GREENSBORO, N.C. — While we're all about to gorge ourselves on Thanksgiving food and get bigger, your wallet will be slimming down if you plan to drive over the holiday.
"I just filled up my tank last week and it was around 70 dollars so it's quite a bit," said driver Raymond Sha.
AAA says 48 million Americans will drive this week, almost 4 million more than last year before the covid vaccine was out. But still lower than 2019's 49 million as some people like Wayne Clayton say they will sit this year out at home.
"Once we had seen the gas prices rising, no more decision was needed to be made, it was way too expensive to drive where we wanted to drive," Clayton said.
GasBuddy.com says the average price in North Carolina is $3.18 and nationwide it should be around $3.35 during Thanksgiving.
But the website's Head of Petroleum Analysis, Patrick Dehaan, thinks prices will drop in the coming weeks.
"I would expect the downward trend that's just starting to gain momentum will last into early potentially in mid-December, it could run longer than that. Just depending on how supply and demand, continue to fluctuate," Dehaan said.
Until then, there are ways to save money.
"The first thing you want to do is check your tire pressure. to find the proper pressure, make sure to check the sticker on your door jam," said Mike Quincy from Consumer Reports.
And go slow. Consumer Reports found reducing the speed of a RAV4 from 75 to 65 miles per hour improved fuel economy by 6 miles per gallon and dropping down to 55 mph improved it by
another 8 miles per gallon!
"The harder you accelerate, the more fuel you use. The goal should be to drive evenly and anticipate the movement of traffic," Quincy said.
Driving home the point that slow and steady wins the race for this week of holiday travel. And if you have a lead foot, try this app instead: