Great idea! And if we stagger who works which 4 days within offices, we’d also clear some traffic off the freeways, saving more fuel because we wouldn’t be stalled or crawling along.

It sure would and the only impediment is 19th century management. One step father is to work at home thru the internext.

I think it would be a great way to save fuel if Americans could manage to stay home on that extra day off. Not only could it save fuel but it could launch America into a less work and buy driven society. But I’m not sure if Americans are ready for that kind of positive change.

Absolutely. Everyone who can work from home should work from home. Anyone who isn’t working should stay right in Crawford until Big Oil is voted out of office.

Just because someone isn’t driving to work on that 5th day, doesn’t mean they’re not driving at all. It doesn’t address driving habits, just destinations. Significant fuel savings would require more sacrifice than altering our workweek and I don’t think Americans are willing to make that sacrifice. Lower speed limits, fewer cars, less recreational fuel use and less driving in general are all necessary, but unlikely.

It might save fuel if people stayed home on that extra day off, but how can reducing your income by 20 per cent help anyone?

I am a teacher. I will have off for two months. That’s a nice way to save gas, mandatory two month vacations for all!!!!!!

Not only would a 4-day work week save fuel, especially for people that have long commutes, but it would also take a number of cars off the road each day which would hopefully result in less time sitting in traffic.

Jack:

Most people would just burn it to go someplace else. We are hopelessly dependant on oil.

We need to kick the oil lobbyist out of Washington. So the auto manufacturer’s would be free to market vehicles that run on alternate forms of energy.

Ron K. San Diego

Nope!

Yes it would. Provided everyone doesn’t look at it as a three day weekend, every week, and plan “mini-vacations” for their off time.

Of course, with all the three day weekends, just think all the places I could go.

Of all the changes we need to make in our energy policy, this is the one you want to debate?

It may, but shifting to a four-day work week would be ideal. Wish the next president will make this a mandate!

Come on Jack, think about it. We turn friday into a holiday and what do you think is going to happen? Think about the three day weekends we have now, car poolers take their families on the road and do something. In other words the amount of gas used would tripple for the day off, in my opinion. People would rethink buying a cottage because they could use it more, how far do people drive to their cottages in your area.

My wife already works 4 and 3 day work weeks,12 hour shifts. She is actually home more and on the highway less. This system could work,but the employers would have to hire more workers for the 24-7 work cycle. They would never do this as they prefer working their current employees to death rather than provide for proper rest and some sort of quality of life.

Maybe… But, Walking More, sounds better. That would help the Healthcare system..

save it all QUIT YOUR JOB
1. saves gas
2. saves us from paying taxes that end up in foreign countries hands

The idea of having a four day work week would be great indeed. But the assumption that this would save more gas is preposterous. If you want to save gas move closer to your job, stop commuting for a half an hour, and stop feeling like your entitled to getting cheap gasoline. Noone ever talks about how much all the rest of the world is paying for gas. Are we really that much better than everyone else? No, we are not. All of us here in America can’t stop spending more money than we have. Start a budget and stick to it!!

I doubt it Jack. I am not sure how much of a problem the commute to work is. For m eit the after hours driving and the weekend driving htat gets me. Taking kids to sports activities, piano lessons, dance lessons, as well as frequent stops at Wal-mart etc are what does me in. Usually when I get to work I am there from8 amto 4:30 pm and my car does not move.

I doubt it Jack. I am not sure how much of a problem the commute to work is. For m eit the after hours driving and the weekend driving htat gets me. Taking kids to sports activities, piano lessons, dance lessons, as well as frequent stops at Wal-mart etc are what does me in. Usually when I get to work I am there from8 amto 4:30 pm and my car does not move.
jenny rome ga

Jack,

Honestly I doubt it. A 4 day work week will give everyone more time to relax fishing, camping, boating, visiting relatives or doing other recreational activities that they would not normally do because of their works schedules.
What would save gas is if everyone would just limit their driving this year. Stay home, work on special projects around the house, or changing their vacation plans to something much closer to home. We are just going to have to cut back on our consumption and find other ways to entertain ourselves that will reduce our fuel comsuption.
Lets get back to car pools, or walking, riding a bike or taking the bus to work when ever possible. Time to get healthy.

People are already working flex hours and four day work weeks.

Businesses need to consider allowing all employees to work from home if the work is primarily done via laptop or computer. Right now, this privilege is only enjoyed by management personnel. They are the ones with the big salaries. The non-managment employees must still report to the work location.

Factory workers, however, must report. Unless they can work out a 4-day schedule, I don’t see how they would benefit.

Yes it would Jack that is one of the option my current employer is going over at this tim it would save a lot of gas jack about 80 dollars a month depending on how far you have to commute

While that idea sounds good, just like Clinton/McCain’s gas tax pander, when you look at it a bit more closely it falls apart. The only way this would work is if people didn’t drive on their extra day off, or at best drove less. While I can’t judge what everyone does, I know that I drive just as much, if not more, on my days off than I do on work days.

It also doesn’t change that the shipping and airline industry will not be affected and they account for a significant amount of the fuel usage. Products are still shipped the same distance whether they are shipped on a 4 day week or 5 day week. Airlines, trains, ships, etc will also not change in their fuel usage.

Not only does this help with the pockebook, but also the environment.

In Maine this has been a great experiment conducted by the State Government employees. they ahve a variety of work schedules allowed. Very popular.
Still waiting to see the final cost effectiveness after almost a year.

People who are a whole lot smarter than me need to be working around the clock, 7 days a week to develop energy technologies other than oil. But to your question, if you happen to be lucky enough to have a job, a 4 day work week makes sense. I guess in this new world we must cancel all vacations, too. What a shame kids will miss out on the family road trips we used to endure.

No. We’ll run out of fuel someday anyway. It’s not the fuel that needs to be saved, it’s the future. Anybody heard about that ultimate source of free unpoluting and everlasting power ? It’s called the SUN.

Maybe somewhere else in the country. Here in Texas they will not give up their big suvs or trucks and gas could go to 50.00 a gallon and the fools still be out driving and we don’t have the bus service or tram service like most cities. Most of us have to drive 30 miles or more to get to work.

Only if you stay home and tend to the yard and family rather than driving around to all the over-lighted and over heated malls to buy more Chinese junk.

I think a 10 hour per day four day work week in American manufacturing plants would definately help save fuel IF we still had any American manufactuing plants in the United States.

I guess it would help in Mexico and China

Absolutely. Businesses would save on energy as well by not having to keep the heat, A/C, lights, etc. on 5 days/week as well. Of course if people use theri 3 day weekends for roadtrips every weekend, it amy be a wash.

Whatever happened to the electric bicycle. I wish I had one!

That’s a catch 22. Everyone is desperate to make money to deal with the rising inflation in this country but may need to work fewer hours to pay for gas. God help the hourly wage workers. In fact, God help everyone who lives in America today. A once great nation is facing the worst crisis of its history. AND GUESS WHO GOT US THERE? The guy Republican voters wanted to have a beer with….George W. Bush and his evil sidekick, Dick Cheney.

Yes it would Jack, so too would be tax breaks for companies that hire members of the same household. Mail should only be delivered four days a week and the government should have it’s own gas refining facility to process fuel for all military and government vehicles eliminating the gougers. The government (state and federal) should also show some leadership by parking all government vehicles one day a week and requiring employees to ride mass transit to work. Is this an energy crisis or what? Township government should be helping residents to arrange car pooling from outlying areas for workdays and arranging car pooling to the shopping districts on the weekends. Our government needs to quit whining and offer some real suggestions and relief!

The United States is an economic world leader because Americans work harder and longer than in other countries. A four day workweek might be all right for Europeans but even with permanently high gas prices it would be better to shift to telecommuting or other ways to reduce the need to drive than to lower the work ethic which has made America successful.

No, we are a spoiled country so giving us one more day off would mean we would drive our cars more. do you think that the majority of the people in this country would sit home on a day off?? we would have to go to Wal-mart or some other store to spent the money that we are saving from driving to work,HA,HA. We could save fuel in many ways but when you are spoiled you are spoiled.????????

Here in Sao Paulo, Brazil drivers are banned from driving in the central part of the city during rush hours 1 day each week based on the the last digit of the car license number. The purpose of this measure is to reduce rush hour traffic and save fuel.

A much more effective measure would be to fine SUV with less than 4 passengers and no cargo.

A question for you, Jack: When are you going to have a debate with Lou Dobbs?

JACK,
Oh, my gosh, my Son and Wife are both working 6 days a week and thankful they have jobs to go to, 4 days a week, they could not pay their morgage and support their family……..food is so expensive and they live up North, where they have to buy oil to keep warm in the winter,,,,,,,No! 4 days a week, would not keep them from lossing everything! They may have to buy scooters` or ride a bike to work as gas prices keep flying out of this world., but they are thankful to be able have jobs.!

Barb from Florida

Or you can work 7 day’s!! so you can afford more fuel!!

I have been working four ten hour days for the last several years and it saves in more ways than just the fuel problem. I think this would definitely be something that should be addressed and considered…..

Not if it meant they had to work more hours on those 4 days. Most people hate working 8 hours a day as it is. I think it would be better to find ways to let workers work from home when possible. That would save a lot of fuel, but most companies do not want to make the effort to put it in place. Oh wait they are already doing that in way… Outsourcing to another country, great way to reduce American emissions…

It would help. Reviewing and moving more towards telecommuting would reap some benefits beyond the four day work week. If you have to be at the workplace to perform your job then traveling less is good. Has anyone given any consideration to car pooling or mass transit? If you are not required to be in a workplace to perform your job then goals and objectives should be set and you should work a normal schedule from home. The technology/infrastructure is affordable, installed and operational. The goals and objectives are the measurement and motivation to stay on task. Management generally doesn’t like the idea as they think folks will goof off. They are just too lazy or don’t know enough to set realistic goals. Don’t focus on the work week, focus on the week’s work.

A lot of companies are doing the 9/80 workweeks these days, but I haven’t seen a significant drop in gas usage. I’ve actually seen a slight increase, because I use that extra day off to get chores done, instead of leaving my car in the parking lot.

Jack, A four day work week could be a real solution, Studies show not much is accomplished on Friday anyway as everyone is looking towards the weekend. Cutting one day of commutting out of everyone’s budget would lower the demand for fuel and save people money not to mention what it could do for greenhouse gas emissions. Many European companies all ready do this and some U.S. companies too. Maybe workers would feel a lot less stress as well.

Not really. Some people might drive less, but I think most working folks would eventually spend their newly aquired free time driving around to do all the things they can’t do when their working. A better way to save fuel would be to drop the hydrogen car scam and get back to building the electric cars that the auto industry killed.

Will somebody please tell the truth about the lobbyist stranglehold on our politicians in Washington D.C., because Barak Obama can’t seem to make them believe just how bad it is, or how many would lose their jobs, their influence positions and payrolls. Your cutting into the liveilihood of millions not just here in America but in foreigin countries as well that have special interest in who’s running D.C. They can’t afford to let Obama win. They know with Hilary they will still have their jobs, their money, and nothing changes in D.C. Now is the time for Barak Obama to bring down the hammer and pound on this going into Carolina, and taking on his honest John Edwards for vice who thinks like he does and the two will make a clean sweep into the presidency. I hope you run this, and THANKS Perry Blair.

Shift to a zero-day workweek, and save more!

Yes, but a better way may be telecommuting if possible. However, I’d love it if my husband switched to a four-day work week. That way he’d have one less excuse to use to avoid his list of “honey-dos.”

Bad idea. I earn much more at work than I spend getting there and back and shrinking the economy is not a good solution ever. Ensuring the indefinite existence and application of federal tax incentives for cars such as the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid, and VW Jetta TDI would be a start. Beyond that, I’d like to see federal and state investment in wind and solar farms in cooperation with the many Native American tribes who need jobs badly and whose land is often unsuitable for agriculture. There are many opportunities for those who open their eyes and their ears.

how exactly are the truck drivers who deliver everything we need to everywhere we shop supposed to achieve this goal? these are the people who are losing the most from the fuel prices.

Hi Jack,
A 4 day work week would be a good way to save fuel, but would people stay home on the 5th day? Where I live, people drive 50 to 60 miles one way to work. I just don’t believe companies would go to 4 day work weeks. They would be afraid of loosing money and we all know that everything is about the $$$(Greed).

Nelsonville Ohio

yes ,and it would give parents more time to be involved in their children’s lives,preparing them to become good,responsible adults.

I’m a computer nerd, and I have the option of working from home. I can still work the same number of hours, and still save gas.

The company I work for uses something called a 9/80 schedule. This means working 9 hours Monday-Thursday, working 8 hours every other friday and getting the rest of the fridays off. I gotta tell you, these 9 hours drag on and on and on. It ends up being a nice system though, because a 3 day weekend every other weekend leaves you with time to get more done and plan vacations that don’t interfere with work. But I can’t imagine working a 10 hour day, every day. A much more practical solution is to try teleworking.

Temporarily removing the 18 cent gas tax does two good things:
1.) Provides truckers and American workers IMMEDIATE relief while the gas price gouging is investigated.
2.) CNN reports it will cost $3 Billion per month or $12 Billion for the entire Summer. What that really means is CONSUMERS will have $12 Billion more to spend boosting our sagging economy!

Ten hours per day, four days per week, sounds like a good start. It would also give long weekends for people to go and spend their money. But the big problem is still the greed of the people and business. The auto companies cry that they have to have low mileage SUV’s to make money and the people can’t live without them. But General Motors’ European operation consistently makes money with a 40 milie per gallon requirement and gas has been over $5 per gallon since the 1950’s.

I already work from home and have for the last 4 years. I also own a car that gets 60 miles to the gallon which is a hybrid. People need to start thinking outside of the box.

Jack,
We and the whole world will be better off, if we eat less, poop less, work less, shop less, drive less - - the word is “Down Regulate” !
Conserve Energy - - Now let me get back to my couch.

Absolutly not, people will use more gas because they have more time to play on long weekends which means longer trips that they could not take on 2 day weekends because of driving time and I seriously doubt that anyone would want to have their 3rd day off in the middle of the week.

The best solution to saving fuel is if everyone would stop complaining about the price and use less fuel by planning all trips, short and long, the same way our parents did during the rationing of WWII

Maybe America is going broke, but you’ll hear no complaints from the Bush family, and their greedy cohorts in the oil industry! For them, lady…”Life is VERY good, these days”!

If we stayed home, we would eat more, use more electricy. maybe fight, and watch TV. we would waste that day. NO GOOD. can come out of it

I don’t see how people earning minimum wage can afford to go to work anyway, they will soon be spending all of their after tax income to buy gas to go to work. Something is really wrong in the country.Kick all the politicians out who call themselves experienced, we need some new blood. The old ones are just lining their pockets while the rest of us suffer.
JS North Carolina

Jack

On the short term it’s the best idea thus far. For the long term America should support the troops by not buying oil from OPEC. Conserve and convert to Solar power. Every building permit application must indicate solar , wind or both as backup power. Once this stuff hits the streets it will be more popular than shirts with two pockets..

It will be better to get one day telecommuting option available as far as possible….since 4 days though very tempting to fall in for, is not very productive.

Yes, but even more effective would be to greatly expand work from home, eliminating commuting, except periodically as deemed necessary.

I’m an RN, I have been working a three day week for years, and I can tell you it is the only way to go. If hospitals can staff nursing using three 12 hour shifts a week, why can’t the rest of the country do the same thing? A no brainer when you think about it.

Someone may have mentioned this already, but the answer is not taking a day off, and thus hurting productivity and making the US less competitive globally. The answer is what a lot of companies are already doing / capable of doing - and that is having employees work from home one day per week, by using remote access tools. It’s really simple. The up front investment by corporations would be large, so it likely won’t happen on a mass scale, but the government should consider subsidizing the corporate cost to implement a remote access system.

No. We need to quit meddling in the Middle East and pack up tent. When Bush took office, crude oil was $26/barrel and it’s now closer to $120/barrel.

Love the idea—Do you think that they will make it 4 day work days for school.

The way to cut down the price of oil right now is for American big business to start letting employees to work from home so they don’t have to drive in to work and for employers to close some of their offices and let those in those offices that are closed to work from home.. Think about it if businesses let 15 percent of their work force work from home that would save a bundle on oil usage and cause prices to go down immediately..

A four day work week would reduce the pay of anyone either opting for the change or forced into by an employer. How does taking money out of our pockets translate into saving money on gas? As an hourly wage earner making just over $30,000 a year, a 20% reduction in pay would devistate my single family income. We would lose everything.

I have limited economic knowledge, but just intuitively people working less means people are earning less, right? That doesn’t seem to help anything. Hospitals still have to have personell, as do airports, and grocery stores. I guess maybe that means possibly 2 people could do one’s person’s 40/week shift…but that 2nd person still has to drive to their shift, thus not saving gas. My husband has the type of job that if he isn’t at work, he isn’t earning money….no clock in clock out.
No, we need to find alternative energy sources and cleaner autos and if anything more people should carpool if possible.

I wouldn’t think of it so much as a 4 day work week as a 4 day in office work week. I have the ability to work from home and when I can, I do. I spend 8 hours of my day working from home and I don’t drive anywhere. It would be nice if I was able to work more than one day a week from home because I could save a lot of gas. However the point is made that if we went to a 4 day work week, we would just take mini vacations and still be using the oil/gas to get places. I think companies need to figure out ways to allow their employees the ability of telecommuting and being able to leave the gas engine car/truck/suv in the driveway/garage. Sadly that won’t work for everyone tho.

Jack, my question is this;

will I still get my normal 40hrs pay after the 4-days work???

The early pioneers of the automobile had the right idea with Steam powered and electric cars. Gasoline should never have been made legal. Countless deaths due to air pollution and wars to protect oil supplies is the result. The Stanely Steamer may one day roll again !

Absolutely. so should tele-commuting. A Lot of work can be done from home. I know of several companies who in the private sector have clsoed small offices & asked their people to work from home. this saves them the expense of having an office & saves the employees time & money in travelling.

While not all jobs can be performed via telecommute, there are more jobs that can be performed via telecommute than otherwise is beng done.

Sure we could do 4 day work weeks to save gas…and this might be one possibility. But how about the other simple things that many people do not take advantage of such as: Car pooling, taking the bus, taking the train/subway, walking, biking, scooter/motorcycle, driving a more economical car. Where I work i would estimate that 50% to 65% of the people drive alone to work in a big truck or SUV. In Europe and Scandinavia people have been paying well in excess of $4 a gallon for gas for many years due to a heavy Government gas tax. They tend to drive smaller cars or walk and use their much better public transportation system that has developed as a result.

We need to get the Bush and the Cheyney out of the White House.

Perhaps a 9/80 workweek would be advised. Monday through Thursday you work 8-6, one Friday you work eight hours, the other you have off. Half the company works on a schedule with the first Friday off, the other half is off the following Friday. Not a total four day week, but enough of one to affect usage.

An excellent idea for the summer months when gas prices are going to surge to 4 dollars and over. I work for an environmental non-profit in Adirondack’s of upstate New York, my commute to and from work is an hour everyday and with gas already at $3.73 its hard to make a living. We already are discussing the idea.

I think its a good idea. Also another idea is, if your able to work from home, do it. Why waste gas going to the office if you can do everything from home that you can do at the office? Everyone is connected to the internet now-a-days and many office jobs have a way for employees to work from any location with internet access. So why go to the office when you can work from home?

Nice. We all work 10 hour days, be so tired and sleep in on the 5th. Do laundry and clean the house on the 6th. 7th day, chill outside, ride a bicycle.

Telecommuting is the answer on the 5th day…

I actually instituted my own four day work week a few months ago and added about 2-3 days to my gas milieage. However, I also made the concious choice to “work from home” on that day…not run errands. As others have commented…it would also reduce the pay of those dependent on an hourly wage…But something is definitely better than nothing!

I’m sure it would help in some areas, however unless the school systems go on the same routine. I would still have to drive my child to school and choir practice. So I would be on the road anyway.

A great idea! I am now riding the bus 5 days a week and leaving my car parked!! The cost is $2.50 per day v. using 1 1/2 gallons of gas to and from work. I have to take three buses, but I am saving money. Pay attention too to all the cars passing you by with 1 person in the vehicle — astonishing. I have been observing as I wait at bus stops for my next “ride” and I would project approximately 95% of vehicles here in Phoenix are occupied by one person! Just observe. Astonishing.

I don’t think they mean having people work 32 hour weeks. I think it means we would be working 10 hour days to get you your forty in 4 days. I for one work 12 hour days and only work 3 days a week. I also ride my 50mpg motorcycle as often as possible and do try to stay around the house on my days off.

Im not sure that would work for 2 reasons… American companies are too GREEDY to give employees an extra day off without taking money out of our checks. I guess if they offer people to Work Form Home 1 day a week it may make a difference.

Also, people would still be using gas on the extra day off to go out.

“Jim from British Columbia April 30th, 2008 1:59 pm ET

It might save fuel if people stayed home on that extra day off, but how can reducing your income by 20 per cent help anyone?”

Jim, your an idiot, its call doing 4 10 hour days instead of 5 8 hour days

Great idea! Already a lot of folks doing that — working 4 10 hour days — easy to implement. Problem is Jack, people would spend the day off driving around doing their errands!

All you people that think that Americans would drive the same, if not more on their additional day off aren’t thinking this through. Yes - you are likely correct that in the initial months after a policy such as this is implemented, fuel consumption will rise. But after it’s been in place for a significant period of time, assuring everyone that it’s not going to “go away”, then people won’t be so inclined to “capitalize” on their additional day off if they can expect another additional day off 7 days later.

The novelty will wear off after a period of time.

I think that would be a great idea, but not all people can work from home. Also, I think we should put the effort into fixing the high price problem… fire everyone at OPEC, start using the oil reserves that we have in the US, then we can stop buying oil from countries that really don’t like us.

Americans need to wake up, and learn not to waste so much. I plan my shopping on my way home from work. If I forget to buy an item (bread) for instance, I do not drive back to the store. We are way to wasteful in this country, not only the way we drive…everything else also.

It would work for me. I have already made major adjustments in my driving habits to reduce my gas consumption in my personal life/outside of work. A four day work week would add to the benefit that I am already seeing.

I can’t see that happening. I think it would also require companies to look at their vacation policy. If employees are working longer hours and shorter days, they should receive more paid vacations. The option to work from home is a better idea. We can start by working two days at home. That means less time on the road and it could possibly help Americans to save money on daily lunch purchases (considering the high cost of groceries we’re seeing now), child day care, etc. Hey…it may even encourage people to spend more time with their families.

It would be a great idea, and I can think of many reasons for the 4 day work week. But, I think saving money on gas would be at the bottom of the list. We work too much for too little as Americans. And having more time freed up while pay either stays the same or goes up seems like win-win situation.

Great idea! it would save gas not only on the day you stay home but it would cut back on sitting in traffic as well — assuming the off day wasn’t the same for everyone.

Great idea - but calling this a four-day workweek will scare off a lot of people. As previous comments pointed out, a one-day per week tele-communte schedule should be mandated/encouraged. That would definitely help save gas, reduce urban congestion, and protect the environment. With technologies that we have today, It is definitely doable, might even boost productivity. The only impediment indeed is to change the mindset of corporate management that working from home is not equal to goofing-off…

No. Lower fuel prices and prevent oil companies from making trillions off us middle class Americans. Sure, a 4 day work week may work now, but what about when gas gets to be $5 and $6+ a gallon? Then we’ll be bacl to the same crisis. Also, how do you propose I, an academic librarian, to work from home?

If people would stay home and telecomute more, yes we’d save gas. HOWEVER, if it becomes a four-day work week, people would just use that free time to go out and do errands or other things that require fuel. Catch-22.

Only if you stay home

I think the best way to conserve on gas is to have a good car pool system, if public transportation wasn’t available. Car pooling would significantly cut down on the amount of miles we drive as a whole. If we worked 4 days, that 5th day would just be used to drive to the mall, drive to do errands. We’d find a way to get in our car on that 5th day.

It would all depend on how this would affect people’s income. I work a 9-5 with confidential information so telecommuting is out of the question. If I only worked 4 days a week I could never make ends meet. If people were still paid for their 5th day it would be do-able but I don’t see how employers would ever justify that.

The ONLY way to fix this crisis and many others in this contry is for the US citizen to stand-up and realize that WE are the government and UNITE to force elected officals to make changes fast or be replaced!

VOTE< VOTE< VOTE…. at least then you have the right to pissed off.

I think it would be a great idea. Most of you are assuming the extra day off would be a Friday or Monday to extend the weekend. Perhaps consideration should be given to a mid-week day like Wednesday or Thursday. I purposely left out Tuesday as most holidays occur on Monday and if you add a Tuesday off - I agree, most people would use the gas saved for a long weekend holiday. On a personal level, I’d love a 10 hour workday 4 days a week. Something to consider.

I work at home and find that I’m much more productive (and work more hours) than when I worked at the office.

Not having people around to ’shoot the breeze’ with (ie waste time BSing) forces you to focus on the work at hand. I think if more businesses would let people work at home, not only would we save gas, we would be more productive.

I think a 4 day work week is a great idea but I doubt most companies would go for it. In today’s society it’s all about working as hard as you can as much as humanly possible. We need to return to the days where God and family came first. I, for one, try to live my life this way but having a job makes this impossible because of the “American way”.

Sign should read: America is going broke because of Bush’s policies about energy and war.

Finally, someone with some sense besides me! Absolutely it will help….no one, and I mean NO ONE is going to travel EVERY (or even every other) three day weekend. It would give folks some severely needed rest and a chance to reconnect with their family; two days off/week doesn’t cut it. When I have a three day weekend, I spend time around the house with my family, not necessarily traveling. I’ve started working at home one day/week and have seen a marked decrease in fuel consumption. We also try to be efficient with our errand running as well which helps immensely. I really hope they listen to you!

Absolutely a good idea … I’ve already toyed with the idea of telecommuting one or two days a week once gas hits $4/gallon. All I really need for my line of work is a laptop and cell phone.

Chris
South Salem, NY

It would save fuel. Think about it, if we are crying about the cost of paying for gas now, and we only have to drive four days, why in the world would I go out and drive on my day off when the cost of fuel is killing me now? And for the person who wrote, “What about the 20 percent in pay?”. Four day work weeks happen because you extend your hours on the days you now work….Helloooooo

In theory it sounds great but people would only use the extra day to be out on the road. People would not sit home doing nothing with the prospect of the perpetual three day weekend. People would either run errands in their cars or go out to socialize in their cars.

No, it wouldn’t b/c people would still drive on their day off.

We need REAL public transit in the cities where we don’t. When I lived in the suburbs of DC I didn’t use the bus/train ALL the time because going to the grocery, bank, etc… was easier in my car but any time it was practical to use the bus/train I did (going to work, school, downtown to sightsee, eat and drink–saves you from a DUI, too!) It didn’t save time, but it did let me get some reading and rest in for two hours a day instead of sitting in traffic being PO’ed.

If only Al Gore were president, we’d all be in silent, flying cars that run on water, we’d all be rich and healthy, the air would sparkle, and the temperature would always be in the 70s. Damn you BUSH!

Great idea - particularly in fields where telecommuting is so easy. A foreseeable problem would be that Americans may consider this an additional “day off” and end up driving as much as they would on a work day doing regular errands or getting a jump on the weekend.

Tax incentives for use of public transportation, and more municipalities that support / enforce bicycle friendly routes may conserve more fuel, and increase overall health in the workforce.

Even subsidizing insurance for motorcycles (which often get over 50mpg) and running campaigns to increase safety and awareness would be a good idea, and would result in a major cut in our use of fossil fuels.

Employers are going to have to start looking at a variety of flex working schedules. Staggering hours, 4 10-hour days/week, one day per week from home… The solutions are probably not going to come from the government, so they better come from our business leaders! I pay about $2,500 per year in gas and tolls JUST commuting to work and I drive a Civic! Driving one less day to work would save me over $500.

Here’s a better idea. Why don’t you all move as close as possible to your jobs and then rally for cheap, efficient, comprehensive European/Japanese/NYC style mass transit. We’re not going to get anywhere by cutting days off of the workweek. What we need to reduce oil dependence, and this is not going to happen by shifting to a four-day week…it will also not resolve the problem that we’ve very likely hit PEAK OIL, and we need to develop other strategies to deal with our societal addition to crude. We need to resolve this problem by resolving our oil-dependent land-use policies (sprawl anyone?) that encourages long commutes. Instead, we need to be using that land to grow food because we will also need to localize our food consumption instead of trucking it back and forth across the country.

Working 4 10-hour days would help get cars off the road, but the solution that would do more to reduce our overall cost for fuel is to get people out of cars and into public transportation, on to bikes, or hitting the pavement. Our love affair with the car has to change.

My employer already offers a 4 day workweek to those who live more than 10 miles from the office. Three of our employees (10 total employees) take advantage of the policy, and work four 10 hour work days per week. It works great for them.

Jack, I have a job that I only drive to work 3 days a week. Why? It works out for my day care and school. I work 12.5 hours a day on those days. It is worth the while if people can drive less, work longer (if possible or schedule is permitted) and then they will save gas on trips. I also schedule one day to do my errands like shopping or post office on the same days without going out 2 times in one day for different things at a longer distance. Also, budgeting things on sale in a store such as bread marked down so they can sell it, (putting bread into your freezer until you are ready to eat it works) and freezing a lot of things to save for later. Buying in bulk does not necessarily work. I never found Cosco cheaper!

Our company has recently introduced this, not because of rising gas costs, but because of major road construction in our area. It is definitely useful during this high gasoline cost situation. Some groups in our company are still impeded because of managers who are having a difficulty time trusting employees working from home.

I received one of those e-mail forwards the other day that suggested we just stop buying gas from Exxon/Mobile for a few weeks, forcing a price war. Don’t know what the ramifications would be; a few billion less in profits, perhaps.

What about hourly employees, Jack? Working fewer days means less hours and a smaller paycheck. And what about schools? Are you going to stagger students, faculty and staff too? What a mess! The major reason for the current trend of rising prices is not supply and demand, it’s our weak dollar. If you want to get oil prices down, we need to strengthen the dollar. Bush has paid for the Iraq War by printing money and he gave the richest people in America a big tax cut.
DUH! You don’t have to be a Genius to add two plus two.

A 4 day staggered work week makes lots of sense, as long as the workers stay fresh. It also alleviates the need for days off for personal time.Stagger the days off so everyone can interact from time to time.

I for one, have worked at home for the last 20 years after sitting in some of America’s worst traffic in the New York area.

I don’t see how a 4 day work week is going to change gas consumption all that much, or really make that much of a financial impact on most Americans. For those who live close to their office, having an extra day off probably would INCREASE their fuel consumption, as most people don’t enjoy just sitting around the house all day long. That would likely offset much of the savings for people who live further from their office.

Eliminating the sales taxes on gasoline would be a much easier solution than all the legal and corporate ramifications of tinkering with the work week.

Whatever happened to dropping the speed limit back to 55 mph. I drive it all the time now. Just have to leave for work earlier but it save a lot of gas these days

It’s a great idea–and I don’t think, given the state of the “Bush Economy” that people will be off on mini-vacations every weekend–no one can afford them. I know that I would be willing to trade a few extra hours each day to one full day off every week in addition to the weekend. Perhaps the best way to avoid the en-masse three day weekend would be to stagger days off.

What would save the most gas would to be to keep the lobbyist out of Congress, and get someone who is willing to entertain the green industries and technology. Enough with the fossil fuels!!

I agree that this would be a good idea, but at the same time if we aren’t making the hours worked in those 4 days longer, the economy, prices and all would still be an issue. We can say it’s all the governments fault for getting us in this mess, but until we, as a whole take a step back and look at how to fix this mess, and accually DO something to fix it, this problem is not going to go away, just get worse.

Really funny comments from many people in rural areas with little to no major economic dynamic, or people in Eastern cities that actually have viable mass transit. Even cities with viable core areas for working class people to live in (safe, affordable housing in urban cores is indeed a rarity). Most of the major metropolitan areas in the West and Southwest are really being hit by this issue, as there are few cities in the west or Southwest that have viable mass transit, they have the classic 1960s and 70s “California” style suburbs ringing a central (or several) urban nodes … the urban nodes in varying states of urban decay. How about in addition to a 4 day work week, which WOULD reduce carbon emissions, reduce oil use, etc. that can easily be empirically demonstrated … we take part (or ALL) of this bloated, unnecessary HALF A TRILLION dollars we flush down the toilet each year on military spending and start some national REAL … SOLID … VIABLE mass transit initiatives. How about we join the rest of the world and provide high speed rail routes (Maglev) between major cities … and NOT just on the east coast!! How about that!!

I think a 4 day work week is a great idea. If someone is driving 45 miles one way (and many do), this would save the average SUV driver $25 a week. And to those that think we would drive anyway on our extra day off, I personally would take this opportunity to not only save some gas, but get some things done around my place that I currently can’t find time (or money) to do.

My opinion, if every American took one day, I mean ONE DAY and did not purchase gas from these greedy companies, I guarantee the price of gas would drop. No more day of oil selling for $118 a barrell, my grand-father if living, would absolutely not believe, he ran several old Tulsa gas stations here in Michigan and I say to all true American’s, pass along the message, stop making the oil companies rich and take one day a month and don’t purchase gas. The old economic rule, supply and demand!

Because no one drives on their days off? Since when?

Jim in BC,

A 4 day work week means 4×10hrs, instead of 5×8hrs, (not a 32 hour work week).

I for one would love a 4×10hr work week - I would certainly drive a lot less that day as I have more than enough to do around my home and back yard.

I think it is a great idea Jack, and it might also have a positive effect on morale, if people had to only go into the office for days a week. Pluses all around in my book.

Terrible Idea!

4 day work weeks would mean 4/5 GDP. Look at how bad the economy is with a slightly negative GDP growth, or no growth at all.

We’d all be screwed!

Plus, wages would decrease by 4/5ths. Taking a 20% pay cut would make it even harder to pay for gas. Health Care is free, so I’m not sure what the article was talking about in that regard.

Absolutly not!! The best way to reduce the consumption is to raise the tax on a gallon of fuel. Bio-fuels should receive higher tax increases. These increase should be significant with revenues generated from the additional sales tax to be utilized as investment in alternative energy.

I think that it is a great idea. I drive 40 miles each way to work every day. Believe me, I would love to work four days a week

Why does it need to be a 4 day work week? Folks we have the technology, have for quite a while now, to be able to accomplish everything from a remote office that you can from a traditional brick and mortar one. VPN, high speed internet and a quiet place to work is all it takes. I work for a company in which quite a few of our 2500 employees work remotely. I get more done in the course of 8 hours than most people accomplish in an office setting in 2 days. And you actually end up working more hours, not less, since you are able to address personal needs as they come up and then immediately get back to work. I still run meetings outside of my home office (I’m in outside sales) but I have eliminated the morning/evening rush hour circus from my life. The reduction in stress alone, not to mention gas, is priceless.

I feel like people complain, but if they lived closer to work, maybe in a smaller home, they would feel a huge difference. I puposely moved close to my job, on a metro line, and drive only when necessary and use the metro and my feet at all other times. My rent has increased at a pace significantly lower than the cost of gas. My apartment is not as big as I would like, but that is outweighed by having things like mass transit available and stores within walking distance. It is amazing how healthy you can get while walking everywhere! It is nice…….a smaller place to heat, no purpose for a car, and being active!

Jack,

Get out your bicycle because you’ll be riding that to work in no time with the Clinton-McCain short term gas disaster they are proposing. Every freshman in college taking ECON 101 can understand the stupidity behind their plans. Jack, the solution isn’t saving fuel, it’s developing technologies that use no fuel.

It is a great idea, but not practical. For one, you are going to have people losing out on pay because of the reduced work week, and two your not gaining anything. In fact in some scenarios you’ll be spending more but making less. Even if you have off Friday or whichever day, you’ll either be driving around as so many others have pointed out but you’ll be spending more on your monthly bills…ie water usage, electricity. What about 4 10 hour days, and just a side note…for the person who suggested buying a hybrid and thinking outside the box…that’s what most americans are doing is thinking outside the box; but not everyone can afford the prestige or price tag of a hybride.

Many companies already have 4 day work weeks and I don’t believe it’s really made that much of a difference. What we really need is leadership, innovation, and a government that supports alternatives like solar, wind, geothermal, and any other non-toxic alternative. Redesign the citiies so that work is within walking distance of home or within reach of mass transit. There are solutions if Americans are willing to make the move away from oil.

I don’t think that having a 4 day work week will resolve the main issue. Americans still drive gas guzzlers and need to adapt to more economical cars. We can’t survive with tonka trucks riding around our highways forever.

I think a 4 day workweek is a great idea. It’s forward-thinking, and has far-reaching benefits besides just a possible reduction in driving. I would love to work from home, and would be able to if my manager would allow it (my company encourages it). Personally, I would likely NOT drive on the extra day off, as I ride my bike most places anyway.

I got a better idea. How about we get out of Iraq. Before the war oil was $30 a barrel and after the war it is $115 a barrel. Why? Because there is no such thing as a free lunch. As more money is printed to fund the war, the dollar goes down. Stop the wars. Stop the spending. Stop printing more money. Stop the decline of the dollar and foreign countries would not have to raise the price of oil anymore.

The price of gas has all to do about the falling dollar secondary to spending. A barrel of oil from 2002 is still worth the same in 2008 in terms of gold, which is the only stable currency.

Four day week is a terrific idea. However, I think some people might find it hard to balance working longer hours. For those that are already dragging to work in the morning, the result might be decrease productivity.

An alternate idea would be to consider employees telecommute 1 out of 5 days, while keeping the same work schedule.

I drive 1972 Buick Riviera (455 gas hog) and make less than $75k a year. But I haven’t run myself into debt and have a low life overhead, so I’ll keep driving until the pumps stop pumping.

The problem ain’t gas. The problem ain’t OPEC. The problem isn’t the economy. The problem isn’t anything you all keep printing or griping about.

The problem is the world is evolving (changing, your pick) and our society isn’t. So keep finding fixes for the symptoms, the disease is eventually going to kill you.

I know I’ll get slack for this, but how about recreational racing? Watching NASCAR racers going around in circles for hours on end doesn’t impress me at all. Soon fans won’t even be able to afford to go to a race any more. And auto racing is not a sport since it doesn’t really involve much physical or athletic ability on the driver’s part. I never could understand the popularity of NASCAR, etc. since it gets quite boring and monotonous except for the occasional crash. Just my opinion, though.

I am sick and tired of everyone complaining about gas prices. They are not going to go down. Figure out a way to offset the cost or a way to increase your income.

-Future MBA.

As a restaurant manager, I think this would be an outstanding idea. I myself would still have to work a 5-day work week, but with the extra day off for others, it would mean more business for me since I know the intelligence of most Americans and most Americans wouldn’t stay home and conserve gas, they would go out and spend it on more stuff they don’t need!!

Where does it say that this 4 day work week automatically means a 3 day weekend? Work schedules would need to be staggered and yes, while everyone would love to have a 3 day weekend every weekend, there’s been nothing I’ve seen that says that’s what this plan entails. An employee could work M,T, R, and F. That’s completely up to the company itself. The idea of a 4 day work-week, though, is a good place to start the battle against high gas prices. Let employees work 4 10 hour days, save some fuel, recharge on you extra day off…it sounds good to me.

4 day work week. Good Idea. Better idea - help carmakers like Honda launch hydrogen cars by helping with infrastructure to make hydrogen readily available all across USA.

My question is, would all companies be “forced” to go to 4 day workweeks? I, for one, would love it. But how could we control jobs, such as call center work, to only allow 4 day work weeks?

sounds good to me. companies should be looking into this. Also if they can have people work from home let them. I try to work from home 2 - 3 days a week.it helps on the gas bills. I would bet it also helps the environment.

This all has to trickle down to one person. Why doesn’t our government take care of it? because they all have stock in oil, so, they make more on investments than they loose at the pump. I believe that our government has LOST sight of its people and only care about themselves personally.

For me, it really will not matter as I already will be working 4 day weeks starting in June. I anticipate it will save me about 5 dollars a week in gas. Now, if my wife’s company would go to 4-day work weeks we would save a lot of money as she currently drives 30+ miles one way to work per day so we would save 60 miles a week or about 3 gallons in her mini-van. What would help us even more is if there were some way to lower the overall monthly cost of fuel-efficient vehicles so we could trade both our van and our jeep for better gas millage autos! Now that could make a HUGE difference.

Yes, in fact we were discussing a 4 day week in our department just today. The University of South Carolina is very “green” oriented and it would make sense for us to do this just for the summer. While we are busy getting ready for the Fall Semester, we could certainly cover our administrative office 5 days a week. It’s not just the cost of fuel. Because of the cost of fuel everything else is more too. I don’t know about other states, but South Carolina State employees are not getting raises this year. The way things are going, the average worker is doing more and more for less and less. This can only go on for so long before people start thinking that government assistance would make more sense. Why work and have nothing to show for it when you could stay home, get government assistance, and have nothing?

I’m all for a 4-day, 10-hour work week. Unfortunately, this will not help curb our fuel problems as people will just use the extra day to motor around and get things done. I agree with the solution that we all should walk/bicycle more as it would be a win/win situation regarding fuel, health, cleaner air and environment. Unfortunately, this is not feasible when the average US commute is what? 32 miles one way?

I have my doubts about that saving fuel Jack.
Last week I just finished a 2600 mile motorcycle road trip across the southwestern states and even though my motorcycle was happily getting 45-55 mpg’s I cant tell you just how many people roared past me at 85 mph in full size trucks and SUV’s probably getting less than 16 mpg’s and gas at a price of $3.50-3.79 a gallon.
So I honestly just dont know that a four day work week would help all that much.

Hey Jack - how about just taking public transit to work?

I tried it, working 4 days a week isn’t any fun. You get so tired, the 5th day off isn’t a vacation day, especially if you have kids. Work production goes down. Average worker probably ony gets about 6 good solid hours of work in a day. It’s up to the government to lower the prices of oil.

You’re all making assumptions that he is talking about three day weekends, he is not. In order to make this work, you’d have to have some people off at various days throughout the week. In likelihood, you’d only have one three day weekend every 5 weeks. So, I don’t think there would be a lot of extra road trips involved here.

As a teacher, I think it would be a great idea even in the schools. Imagine how much gas would be saved in fuel for our busses if we went to a four day school week, and kept the kids two hours more each day.

I agree with the person that wrote in and said we need to get to where our towns and cities are set-up better for walking and biking so we can stop using the cars! My kids can’t even walk to school because the school says insurance reasons prevent them from having school patrols off school property to help the kids get across the street! That is ridiculous. We need a society that is bent toward making exercise and healthy habits a priority and a secondary benefit is the reduction in car use.

You bet. Getting rid of old-fashioned “timed” traffic lights in favor of more intelligent systems that leave traffic flowing where the other direction has no one waiting would save gas, too. We always sit and burn gas at red lights where no one is coming the other way.