MyWayHow to save gas as a delivery driver
5 min read
Short answer: the two biggest savings come from driving fewer miles and from driving smoothly. A route that is 10–30% shorter saves a driver who covers 100 miles a day $42–$125 a month at the US average gas price of $4.465 a gallon. Smooth driving can save another 10–40% in stop-and-go traffic. Tire pressure, idling, oil and weight add a few dollars each.
How we calculated. Gas price: US regular gasoline, $4.465 a gallon, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), week of 28 September 2026. Fuel use: 23.5 mpg (10 L/100 km), the same figure our cost per stop calculator uses. Month: 22 working days. Savings from driving habits are the U.S. Department of Energy’s figures from fueleconomy.gov, checked on 2 October 2026. We make MyWay Route Planner, a route planner app, so the first tip is the one we sell. The rest work with any app or none.
How much gas does a shorter route save?
Every mile you don’t drive is gas you don’t buy, so the order of your stops matters more than any driving habit. A driver who covers 100 miles a day at 23.5 mpg burns about 4.25 gallons a day, which is $19 a day or $418 a month at $4.465 a gallon. At 150 miles a day it is $626 a month.
| Miles a day | Gas a month | Route 10% shorter | Route 20% shorter | Route 30% shorter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | $418 (94 gal) | $42 (9 gal) | $84 (19 gal) | $125 (28 gal) |
| 150 | $626 (140 gal) | $63 (14 gal) | $125 (28 gal) | $188 (42 gal) |
How much shorter your route gets depends on how you plan it today. If you already drive a fixed loop you know well, expect the low end. If you get a new list of addresses every day and drive them in the order they came, the gain is larger. By our own figures, MyWay makes routes about 30% shorter on average.
A route planner app does this by trying the possible orders of your stops and picking the shortest. With 15 stops there are more than a trillion possible orders, which is why guessing rarely finds the best one. MyWay is free for routes of up to 15 stops, and Pro costs $9.99 a month for up to 200 stops. At 100 miles a day, a route just 10% shorter saves four times that.
7 driving habits that save gas, and how much
| Habit | Gas saved (U.S. Department of Energy) | At 100 miles a day, per month |
|---|---|---|
| Drive smoothly: no hard acceleration or braking | 10–40% in stop-and-go traffic, 15–30% on highways | $42–$167 |
| Turn the engine off instead of idling | Idling burns 0.25–0.5 gallons an hour | $12–$25 for each half hour a day |
| Stay near 50 mph on highways | Each 5 mph over 50 costs about $0.31 more per gallon | Depends on how much highway you drive |
| Keep tires at the recommended pressure | 0.6% on average, up to 3%; you lose 0.2% for every 1 psi under | $3–$13 |
| Use the recommended grade of motor oil | 1–2% | $4–$8 |
| Carry only what you need | About 1% for every extra 100 pounds | About $4 per 100 pounds |
| Take off an empty roof box | 2–8% in town, 6–17% on highways, 10–25% at Interstate speeds | Depends on speed |
The dollar column applies each percentage to the $418 a month that 100 miles a day costs at $4.465 a gallon. The savings don’t simply add up: a shorter route also means fewer miles for every other habit to work on.
Drive smoothly between stops
Hard acceleration and late braking cost the most gas of any habit. The Department of Energy puts the loss at 10–40% in stop-and-go traffic and 15–30% at highway speeds. Delivery routes are mostly stop-and-go, so this is where a driver loses the most. Pull away gently, look further ahead, and coast toward stops and red lights instead of braking at the last moment. You get there at almost the same time and burn noticeably less gas.
Don’t idle at the door
Idling burns a quarter to half a gallon an hour, depending on engine size and whether the air conditioning is on. A driver who leaves the engine running for two minutes at each of 15 stops idles for half an hour a day. That is $12–$25 a month at $4.465 a gallon, for no miles at all. Turn the engine off for any stop where you leave the vehicle.
Watch your speed on highway stretches
Gas mileage usually drops quickly above 50 mph. fueleconomy.gov estimates that each 5 mph over 50 is like paying about $0.31 more per gallon. On a route with long highway stretches between towns, keeping to the lower end of the speed limit is a free saving. In town it matters less, because you rarely reach those speeds.
Look after tires and oil
Tires at the pressure printed on the driver’s door improve gas mileage by 0.6% on average and by up to 3% in some cases. You lose about 0.2% for every 1 psi below the recommended pressure. Check them at least once a month, when they are cold. Using the motor oil grade the manufacturer recommends saves another 1–2%. Note that replacing a clogged air filter does not improve fuel economy on modern fuel-injected engines. It only helps on older carbureted ones.
Unload the car
Every extra 100 pounds you carry costs about 1% in gas mileage. Clear out empty crates, spare stock and tools you don’t use on today’s route. An empty roof cargo box costs much more than its weight: 2–8% in town and 10–25% at Interstate speeds. Take it off when you don’t need it.
Gas prices where you drive
The same savings in other currencies, at the latest official price for each country:
| Country | Price | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $4.465 per gallon | 28 Sep 2026 | U.S. Energy Information Administration |
| United Kingdom | £1.73 per liter | 28 Sep 2026 | UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero |
| Canada | C$1.74 per liter | Aug 2026 | Statistics Canada |
| Australia | A$2.37 per liter | 23 Sep 2026 | Australian Competition and Consumer Commission |
| Ireland | €1.97 per liter | 28 Sep 2026 | European Commission Weekly Oil Bulletin |
| New Zealand | NZ$3.35 per liter | 25 Sep 2026 | New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment |
To see what your own route costs per stop at these prices, with your own mileage and pay rate, use our cost per stop calculator.
Sources
- U.S. Energy Information Administration: weekly US regular gasoline retail price, 28 September 2026.
- U.S. Department of Energy, fueleconomy.gov: “Driving More Efficiently” and “Keeping Your Vehicle in Shape”, checked 2 October 2026.
- Prices for other countries: the official sources named in the table above.
- MyWay Route Planner plans: pricing.