Conserving gas is "all right"

As I type this the price of crude oil just topped $117 a barrel, fuel prices are averaging $3.503 cents per gallon, and the Lundberg report says the cost of a gallon of gas has risen 54 cents since January 1. Not good news, especially for contractors who make their living driving from bid to bid and sending crews from job to job. So if you want to find a way to conserve a little fuel, and keep your fuel costs as low as possible, take a page from UPS, which runs thousands of trucks on the road each day: Turn right. That's correct (and right!). UPS says that in 2007 it saved itself 3 million gallons of gas by routing trucks using a technology that emphasizes safety and efficiency -- meaning delivery routes are planned as a series of loops with as few left turns as possible. UPS says it's a safer driving practice because drivers aren't turning in front of oncoming traffic as often, and it saves fuel because they spend less time idling in left-turn lanes waiting to turn. The UPS program is complex and computerized, but the basic concept can be used by any driver.