The NOLS Transportation Department on Transportation

Running on empty with an “estimated” 50 miles till totally empty…

This past Saturday, Rocky Mountain interns Wei-Ming and Spencer, went on a day trip to climb at Sweetwater Rocks, Wyoming. We were hilariously ill-prepared for the day ahead.

Dehydrated and about 70 miles from Lander, with maybe 70 miles worth of gas in the car, we thirstily thought of some pertinent questions. Especially about gasoline. Who better to ask than the NOLS transportation department?

Luckily, we reached the gas station in Lander, and got to talk with the car experts.

Interns: Is it ok to store an emergency gas can inside your car?
Transportation: No. You can store it on the outside, but inside it could leak or gas fumes could get in your air.

Interns: The road back to Lander included a lot of downhill. If you’re going downhill at a slight decline, is it more fuel efficient to have the car in neutral?
Transpo: Do not do it. Don’t. Never.

Interns: You don’t want to coast?
Transpo: You’re not saving anything – you may be putting yourself in harm’s way too. That’s the hard part, if you’re out of gear and going downhill, you’re having to use your brakes to slow down the car. If you’re in gear, your engine works as a brake to help slow you down. Also, if you need to accelerate, you have nothing. Big N-O.

Interns: If you are slamming on your brakes, does it matter if you’re in gear or not?
Transpo: If you’re moving, your car should be in gear unless something goes wrong. You don’t take it out of gear. It’s different if you’re driving a car with a clutch and you’re bringing it down slow, you downshift maybe. If you’re going to a complete stop at high speed in a manual you’d probably clutch it anyway, but in an automatic you just brake.

Interns: On the way back from Sweetwater Rocks, the gas meter was definitely under the Empty line. How bad is that for the car?
Transpo: Make sure you keep your tank full. Always work on the upper end of the tank. You’ll burn out your fuel pump, because it runs dry and its not running in fluid. That’s why you want to keep no less than a quarter tank in your vehicle. You should never go below a quarter tank ever, just don’t do it, it’s always better to work on the top half not the bottom.

Interns: One last question – In old western movies, characters suck on smooth pebbles to stave off the feeling of dehydration. Does that actually help?
Transpo: You can suck on a rock, but just keep water in your car.

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Some of these seem common sense, but it’s good to know the reasons why! If you didn’t know some of these tips, hopefully they’re helpful.

Cheers!

Miles till fill up… none.