get from gas.
mramige, did you read the section of my article with the link to MythBusters results? They certainly didn't follow a truck at a few inches. In fact they found that the gas savings was 11% at 100 feet, and I restate here, 100 feet is not a safe following distance.
Mythbusters covered this a few seasons ago. They came to the conclusion that although driving a few inches behind a truck saves some gas, any more than that is useless. Driving that close is also very dangerous and not worth the benefits.
Well, if you read the whole article you will see that I said I don't recommend dangerous driving habits for saving gas. However if you can drive safely behind a larger vehicle that happens to block some of the draft, then it is fine.
Driving is dangerous in general, and if you are trying to drive slowly sometimes there is no choice but to drive behind a truck.
Note: I have not done any research on this specific question, but I am a physicist.
If you've ever seen a wind-tunnel test, you'll have seen the long tail formed by a car or airplane. Alongside, however, the airstream is turbulent, meaning that swirls and eddies spin off and can dramatically increase air resistance. The amount of turbulence is determined primarily by the "roughness" or irregularity of the object moving through the air (or water), and so a truck would very probably cause a lot of turbulence.
In short: I expect that driving alongside a truck would increase air resistance and thus worsen fuel economy.
I should have underscored that point. While people tried this I'm sure, and I was *wondering* about driving next to a truck, I'd NEVER do it, nor suggest anyone else do it either. Truck accidents aside (and that's not trivial), just the reduced visibility is very dangerous. Then there's the stress of trying to be just the right distance while staying super-alert the whole time... Not worth it by a long shot.
What are recommending it extremely bad advice. The safety hazard is not nearly worth saving a few bucks on gas.
My older brother who has been driving 18-wheelers across the United States and locally for 10-15 years has always told me to stay as far away from trucks as possible! After witnessing fatal accidents caused by trucks, a tire blow out (not on his truck luckily) landing through the windshield of a Jeep Grand Cherokee (was fatal), and numerous other bad truck accidents, he always tells everyone to say the h#ll away from them--only bad things can happen.
BINGO! I couldn't have said it better....
That while I don't have any scientific evidence to back anything up, I drink when I'm thirsty, and I do fine. That being said, I have to agree with Paul on the health benefits in general of drinking water. Sipping water is great for those who are trying to quit smoking (use a straw, and it helps). It is also good for those who eat out of boredom (sometimes I'll drink hot water in the evenings when I'm watching TV instead of downing a bag of Cheetos.)
64 ounces is usually gained easily through other decaffinated liquids, not just water, so I don't worry about getting too much lone H20 (plus the water tastes icky where I live.)
Water is good. Dehydration is bad. And that's the simple point to the whole thing I think. Prevention is worth a pound of cure, and with cure costing sooo much money these days, I'll take it as a frugal tip.
Thanks, Paul!
A few years ago I got stuck behind a truck going through town. I quietly cursed my luck and fumed at the driver for going 3 miles in a 40-45 mph zone at 32 mph the whole way.
It was only as he accelerated out of town that it dawned on me that he'd gone 32 mph the entire way. He had driven on a busy road, at 6pm, through 8 traffic lights and never once touched his brakes! He knew what the best speed was to reach all the lights when they were green and after all the waiting cars were out of his way.
To this day it remains one of the most impressive driving accomplishments I have ever personally witnessed.
THAT is how you can save gas: no by following right behind a truck, but by following its lead. The driver's profit may depend on maximizing his mileage, so why not learn from his experience?
Xin Lu is asking anyone to use trucks as a means of saving gas. I think she is simply letting people know of a good way go a little slower than the average driver without causing a traffic situation (or getting flipped the bird.) As a general rule, the truckers I know are very good at what they do. Following them from a safe distance (i.e. driving in the same lane as them, not tailgating) has many benefits. They generally know the road, and other drivers are less likely to cut in front of you to get behind a truck. In my city, if you leave a safe driving distance between you and the car in front of you, it is perceived as permission for another car to cut in and secure the space (which is very dangerous.) Trucks own the road here, so I think of them as the older brother of the highways. Works for me.
Check new research which refutes what you're saying.
Think about it--there is no mammal which needs that much water; why should homo sapiens?
Why not even check the guidebooks out from your local library? When we went to Europe a few years ago, my mother checked out books on London, Paris, Germany, Spain, and Austria, and took them to Europe with us. If you misplace them, you'll just buy them from the library, and if you don't, you've just saved yourself the money!
Please don't listen to this, driving behind trucks is a horrendous idea, and in fact probably the least safe spot on the freeway.
1) tires can come flying at you if the truck has a blowout
2) you will be driving in the right most lane, and people will continually be merging in front and behind you (to exit and enter the freeway)
Please don't do this, fine you want to save money and not go fast, drive in the center lane at your desired speed, it is fairly easy to pass people that don't move and don't do anything unpredictable.
I've had a great experience with WikiTravel. It often has the favorite "locals" restaurants, and gives a great run down on the basics of a destination.
I think the entry here covered the fact that following too close is not safe. I was worried when I first saw the title, but you really covered your thinking about why it would be a trade off that any adult responsible enough to be reading a personal finance blog can interpret as a bad deal. The threat to health is too high to allow for this idea to be truly feasible. You have provided information from both sides and I applaud your efforts. I'm disappointed to see some of the other comments discouraging your information because I doubt they read the whole entry before becoming offended.
I got dehydrated on a hike last summer and ended up spending a day in ICU at the hospital. One day and an ambulance ride cost $30,000. After insurance, my little adventure cost about $4000. Now, I'm a fanatic about keeping hydrated.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. There was just a news story debunking the 8 glasses a day myth - no basis for that either. How about drink when your thirsty - that's your body's way of telling you it needs more water.
oh and the bullet point on water and cancer prevention is not just laughable, but insulting.
I can understand driving behind a truck to combat lead-foot, and to avoid arousing the ire of other drivers, but to be safe you'd have to be pretty far back. If you're far enough back that the truck itself is not a danger to you, other drivers might start getting irritated with your speed because they can't necessarily pass you and the truck at once. Best to hang back far enough that they can pass you one at a time if you're going to try this tactic on a two lane highway or other situation where passing is difficult, but then they've got to make two maneuvers, so I'm not sure you've gained anything with regard to not pissing people off.
In the photo on this post, the perspective of the camera shows that the following vehicle is too close. If you can't see the truck's mirrors, the truck driver almost certainly can't see you--and from that close, you can't see much of anything ahead of the truck. Likewise, driving beside a truck puts you right in the driver's blind spot and blocks your own vision of the other side of the truck.
As a motorcyclist, I do everything I can to keep as much distance as possible between myself and large vehicles, and there's no way in hell I'd let one block my vision like that. Riding near a truck makes it hard to see and hard to be seen. Add in the dangers of the truck itself, like tire blow outs or insecure loads, and they've got red flags all over them. I even avoid passing them without at least one lane between me and the truck if I can avoid it, and always pass as quickly as possible so as not to be stuck next to it.
I keep as far away from trucks as possible on California roads. Fortunately, most of my travel is on roads with 3-4 lanes so I have little interaction with big rigs. In a few short years that I've lived in SoCal, I've seen first-hand numerous items fly off of trucks (ie. tires, oranges, rocks, boxes, etc.) and seen my share of accidents involving larger big rigs and passenger cars. Its not pretty.
There might very well be a safe distance to follow a truck and save some money on gas. But like other supposed tips I've read about (ie. shedding a full size spare, buying cheap tires or brakes, not regularly maintaing your car, etc.) it doesn't seem like the risk, however small, is worth the reward. Especially for cities like LA where we are virtually married to our cars.
My husband and I drove from the UP in Mi to FL averaging 55 mph and trying to drive behind trucks -- although not to close and at a safe distance -- and we made the whole trip for $180! We have a Subaru that gets 28mpg in highway and the trip is about 1,600 miles -- we were very pleased and relaxed too since we weren't rushing to get anywhere! Just be safe.
yup that's true. The rocks are annoying. My husband's windshield got cracked by one of those rocks. (He doesn't follow trucks to save gas. It was just an accident.) I do change lanes when there are rocks flying at me, but it never happens when I am 200 feet behind a grocery store truck. Most of the time it is the trucks that are carrying gravel or dirt that cause flying rocks.
The next time you are in line to check out and you are unloading your cart of 600 items, let the person behind you with only an item or two go first.
I also like to take my daughter to Build a bear factory which can be expensive sometimes, so I wait for coupons and discounts. Sometimes when I have multiple coupons, I like to give them to someone in the store with little kids. That way they can get a little extra too.
This is an interesting article. Being behind a truck would cause you to drive slower (usually) or at least keep you mostly to the slow lane, thus saving you money. And if you are very careful about the distance that you are from the truck, it could in theory provide more savings for your fuel usage.
BUT there is another risk that hasn't yet been mentioned... the fact that all trucks (especially large ones, even with mudflaps) kick up rocks at your car... that leads to dents, rust spots and sometimes cracked windshields. I've driven enough years in California on major highways to know that even in a lane next to a big rig can be a prime spot to be "hit". So that cost risk would have to be included in any "savings" you'll get from gas.
I fail at skimming
http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp
mramige, did you read the section of my article with the link to MythBusters results? They certainly didn't follow a truck at a few inches. In fact they found that the gas savings was 11% at 100 feet, and I restate here, 100 feet is not a safe following distance.
Mythbusters covered this a few seasons ago. They came to the conclusion that although driving a few inches behind a truck saves some gas, any more than that is useless. Driving that close is also very dangerous and not worth the benefits.
Well, if you read the whole article you will see that I said I don't recommend dangerous driving habits for saving gas. However if you can drive safely behind a larger vehicle that happens to block some of the draft, then it is fine.
Driving is dangerous in general, and if you are trying to drive slowly sometimes there is no choice but to drive behind a truck.
Note: I have not done any research on this specific question, but I am a physicist.
If you've ever seen a wind-tunnel test, you'll have seen the long tail formed by a car or airplane. Alongside, however, the airstream is turbulent, meaning that swirls and eddies spin off and can dramatically increase air resistance. The amount of turbulence is determined primarily by the "roughness" or irregularity of the object moving through the air (or water), and so a truck would very probably cause a lot of turbulence.
In short: I expect that driving alongside a truck would increase air resistance and thus worsen fuel economy.
I should have underscored that point. While people tried this I'm sure, and I was *wondering* about driving next to a truck, I'd NEVER do it, nor suggest anyone else do it either. Truck accidents aside (and that's not trivial), just the reduced visibility is very dangerous. Then there's the stress of trying to be just the right distance while staying super-alert the whole time... Not worth it by a long shot.
What are recommending it extremely bad advice. The safety hazard is not nearly worth saving a few bucks on gas.
My older brother who has been driving 18-wheelers across the United States and locally for 10-15 years has always told me to stay as far away from trucks as possible! After witnessing fatal accidents caused by trucks, a tire blow out (not on his truck luckily) landing through the windshield of a Jeep Grand Cherokee (was fatal), and numerous other bad truck accidents, he always tells everyone to say the h#ll away from them--only bad things can happen.
-Robert