Fuel Saving Tips

With the fuel prices out of control these days, everyone is looking into saving as much money as they can at the pump (or other places so they can purchase the fuel). I guess the easiest way would be not to drive your car and use the gas, but how many of us can do that? Not many at that and it doesn't matter if you are a student or employee, the cost of fuel effects us all in so many ways.

With that in mind, here are some fuel saving tips that can help get you that extra mile -

1. Observe the speed limit - of course you should be doing this to begin with (definitely in a fleet car), but if you tend to have a slight lead food in your personal car, you may want to drive the speed limit to help conserve fuel. According to fueleconomy.gov, "While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed (or range of speeds), gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph".
2. Remove Excess Weight - avoid storing heavy items in your vehicle for a long period of time, especially things over 100 pounds. The extra weight could reduce your MPG by 2%.
3. Avoid Excessive Idling - this is especially in a fleet vehicle, but even in your personal vehicle try to avoid idling.
4. Use Cruise Control - in many vehicles, this will assist with saving fuel since your foot isn't always pressed on the gas petal. Its also a bonus since you will remain at a constant speed so you don't go over the speed limit & now you are using two steps to conserve fuel.
   
5. Keep your car in shape - the fleet vehicles are regularly checked by the college's mechanic but on your personal vehicle make sure your tires are properly inflated, your engine is properly tuned (not to a radio station mind you!), check your air filter regularly and use only recommended oil grades for your vehicle.

These are just a few simple steps to assist you & your wallet in these times of ever changing fuel prices. Good luck!

Helpful Fleet Tip #1

Be Honest About Accidents.

Did you know?

In 1769, the very first self-propelled road vehicle was a military tractor invented by French engineer and mechanic, Nicolas Joseph Cugnot (1725 - 1804). Cugnot used a steam engine to power his vehicle, built under his instructions at the Paris Arsenal by mechanic Brezin. It was used by the French Army to haul artillery at a whopping speed of 2 1/2 mph on only three wheels. The vehicle had to stop every ten to fifteen minutes to build up steam power. The steam engine and boiler were separate from the rest of the vehicle and placed in the front (see engraving above). The following year (1770), Cugnot built a steam-powered tricycle that carried four passengers.

n 1771, Cugnot drove one of his road vehicles into a stone wall, making Cugnot the first person to get into a motor vehicle accident. This was the beginning of bad luck for the inventor. After one of Cugnot's patrons died and the other was exiled, the money for Cugnot's road vehicle experiments ended.

Steam engines powered cars by burning fuel that heated water in a boiler, creating steam that expanded and pushed pistons that turned the crankshaft, which then turned the wheels. During the early history of self-propelled vehicles - both road and railroad vehicles were being developed with steam engines. (Cugnot also designed two steam locomotives with engines that never worked well.) Steam engines added so much weight to a vehicle that they proved a poor design for road vehicles; however, steam engines were very successfully used in locomotives. Historians, who accept that early steam-powered road vehicles were automobiles, feel that Nicolas Cugnot was the inventor of the first automobile.