Tips for Reducing Gridlock on Road Trips

After completing a 1,500 mile round-trip from North Carolina to Illinois and back again last week, I once again have a new appreciation for gridlock. During our trip we were able to avoid a significant amount of gridlock as we traveled entirely at night.

Benefits of Travelling at Night

1. We avoided and did not contribute to rush-hour traffic in any city along our path.
2. We do not have to run the air conditioner as it was cool enough at night for us to remain comfortable, and thus we saved on gasoline.
3. We were able to use the cruise control for most of the journey which also saved on gasoline.
4. Avoiding the gridlock of lots of traffic and rush-hour significantly reduce the amount of time we spent speeding up and slowing down by breaking for cars and that saved us on gas mileage.
5. We traveled the weekend after Memorial Day weekend and does benefited from a slight to climb in the average price of gasoline.
6. We drove all night and thus didn't have to pay for a hotel room because we were on the road and moving, as opposed to driving during the day and sleep in a hotel for a few hours at night and drive more the next day.
7. The roads were not very hot and us the wear and tear on our tires was reduced.
8. The kids slept almost the entire trip and thus we didn't have to make as many stops at rest areas nor did we had to stop for meals often. This saves us money on gasoline and on food.

There are ways that you can travel these days with the car that minimize your impact on gridlock. You can put more people in to the same vehicle and commutes. You can drive slower and use less gasoline. You can use smaller vehicles or vehicles are just the right size for your purpose. Instead of pulling a trailer you can pack items on a van rack or with luggage carriers that insert themselves into a hitch. We don't have to succumb to the status quo, we don't have to change or lifestyles much to see benefits.

Don't get me wrong we definitely need some major changes, but there are many people out there that are not even making minor changes and that's definitely going to cause us all a lot more pain later.