Rising Gas Prices

Gas prices rising?
Get off the road and take your job home!
by Pamela La Gioia

There's a lot of complaining going on about the cost of gasoline. Whether it's due to price gouging or just an economic cause and effect, there's no escaping the shockingly high gas prices. Lucky for me, I rarely drive. I don't have to because I work from home.

But what about people who don't work from home and have to refill their tanks every week, or even every day? What can be done to provide some relief to consumers who are trying to earn a living, but are spending a large portion of their wages on gas?

I asked these questions to people around the country and heard pretty much the same thing: Gas prices are horrible. Gina, in North Carolina, said gas near her is currently around $2.80 a gallon for the "cheap stuff". Fortunately, like me, she works from home; however, her husband doesn't. They were hoping to buy a new truck this year, she said, but because of gas prices they decided to put it off.

"It would not do us any good if my husband had to push it to work!" Gina grimly said. So, because of gas prices, Gina won't get her truck. And some unlucky dealership won't make a nice sale, either.

In Southern California, one woman reported that her husband works an hour away, requiring at least $70.00 to fill up his truck each week. Fortunately, he found some people to carpool with.

Around the country gas prices range about the same: $2.96 in New York, $2.99 in Massachusetts, $2.80 in Texas, and a whopping $3.24 in Montgomery, Alabama. Who can afford the commute to work? Who can afford to drive?

Consumers are wracking their brains trying to figure out ways to cut down their gas expenses. Their solutions make sense, but come with a price. One solution, for example, is to have companies reimburse employees for mileage. While that saves some money for workers, in turn it increases expenses for companies which are sure to have ramifications for the workers somewhere down the line.

Some consumers are car pooling to work, which is good for saving on gas and cutting down on air pollution. However, a downside to car pooling, said Faith, an Indiana resident and stay-at-home mom, is that it takes "forever" for her husband to get home. He has less time now for the family.

What is the best solution? Telecommuting. According to Chuck Wilsker, President and CEO of The Telework Coalition, telecommuting just two days a week can reduce a person's gas expense by 40%. Wilsker, who has studied workplace trends and telecommuting for over ten years, recently noted, "The more organizations that have telecommuters, the more likely we will see [gas] prices stabilize or drop at the pumps."

Wilsker isn't the only person who understands the logic of telecommuting. To help relieve some of the pain from gas prices, even President Bush has been encouraging federal workers to telecommute since the last wave of Katrina. It only makes sense: if you don't commute, you buy less gas, and you save more money.

Of course, telecommuting isn't possible for everyone. But it is for almost everyone. Think about it: with computers and high speed internet access, what are you doing at work that you can't do at home?

About the Author
Pamela La Gioia is President of Telework Recruiting, Inc. (www.teleworkrecruiting.com), providing recruiting services for companies seeking telecommuting candidates; as well as a membership based site for individuals looking to find telecommuting jobs and telecommuting companies. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of Your Life! Magazine (www.yourlifemagazine.com), an online lifestyle magazine for women.