Is the 4 day work week a possiblity to help the oil problem?

[venkman]

It would make a difference for hourly workers, but salaried workers wouldn't really see a change in their work week since they aren't paid by the hour. Considering the hourly jobs are going away and everyone is moving to salaried in this country...

Remember also, the work week is built around the school week (or visa versa) so you would need to change both at the same time.

 

[BrownTown]

Well I work a 4 day work week and it deffintiely saves both gas/$$$ and time. I think it might be a good idea for some (especialyl those with long commutes), but I really don't think the gas crisis is that bad that it requires us to completely change our way of life just to cut down on gas consumption a little bit.

 

[blackangst1]

Originally posted by: BrownTown
Well I work a 4 day work week and it deffintiely saves both gas/$$$ and time. I think it might be a good idea for some (especialyl those with long commutes), but I really don't think the gas crisis is that bad that it requires us to completely change our way of life just to cut down on gas consumption a little bit.

Oh shit man...now you've done it. Open the floodgates....

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: blackangst1

Originally posted by: BrownTown
Well I work a 4 day work week and it deffintiely saves both gas/$$$ and time. I think it might be a good idea for some (especialyl those with long commutes), but I really don't think the gas crisis is that bad that it requires us to completely change our way of life just to cut down on gas consumption a little bit.

Oh shit man...now you've done it. Open the floodgates....

actually, i think people are way over-blowing the effects of high gas prices

 

[blackangst1]

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: blackangst1

Originally posted by: BrownTown
Well I work a 4 day work week and it deffintiely saves both gas/$$$ and time. I think it might be a good idea for some (especialyl those with long commutes), but I really don't think the gas crisis is that bad that it requires us to completely change our way of life just to cut down on gas consumption a little bit.

Oh shit man...now you've done it. Open the floodgates....

actually, i think people are way over-blowing the effects of high gas prices

I know. I should have put sarcasm tags on it. Ive been saying the same thing all along.

 

[StageLeft]

Not really, I wouldn't think. A lot of people still work in fields, for example, that don't allow this.

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: blackangst1

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: blackangst1

Originally posted by: BrownTown
Well I work a 4 day work week and it deffintiely saves both gas/$$$ and time. I think it might be a good idea for some (especialyl those with long commutes), but I really don't think the gas crisis is that bad that it requires us to completely change our way of life just to cut down on gas consumption a little bit.

Oh shit man...now you've done it. Open the floodgates....

actually, i think people are way over-blowing the effects of high gas prices

I know. I should have put sarcasm tags on it. Ive been saying the same thing all along.

just looking at my own example:

i own a car i bought 4 years ago for 7 thousand dollars, i expect to get about another 3 years out of it, so thats $1000 per year

I pay $900 per year for insurance

I pay about $150 per year for routine maintenance

I've paid about $1500 for repairs over the last 4 years, or an average of $400 per year

I fill up about once a month at $50 a tank, thats $600, at all time lows that would have been $150, so lets assume recent increases have been $450 in extra costs to run my car.

so for my dirt cheap beater, it costs me roughly $3000 as year to run my car, 1/5th of that being gas. Sure I don't drive much, but if you double the price of the car and double the mileage, it stays roughly the same.

If owning and running your car was not a big deal before, how is it a big deal now?

 

[GroundedSailor]

Originally posted by: blackangst1

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: bamacre

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: bamacre
What we need to do is make better use of today's technologies and have more people work at home.

While you can do that on many things (computer programming for example and I agree that it should be done), it's difficult to do it in many professions. Try building machines from home or running the cash register at Walmart from home (well, Walmart and many others are eliminating checkers anyway to go to more self checkout stations). More could be done but many jobs just don't allow it.

Definitely, it's not something that could be done with all employees. But just doing it where it can be done is significant. There's not going to be one single thing we can do, there's going to be many things we'll have to do to better our situation. I just think this is one area that no one is really talking about, and something that could be implemented in a short amount of time.

I agree that it will help. I also think that many cities can help gas mileage and consumption by retiming the traffic lights. Too many times a large line of traffic will be stopped (after starting from a major intersection) at a minor intersection just to let one car out. A few Michigan cities help eliminate this by not having left turns. If you want to go left, you go to a U turn lane and make a turn and then turn right onto your intersection. This eliminates holding main lines up for those left turn lights. Also, traffic circles can be used to help eliminate stops altogether.

I agree, there are lots of things that can help gasoline useage even on today's cars. Add new technologies or develope exsiting technologies on the cars and significant mileage gains can be made.

But eliminating 1/5 of the work week driving or so surely would help.

The traffic light thing is interesting. Never thought of that...could work!

Very common in New Jersey. It's called a jughandle left. Keeps the bulk of the traffic moving along major roads.

 

[blackangst1]

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: blackangst1

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: blackangst1

Originally posted by: BrownTown
Well I work a 4 day work week and it deffintiely saves both gas/$$$ and time. I think it might be a good idea for some (especialyl those with long commutes), but I really don't think the gas crisis is that bad that it requires us to completely change our way of life just to cut down on gas consumption a little bit.

Oh shit man...now you've done it. Open the floodgates....

actually, i think people are way over-blowing the effects of high gas prices

I know. I should have put sarcasm tags on it. Ive been saying the same thing all along.

just looking at my own example:

i own a car i bought 4 years ago for 7 thousand dollars, i expect to get about another 3 years out of it, so thats $1000 per year

I pay $900 per year for insurance

I pay about $150 per year for routine maintenance

I've paid about $1500 for repairs over the last 4 years, or an average of $400 per year

I fill up about once a month at $50 a tank, thats $600, at all time lows that would have been $150, so lets assume recent increases have been $450 in extra costs to run my car.

so for my dirt cheap beater, it costs me roughly $3000 as year to run my car, 1/5th of that being gas. Sure I don't drive much, but if you double the price of the car and double the mileage, it stays roughly the same.

If owning and running your car was not a big deal before, how is it a big deal now?

Its not. I hope you werent replying to me *grin*

 

[TheSlamma]

Finally a techs thread with some merit!

 

[venkman]

Originally posted by: GroundedSailor

Originally posted by: blackangst1

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: bamacre

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: bamacre
What we need to do is make better use of today's technologies and have more people work at home.

While you can do that on many things (computer programming for example and I agree that it should be done), it's difficult to do it in many professions. Try building machines from home or running the cash register at Walmart from home (well, Walmart and many others are eliminating checkers anyway to go to more self checkout stations). More could be done but many jobs just don't allow it.

Definitely, it's not something that could be done with all employees. But just doing it where it can be done is significant. There's not going to be one single thing we can do, there's going to be many things we'll have to do to better our situation. I just think this is one area that no one is really talking about, and something that could be implemented in a short amount of time.

I agree that it will help. I also think that many cities can help gas mileage and consumption by retiming the traffic lights. Too many times a large line of traffic will be stopped (after starting from a major intersection) at a minor intersection just to let one car out. A few Michigan cities help eliminate this by not having left turns. If you want to go left, you go to a U turn lane and make a turn and then turn right onto your intersection. This eliminates holding main lines up for those left turn lights. Also, traffic circles can be used to help eliminate stops altogether.

I agree, there are lots of things that can help gasoline useage even on today's cars. Add new technologies or develope exsiting technologies on the cars and significant mileage gains can be made.

But eliminating 1/5 of the work week driving or so surely would help.

The traffic light thing is interesting. Never thought of that...could work!

Very common in New Jersey. It's called a jughandle left. Keeps the bulk of the traffic moving along major roads.

A few Michigan cities? It's pretty much all Michigan cities that do it. That's why we call it a Michigan Left. I don't know if it really helps that much since it requires you to dedicate a lane to the turnaround islands anyways plus it adds traffic lights between major intersections for those islands.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: venkman

A few Michigan cities? It's pretty much all Michigan cities that do it. That's why we call it a Michigan Left. I don't know if it really helps that much since it requires you to dedicate a lane to the turnaround islands anyways plus it adds traffic lights between major intersections for those islands.

I'm not from Michigan so I don't know how many there are. As for lights, I saw none in Detroit while I was there. There were dedicated U-Turn lanes that were just past each intersection. You pulled past your intersection into the U-Turn lane and turned when traffic was clear on the opposite direction. You then proceeded to your intersection and turned right. Maybe things have changed and if so, there is no point in the U-Turn lanes if you need a light on them....

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: miketheidiot
I fill up about once a month at $50 a tank, thats $600, at all time lows that would have been $150, so lets assume recent increases have been $450 in extra costs to run my car.

so for my dirt cheap beater, it costs me roughly $3000 as year to run my car, 1/5th of that being gas. Sure I don't drive much, but if you double the price of the car and double the mileage, it stays roughly the same.

If owning and running your car was not a big deal before, how is it a big deal now?

If everyone could fill up one time a month, it would all be rosey...but you're the exception (by a long shot), not the rule. I fill up about 3 times a month for work but many who live a good distance from work fill up multiple times per week. Many have dropped the trucks for smaller, fuel efficient cars and use far less gas than before and several now carpool. However, it's still far more significant in cost than you incur from this.

While it doesn't "hurt" many here, it does hurt many in the rest of the US, and everyone seems to be forgetting that you're paying more for everything that's transported because of this, so don't think that your tank is the only thing you're paying for. I talked to a trucker who stated that it now costs $1,600.00 + to fill his truck and that his company (300 trucks) had a fuel bill of $1,500,000 last month. They aren't eating those fuel bills, you are.

 

[beyoku]

Sounds sweet, personally i have been on a 4 day work week and I find Wednesday the best day to have off and not friday. - You never work more than 2 days in a row.

 

[jersiq]

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: b0mbrman
How about a staggered work day? Where some companies start at 8, some at 9, some at 10, so that we don't burn so much fuel in traffic?

my uncle worked in downtown chicago for 40 years and started work at 5:30 to avoid traffic

I work an off-shift also. 2 pm to 10:30 pm (we are forced to take a lunch break) and although traffic is mitigated for me, I still have to make the drive.
It's hilarious in my company, we have strong suggestions from senior managment to use VPN and telecommute, but yet the lower level managers scowl whenever you suggest it.
I can easily do my job from home, as can others in my department, yet we'll never see it become a reality.
It's hilarious that my company has spent a lot of money on a myriad of technologies to enable us to work from home, yet we are still making the daily shuffle into work. It requires an ethos change in most companies to allow this.

However, we are a 24/7 company department (network operations for a cell phone provider) we'd still have to do 27/7, but at least there would be some immediate relief for us.

 

[BrownTown]

I work a 4x10 schedule, so I know what its like, and it does save money on gas (but the TIME is even more important to me). But still, we are talking about like a 10% decrease in gas consumption for me, not like your cutting it in half here. And like I said before, I think that the issue of TIME is even bigger than gas to support a 4 day work week. I spend an hour in the car each way, and thats only like 2 gallons of gas with my car getting 35MPG highway (and I only see 1 stoplight on my route so I'm probably getting that). So, in an hour you use 8$ on gas, compare that to the 30$ you make per hour and its not all that much (OK, not everyone makes that much per hour, but everyone HERE does, so lets jsut use it ).

 

[child of wonder]

Originally posted by: Brovane
I could do a lot of my work from home. However the company I work for has a hard time letting people work from home. They are old school style management where they have to see you working to make sure the job is getting done. I am not sure how to get over this management blockage.

Same here. 99% of my job could be done from home.

Heck, I'd love it if companies simply offered the ability to work from home one day out of the week as an incentive, such as when you do a great job on a project, etc.

"Good work getting those servers virtualized. Go ahead and work from home this Friday."

 

[AAman]

My new job offers a 4 day 10 hour week and I swore I wasn't going to do it as I get really tired by the last day (I used to work a 9 hour shift and get Monday off every other weekend), but with prices getting this high I'm definitely reconsidering.

 

[IGBT]

..raise the driving age to 21. gets rid of the rice racers and joy riders.

 

[Cogman]

Well, it would help, and work. But for how long? How long would this take to implement as well?

I do somewhat like the idea (as I would like to have a long weekend every weekend). but have to question if the cost (time and coordination) would be worth the benifit. Surely cutting transport or improving mass transit would better help our fuel problems. Until we can stop the need for truckers to go cross nation (or at least to transit several states), we really won't ding the oil needs IMO.

 

[boomerang]

Our government is run by rich old men who do not like things to change.

No matter how good a case could be made for a 4 day, 40 hour work week, it's just too scary for them to even consider. Besides, what would they gain by us consuming less oil?

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: Engineer
I agree that it will help. I also think that many cities can help gas mileage and consumption by retiming the traffic lights. Too many times a large line of traffic will be stopped (after starting from a major intersection) at a minor intersection just to let one car out. A few Michigan cities help eliminate this by not having left turns. If you want to go left, you go to a U turn lane and make a turn and then turn right onto your intersection. This eliminates holding main lines up for those left turn lights. Also, traffic circles can be used to help eliminate stops altogether.

I agree, there are lots of things that can help gasoline useage even on today's cars. Add new technologies or develope exsiting technologies on the cars and significant mileage gains can be made.

But eliminating 1/5 of the work week driving or so surely would help.

I'd definitely like to see that happen in my area (Pinellas County FL) where we have geniuses removing turn lanes and adding more stop lights.

 

[QuantumPion]

I work a 36/44 schedule, which is a nice compromise. I don't get burned-out working 10-hour days, but I still get every other Friday off.

 

[blackangst1]

Originally posted by: QuantumPion
I work a 36/44 schedule, which is a nice compromise. I don't get burned-out working 10-hour days, but I still get every other Friday off.

Thats my schedule also. Not sure of your days, But I work Sun-Tues and every other Wed 12 hour days. It's awesome.

 

[Danman]

At my previous job, where I was a arm chair QB with systems and network stuff, I could of done majority of my work from home. Unfortunately, the old management believed you weren't productive unless you are in your tiny cube. Again, this was my previous job.

Currently, I do a lot of on-site meetings with clients so I do have some trouble. Although, I make up my own schedule and work when I need to.