'Tis the Season for Smarter Driving

HOUSTON, Nov. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- As many Americans get ready for holiday travel, one of the biggest decisions beyond the destination is deciding whether to travel by plane or by car.  Factors like fuel or flight prices, dependability of the family vehicle, room for gifts and luggage as well as distance inevitably come into play.

Wayne Gerdes, a multiple World Record holder for the most fuel-efficient driving, drove a Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited earlier this month from Chicago, IL to Austin, TX, more than 1,100 miles, on just one tank of Shell Diesel. Gerdes, who made the drive to raise awareness for the importance of fuel-efficient driving this holiday season and year-round, travelled for just under 20 hours and was able to achieve an average fuel economy of 44.4 mpg. He arrived at his destination in Austin with ½ gallon of diesel fuel remaining in his tank.

Families often do more driving around the holidays to visit loved ones, attend parties and go on trips. The festive season also means putting out a little extra cash for food and gifts. But, as Gerdes showed with his fuel-efficient drive, there are ways to maximize your fuel purchases that will provide some relief for your wallet this time of year.

"Smart driving is especially important during the holidays when we are on the road so much," said Gerdes. "Even if you don't analyze weather patterns, road conditions and monitor traffic like I did for this drive, there are still easy steps you can take to improve mileage. It is a matter of planning ahead and being aware of what might negatively affect your fuel economy."

Though average new car fuel economy has steadily risen since 2008¹, fuel costs continue to be a significant factor in household budgets². Learning to maximize your fuel purchases is a gift you can give yourself this holiday season that will continue to give back, and help keep your budget in check, year-round.

One very important factor in achieving better mileage is ensuring driving habits are fuel efficient. Here are some smarter driving tips from Shell that drivers can incorporate into their everyday driving to help make their fuel purchases go further:

1. Use air conditioning sparingly⁴ - Air conditioning puts added strain on the engine and uses fuel to operate, so limit use to particularly hot days. On high temperature days consider using the fan instead.
2. Use overdrive gears³ - When you use overdrive, your car's engine speed goes down. This uses less gas and reduces engine wear.
3. Conserve momentum and keep your distance⁴ - Think ahead when you're driving. For example, slow down early to let traffic lights change, rather than stopping completely, or speed up a little before you reach the foot of a hill. Leave a sensible distance between yourself and the car ahead to give you ample time to brake evenly.
4. Use cruise control³ - Maintaining a constant speed on major roads and in free flowing traffic can improve gasoline mileage.
5. Drive smoothly⁴ - Avoid heavy acceleration or braking. Speeding, rapid acceleration and braking can lower your gasoline mileage by 5 percent at lower speeds around town and by 33 percent at highway speeds.

Gerdes documented his journey on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wayne.gerdes and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CleanMPG. Drivers can also check out more tips for smarter driving at www.shell.us/smarterdriving.  

About Shell

Shell Oil Products US, a subsidiary of Shell Oil Company, is a leader in the refining, transportation and marketing of fuels, with a network of approximately 6,000 Shell-branded gasoline stations in the western United States. Another 8,300 Shell-branded stations in the eastern and southern regions are managed by Motiva Enterprises LLC, a 50/50 joint venture between Shell Oil Company and Saudi Refining, Inc.

Shell Oil Company is an affiliate of the Royal Dutch Shell plc, a global group of energy and petrochemical companies with 93,000 employees in more than 90 countries. [(NYSE:RDS.A) and (NYSE:RDS.B)]

Cautionary Note

The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this press release "Shell", "Shell group" and "Royal Dutch Shell" are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. ''Subsidiaries'', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this press release refer to companies over which Royal Dutch Shell plc  either directly or indirectly has control. Companies over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to "joint ventures" and companies over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as "associates". In this press release, joint ventures and associates may also be referred to as "equity-accounted investments". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect (for example, through our 23% shareholding in Woodside Petroleum Ltd.) ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

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¹ www.umich.edu
² www.eia.gov
³ www.fueleconomy.gov 
⁴ www.fuelacademy.com

SOURCE Shell Oil Company