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.

Just think how much money, oil, and environment we could save if companies would allow more people to telecommute?

This might be a bad idea though since the only jobs left in the states requires ending phrase of

“Would you like fries with that?”

Why are people so cranky? Maybe because they never have time to relax. If we all had 4 day work weeks, maybe we could use our xtra day to relax, spend some quality time raising our children, and if it helps with the gasoline crunch that’s a plus, it can’t hurt.

Companies should allow workers to telecommute one or more days a week, rather than a four-day work week. President Bush could very easily call for that and it might get a response. That is better than a 4-day work week. Further, companies should have staggered start times/flex time to avoid traffic congestion.

Went to Copenhagen this summer– almost everyone rides their bike to work! We simply rely on cars too much. The gas prices there far exceed ours… maybe high prices will finally get us out of our cars. Changing our infrastructure is worth it in the long term to accommodate public transportation like trains, busses and added bike lanes. For the short term, a four day work week is a good idea. People who have long commutes often avoid their cars on their days off.

Here’s an idea- the government offers corporations tax incentives for letting worker telecommute at least 20% of the work week. Candidates, are you listening?

I think its interesting that everyone is assuming that a 4 day work week equals a 3 day weekend. By staggering the additional day off to occur during the middle of the week, you end up having the same net effect. I also don’t think that the work day will remain the same length, most likely it will extend from 8 hours to 10 hours, either starting earlier or ending later.

But yes, I think its a good idea, then again, I take the subway to work every day or walk, so my carbon footprint is miniscule compared to you SUV owners.

I think it would be great , but as a teacher I think extending the school day may take a toll on the students’ mental and physical state.

Four day work week? We would save on gas, electricity, time, and create less polution. We could also tele-commute, but getting the business world to accept such strange concepts is hard. I will remain hopeful.

Lets get the hydrogen economy up and running. It would be a way to stick it to big oil and OPEC and think of the jobs it would create in the process.

Dave,SC

It will help. Look at school districts that cut back to 4 days a week and how much money they have saved on fuel.

The only way to reduce our dependency on imported oil and sending money out of country is to increase the price on oil by taxing it.
That is what they did in Europe and Japan with great success.
It has been predicted that in four years gas will be 7 $/ gallon in the US.; why not make it that now? The extra tax money taken in could be used to improve public transportation ( like EU and Japan), give tax credits to insulate your house etc.
This would also unseat the Ford 150 pickup truck as being the most sold vehicle in the US (900.000/year), after all it get only 12/15 miles/gallon.
It would force people to use more reasonable size vehicles and also not to live 50 or more miles from your work.
Neither the President or any of the candidates would dare to do this; only Ross Perot suggested that way back when he was running for President.
Good luck America !

Jack…in Canada we get to deduct the cost of a monthly transit pass from our income taxes…this is getting more people out of their cars and into buses and subways. BTW, the cost of a gallon of gas where I live is approximately $4.75 US.

A 4 day work week means a 3 day weekend, which means taking to the road. Therefore no; a 4 day work week will not save fuel, most likely the opposite result will occur.

We think a four day work week would be a hinderance. We should focus more on alternative means of fuel rather than ways to avoid paying rising gas prices. So much of our money nowadays is spent on gas and food. Two necessities that are continuing to rise in cost. How can anyone be expected to continue to want to make this country work, when we are given so little incentive.

Thats really a fantastic idea. With all the latest technology we got we can still work from home for people who can do that (mostly software professionals).

We decided to go to a four day work week about a year ago for this very reason. We are the Service Department for a large electrical contractor in Georgia. Our technicians drive their company vehicles home, and go straight to their job the following day. One problem now is that the 20% savings benefit from the four day work week has been more than offset by the nearly 80% increase in fuel costs from the time we decided to try it.

Heck most people, including myself need to be working more, not less to pay for almost everything! Oil, insurance, and groceries are going up so fast, I can’t pay any debt off. 4 day weeks might sound nice if this was the 1950’s but not too many people can do it today.

Personally, I am in favor of four day/10 hour shifts. As it would provide me with more free time to enjoy my life. It would also allow me to spend more money on fuel driving around on my extra day off. Bigger life style changes are required to reduce energy consumption. This would be a good start.

I agree that something must be done, but am concerned that as prices rise further, a 4-day work week won’t be all that impactful. What would be even more impactful, when possible, is to allow more telecommuting. I also have been working from home 2-3 days a week, and it helps. But I think both actions are just a bandaid, and we need to work to find more fuel in the US, or alternative fuels beyond ethanol.

Shame on the oil companies for hiding the truth of electric and hydrogen cell cars. People should be outraged and take a stand. More of Clinton in the office will keep the cycle of big oil corruption going.

Please explain to me why gas in Mexico is less expensive then here in America?
Maybe then, I can come up with an idea of how we can make it to and from work when gas is half of ones hourly wage at the current minimum wage level.

Employee’s would have to find new daycare options or pay for the extra hours during those 4 days. Since places in my area charge per week and extra for pickups after 6 I don’t see how a 10 hour day is going to end up saving money. Less on gas more on other things.

I agree on removing the federal and state taxes on gasoline but apply the taxes against income. This will help out those making less. Federal is $.18 per gallon and our state is around $0.20 and continues to go up.

They should of allowed a bonus if you got your rebate in Fuel Coupons. Maybe 125% of the money if it’s only used in Fuel. You want to stimulate the economy take the price of fuel out of people’s minds for a while.

I am a Fed employee with a Govt issued laptop with remote office software on it that allows me to work from anywhere. There are litterally thousands of employees like me in both Govt and Private Sectors.
Private industry has embraced remote office/work at home policies.
The fed needs to also, especially in areas like DC.

More folks off the roads, saving money not buying gas, improved quality of life, etc. Not every employee is able to do this. But many are. So, encourage it and let employees so equipped work remote office. Or, congress should withhold that agencies budget until that agency can prove they have X % employee’s working from home X % of the time.

IMHO!

Not a horrific idea, but it’s not a good time for it. A 4 day workweek would likely lower productivity, and with the economy already sliding towards/already in a recession that’s not a good idea. A better idea that would also decrease traffic would be better use of public transportation and carpooling.

I do not believe that shifting to a four day work-week would help save on fuel. Having the abiltiy to stay home from work would not necessarily mean that you also stayed off the roads. Some families would use this opportunity to run errands, visit family and friends, or travel out of state for a three day weekend. However, please pass this idea on to my management, thanks.

Yes, I do agree with the 4 day work week. Also, maybe making the hours longer on those 4 days to equal 40 hours would be a good idea.
Once we are at work, we can still do 40 hours of progressive work for our employers and, I, for one would just love to have 3 days off and just stay at home! I am in the insurance business and I think this would work out great. Employees could stagger and still have some-one in the office Monday through Friday…..

From Anchorage Alaska. Unlike most of my co-workers I live within the city of Anchorage. My daily commute is about 10 mi per day. I think it would benefit my office of 28 government employees if we had a four day work week. Most of them commute over 30mi everyday from Eagle River Alaska. Some have moved even further away to Palmer AK to afford homes and are commuting over 80 miles per day to work. They are the ones most feeling this fuel crunch. Still, living as close as I do, my husband and I are considering riding our bicycles to get to work, during some summer months. Good exercise and saving money.

I’d probably take mini 3 day vacations if I had Friday off – which would save on gas. A better solution: give companies incentives to have their employees telecommute. This would reduce gas and emissions in cities that have a large tech-company base.

I think this is an excellent idea. I started to carpool two months ago and this would help me to cut back even more. Of course, I don’t think the pretenders in washington are capable of putting a decent idea into practice. Maybe we’ll have more luck when gas hits 10 dollars.

A 4-day work week will have an undesirable effect on productivity – and before you know it we would be like the French who have a lesser work week and then close for 2 months for summer holidays.

A “1 day work from home” out of the 5 day work week will certainly have a significant impact on reducing gas consumption with the added benefit of cleaner air and less greenhouse gass emissions.
Now that would be sending the right message!

I am on a 4-day workweek schedule, which I decided to do because of my 40 minute commute. It has saved me money in gas. However, the workdays are so long that I am very tired when I finally get home (but it is nice having Saturday, Sunday, and Monday off).

I work from 7am to 5pm Tuesdays through Thursdays, and 7am to 4:30pm on Fridays. If you want to save money on gas, this is the way to go.

I am allowed to work from home (telecommute) one day a week. If this country encouraged all employers to allow employees whose jobs allowed them to work from home one telecommute day a week we would save an enormous amount of gas, people would save money, and it would help the environment. Studies have shown that teleworkers produce just as much or more than they would if they were at their place of work. It also is a great morale builder. It’s a win-win for all.

This isn’t going to help. The majority of people who have the day will more then likely still drive thier car, maybe more on that extra day off then a work day. I know I put more miles on my car on days off then I do on days I work. Running errands, going to play golf, shopping trip, etc.

Absolutely, and some companies in San Antonio are already implementing the 4 day work week. I view this as an excellent idea, however I feel it’s a band aid to much larger problem. Can we not figure out a way to loosen some EPA laws and remove ourselves from OPEC?

I’m in for four 10 hour days.
As long as there are other strategies at play, like championing individual inventors who develop better technology, reducing federal and state gas tax, and better public transportation.

Great idea to push us into a recession. The average commuter may spend $10.00 to go to and from work and we are going to loose a day of productivity times millions of U.S. workers? That was the same thinking that got us into ethanol fuel minimums that has placed huge demand pressures on corn driving up the price and hitting those who can least afford the increase in food costs.

We need a paradigm shift; if our current elected officials are not listening to us; then DO NOT REELECT ANYONE until they do!

Instead of building more roads; we ought to be building fiber optic networks to every home.

Changing the workweek to 4 days (38 hours) would save 20% of the fuel I use. Driving the speed limit instead of 10 mph faster saves another 10%. On the weekend I actually car pool with my wife where ever we go so my other car is always parked! I’d telecommute if I had DSL or Cable modem service available at my home; my daily commute is 42 miles one-way and my wife drives 35 miles in the opposite direction.

This will not solve the problem of saving fuel cost because how many companies will be willing to compensate for the cost of giving up one work day worth of paycheck.
It will solve the problem of balancing work and home life though. I think the best solution to saving fuel is for as many Americans to car pool until we get some oil produced by our own country

4 day work week sounds so french.

Well, in 2004, Americans thought they had the answer to ALL of America’s problems…just stop gay marriage!!! I guess all it really solved was how to get Bush in office another four years to complete the ruination of our country!

I haven’t had a day off in almost two weeks. About half of those days have been 9am-2am. You know, I wouldn’t mind a 4-day work week.

I am the only one working in my home. My husband is disabled & my Son is an Iraq Vet with PTSD . I think if people are able to work from home should be able too do so and those who cant work from home should work extended hours 10 hrs days and get a friday & or monday off . that would save on gas not to mention traffic congestion & would increase family time which I think we are all lacking today and could use. The employers should be advised that this is an economic issue poss temporary or not it will improve employees quality of life & cut down on sick time..

I think it’s a fantastic idea! Americans tend to slack off on Fridays anyway. However, I don’t think big brother Bush and the oil profiteers would be on board with a national system that reduces consumption by 1/5. After all, it’s our current drive for 5 work week that is delivering all these record profits. I mean it’s one thing to like the idea of reducing oil consumption (we pay lip service to it all the time) but to actually implement a system that effectively improves emmissions levels, oil consumption and the economy all at the same time?!?!?! That would be ludicrous! Imagine all the profits they would lose! Not gonna happen.

I think it’s an awesome idea and one I’ve considerd for summer time..hard to do other times of year…not only does it cust down on my 45 minute drive one way…it gives me more time to spend with my family. if you work 4 10’s your not losing any money..and your gaining a little more personal time.

I work from home 2 days a week but companies should allow more people to telecommute if their job can be adapted. More workers should be holding off-site meetings/conferences via telephone. With all the technology available, why are companies and managers so reluctant to have their empolyees work from home? Is it a control issue? I could work from home full-time and get more done than using unnecessary gas, tolls, and time commuting.

No, because folks would just travel and vacation and drive longer if every weekend was a 3-day weekend!

4 day workweeks aren’t necessary for a lot of us. If these companies and governments would join the modern age and let more of us telecommute, the gas wouldn’t be as much of an issue and we’d get more done because we aren’t dealing with office distractions.

a four day workweek is a great idea. And for you not so smart people that are saying that three day weekends are a bad idea, you’re right; which is why the days off would be Saturday, Sunday, and one day between Tuesday and Thursday. Oh, by the way, in case you’re not keeping count, this would mean we work 10 hour days, which is fine with me. You might decide to do something with your day off, and you might decide not to. However, I think this would help with the problem of rush hour. No one wants to wake up at their normal time and drive on their day off, so traffic at these times would be a lot better saving gas. Also, moving closer to your job, an idea which I like, is also not entirely possible. MANY people work in areas they have to commute to because they can’t afford to live in those areas. Four day work weeks are a great idea.

Jack,
Although I would love to see a shorter work week, we Americans still live in dark times. While Europeans have more options to tele-commute, more vacations, shorter work week, better maternity/family leave — Americans are still trying to make ends meet by working longer hours, more days, and multiple jobs. And this does not even address the ever-increasing gas prices.

I think that a 4 day work week would save gas, alleviate traffic, and cost less to employers and employees alike. However, in the traditional 9-5/Monday-Friday American companies, its not going to happen anytime soon. That is, unless, our slow-to-act government takes a proactive approach to provide monetary incentives to make it happen. Then, and only then, will American companies start to think outside the box.

How about a 6 days work week ? I need more money to pay for gas!!!

I am a teacher and we were just talking about this around the lunch table at school today. Some schools in the United States have already started going to four- day school weeks. The district I am in is currently considering it.

I am employed by a community college in Houston, Tx and we always run a 4-day workweek through the summer. I can only speak highly of that idea, in that every time you need to go to work you also lose transportation time. Working 4 days a week, means that you only lose 8 times of transportation to and from work. That is next to not being able to sleep in and just relax.

Fuel prices comes 2nd to me. Reason is that the wife and I would likely drive around more the 5th day, just like we do in the summer.

Buying a bike would save on fuel too. Some of the people complaining the most are the people driving trucks six blocks to work. If we only had a four day work week you can expect people to grow fatter and fatter. Do you think lazyness will help? Let’s not even get out of bed anymore. Then we would never use gas. The answer is to subsidize some of these companies like Raser Technologies which nobody has heard of, but they have created hybrid trucks that get 100 miles to a gallon of gas.

We did just that about 8 months ago here in our office, shifting to 4 10 hour workdays, and it works out great.

Follow Venezuela, NATIONALIZE THE OIL COMPANIES !!!!

And get the damn Oil Companies out of the White House !.

It’s not going to do much to save on gas consumption, but a 4 day work week is going to benefit burnt out people across the country.

A better alternative transportation infrastructure in the form of bicycle lanes and walking paths. Good for the planet and good for the people. Leave your car at home and ride your bike to work.

I think people are confused here. The objective is NOT to cut people’s pay by 20 %. It means you drive to work 4 days a week instead of 5. You work 10 hours a day and these “must work 40 hours a week” companies will still get 40 hours out of you.

Look at it this way. It is one less day a week to get up, get ready for work and have to drive to work.

If companies would get out of the Monday through Friday mindset, this could work. I would love a three-day weekend every week.

Teleworking is a viable option and could be successful. But many stodgy companies refuse to let people work from home. Lack of Trust of Upper Management is the prevailing reason why teleworking programs are not implemented.

Excellent idea whose tiem has come – 4/10 hour days – -

No it’s a way to create fear in the American public. The last thing we need from mainstream media is a suggestion that we change our lives because of the cost of gas. I think if we can take a NY subway in the weeks following 9/11, we can stop bellyaching about the price of gas, and especially not incite pandemonium. More wisely, we and the media should spend time encouraging Congress to act on stimulating more refineries, start drilling in the Gulf and, yes, Anwar, and leverage more oil imports from Canada and Mexico. Here’s a thought: let’s solve two separate crisis by trading in our clunkers for bikes, thereby driving down demand and the cost of gas, while, at the same time, losing weight. We might even stop smoking.

Jim from Columbia, it would not decrease income by 20% because people would work ten hour days instead of 8 which if anyone who has done both will testify it actually isn’t that hard and most people who do work ten hour days prefer it to the normal five eight hour days

You don’t work less. The idea is to work four 10 hr days. The side benefit is a 3 day weekend or that extra day off in the middle of the week to take care of personal business. Most commutes are significantly longer than the local driving on your day off. The other idea is to stop making people who don’t serve the public and just need a internet connection travel to work. Do you really need face to face meetings every day?

It’s a great idea but management doesn’t like it because most americans are already working five 8+ hour days . Going to four 10 hour days would actually reduce the average worker’s total time at the job.

Regarding the post about three day weekend traffic jams: if every weekend had three days there’d be nothing special about them and therefore no reason for jams.

A bigger problem is how to handle holidays fairly between the two shifts.

The obvious answer is “yes” – I’d use 20% less fuel a week. But, more to the point, what would it do to the economy? If it were more economical for us to stay at home one day a week, then we should never be working in the first place – if it costs us more to get to work that what we generate for the economy, we shouldn’t be working at all. If I make a positive contribution to the economy from Monday to Thursday, why shouldn’t I do my bit on Friday too?

The public transit system in this country is ridiculous. If the government wanted to take the energy crisis seriously, their resources would be better spent investing in a whole lot more buses and trains, and not trying to shotgun car manufacturers into giving us an extra 2 miles per gallon.

But, no, Bush and Cheney are too heavily involved in the energy business. it’s not in their back pockets’ interest to make attempts to reduce energy consumption. At least not from oil.

Jack:

We could save alot of money on oil if: We told the oil producing countries to keep their dam oil and we’ll keep the food, or charge them for food like they charge us for oil. I don’t like starving people, however, they are “starving the United States.”

Rikki in Edgar Springs, MO

The commutes back and forth isn’t the problem. It wouldn’t work anyhow because business owners are to greedy. They might miss a sale. The cure would be to cut off all foreign ais to the oil producing countries until they drop the proce back down. They are making billions of dollars and yet we still give them aid. Just plain stupid!

Hi Jack,
Nice try!!! Would be great if bosses pay for the day off- i dont think they will pay. Losing one day’s salary costs minimum of 150 to whatever dollars depending on person;s salary. How much Gas would you spend in a day?? 10 bucks?? may be 15 bucks depending on how far people drive for work. I think idea is nice if you get paid for extra day off. But then companies can’t make what they are making with 8 hours cutoff in a week. who will be responsible for the loss….I guess Jack is ready to take the Tab. I, myself use public transportation and dont have a car which absolutely Green. Common America….use Buses or Trains if you can.

A four day work-week would actually save gas especially if you’re commuting long distances to work every single day of the week. An even better idea would be to allow employees to telecommute if your job allows it. Our company offers flexible hours/schedules and allows for telecommuting when possible and it works out well. It would be interesting to see how productivity is affected though.

It’s a great idea as who wouldn’t love a 4 day work week but in reality…as already mentioned I do not believe people would use that extra day off to save gas. Businesses would have to make up that loss in productivity. For me I would generally be bored on that day off trying to stay busy fighting the urge to go somewhere. Not to mention that since I am on a time clock if I am not punching in then I am not getting paid. A little quick math. My new day off may save me $5, $10 etc… but a day of lost labor would cost me around $135. Not worth it to me

Jack, going to a 4 day work week could definately cut down on the amount of driving, but millions of parents would have to make new arrangements for picking up their children from day care centers and schools. If the government was truly concerned with the rising gas prices, they would force the oil companies to release the patent right on carbeurators that get 60 to 100 mpg. I’m positive that if they were to dig deep into the back of the warehouse, they could surely find patents for very fuel efficient carbs.

Gayle
Lawrenceburg, KY

This would only save gas for people who commute to work farther than they drive on a normal Saturday. Most people I know do more driving on weekends than on weekdays. Running various errands or doing some recreational activities would easily balance out the supposed “fuel savings” on that extra day off.

Some jobs have a work force of 250 people because for the factory line to run, you need all 250 people there, 200 is just not enough (the car is just not going to look right if the dashboard is missing). We need government involvement to make it possible to setup 4×10 or 3×12 hour work weeks in place of the 5×8 hour week because 1) everyone has to somehow be made to agree to it and 2) in some contracts a work day is 8 hours with anything more being overtime paid at a premium.

Hillary Clinton DID NOT state that lowering the gas prices would solve the gas problem. She simply stated that lowering gas prices for the summer months would be a gas break for people so they can go places with their families, etc.

Who wouldn’t want a 3-day weekend every week? The problem is that most people spend the most money on weekends, especially those with kids. Shopping and doing activities with kids might end up costing more than the price of gas on Workday #5. I don’t think it saves money to work 4 days a week. If anything, it gives people an extra day to spend money and drive to multiple locations and thus pollute the environment even more. Now, if there was a mandatory NO DRIVING DAY once a month, imposed on the entire country (on a weekend, of course), that would not only force people to get out and walk (and hence, “exercise” and be healthier), but it would also cut fuel emission and help the environment, and help people save money on the ridiculous price of gas.

While there are many factors that affect the price of fuel, supply and demand is the only factor within our control. If we reduce demand, economics dictates that the price will decrease. However, only if all fuel users participate will this become a reality. The only way to accomplish this with the American mindset is to implement a fuel rationing plan that is fair but strictly enforced.

Why are we even discussing this? How about an entirely new energy policy? Oh thats right President Big Oil is sleeping in the cot next to these guys.

And spare the Obama stuff, its already pretty evident where that is going. Cook the man at every turn possible because he might have “different” ideas and doesn’t tow the Corporate America line. This country has turned into a bunch of yes men which is obvious by the yes man that is currently in office for Corporate America. We stand for nothing unless someone is in front of our TV.

Here is an alternative solution. Promote work from home as one way to save on fuel. It befuddles me why in this day and age we do not see more of this from corporate America.

I don’t know about 4, 10 hour days… I’m give out after 1, 8 hour day and by the time I get home now I barely have enough time to feed, bathe, and kiss my kids goodnight before it’s time to wake up and do it all over again. Forget spending any time with them or my husband. Even if I had a 3 day weekend I’m still spending 4 days totally disconnected from my family. I’m torn…

A 4-day work week would be wonderful! I support it 100%!
Little Rock, AR

I can’t believe no one saw this coming. It has been pretty evident that gas was coninually going up but Americans wanted their huge SUV’s anyway. Who’s brilliant ideal was it to do away with the 55 mile an hour speed limit? It feels like the 70,s all over again only worse. We are in a trap because unlike Europe and Japan we have a poor public transportation system. The system was set up for us to HAVE to buy cars and buy gas to run the cars. We need more trains and buses and leave the cars home.

Will employers be able to shift to this pattern of working? This issue is much more complex than discussing just one small piece of the puzzle. I believe the stimulus package will have a small impact on economy growth but again is it enough? What I’d like addressed is how can you have Former President Clinton bashing the stimulus package while the former first lady is pushing for a tax holiday on gas that will be minuscule as compared to the stimulus package. This is plan is a joke? Obama at least recognizes the complexity of the discussion. Once again old politics as compared to straight and honest recognition of the economic situation.

Rob
Nebraska

My employer allows flexible schedules (either 4-10’s or 5-8’s) and after having tried that for a while I don’t think it would save any gas. I have chosen to live close to work (currently a 2 mile commute, never more than 6 miles in the past 7 years) and ride a bicycle or walk in good weather. On the extra day off when I worked 4 10’s I tended to be running around doing my grocery shopping and other errands that I had no time or energy to do after work.

Pretty decent fuel savings come from simple things. Make sure your tires are fully and properly inflated, change the oil, filters and spark plugs on a regular maintenance schedule. Also really watch how you drive, aggressive use of the gas pedal will cost you. I’m not talking anything so severe as the hardcore advocates of “hypermiling” but just taking it easy on the road.

All I can say is that I hope God has mercy on those who are in controll of the gas increase. You have to not have a soul to do something like this. God has all of the control and when he is ready to stop this Madness he will.

jack, maybe they should lower the national speed limit to 60 mph. My 2003 dodge ram 4 wheel drive gets 20mpg @ 55mph, 14.8@ 70

Nobody has a right to drive. Can’t buy gas? Walk it.

The 4 day work week is great! But why don’t we ask harder questions of the Auto industry as well. In 1982 my VW rabbit Diesal got 48 miles to the gallon…. today we still don’t have midsize 5 people cars that get that mileage. We own our second hybrid now the 1st was GREAT a Honda Insight which got consistantly 57-65 miles to the gallon (draw back it only can carry two people) Our Toyota prius is a HUGE disappointment it only gets 44-48 miles to the gallon. Bummer after all this time you would think that the AMERICAN car companies (given how much tax payer money we gave them) could get it right and bring something to market to truly is better. In 1982 we could do this mileage…. Give me a break.

We as taxpayers need to get the oil men out of the Oval office and the Corrupt Corporations out of our Pocket and out of the Senate.

Ok If anyone else knows of a better mileage car and other ideas like 4 day work weeks I am all for hearing it.

One more thought. It might be a better idea for everyone to just not drive as much period and to just cut back on luxuries. Just my 2 more cents.

Are you kidding me, Jaque? Freeways are still busy on weekends, aren’t they? S’il vous plait! The problem here is not with how many days per week folks are working; it’s rather, a matter of our consumption habbits. We are wreckless…consumers!

Haven’t you seen/observed that more folks are now beginning to drive “smart?” Why should someone drive to a gym about quarter of a mile away, for example? It’s because gas is still cheap here.

What we need to be discussing here is how we can get federal and local governments to invest in public transportation, like rails,busses, etc. Not a four-day workweek.

The only thing will solve the US energy crisis is to require US auto manufacturers to double their fleet MPG averages to 50 miles per gallon, BY CHRISTMAS. All the Japanese and Korean manufacturers are already there. Secondly, The government should stop funding roads and highways and through all tat funding at mass transit from municipal bus & subway as well as commuter and medium distance rail. They should also double the consumption taxes on gasoline for the next two years. Only by shifting consumption away from gasoline will the US get off its addiction to foreign and domestic oil. replacing SUVs and Hummers with US-built high-mileage vehicles will energize both the US auto sector, if not the entire economy.

This approach will work a LOT FASTER to supply & demand than Bush’s insistence that the oil giant need to begin a decades-long drilling program in the protected wilderness of ANWAR.

Also, only a radical reduction in oil consumption, and ending the petro-pricification of grain crops (by diverting food crops to create methanol blends) will the world be able to able to feed all its citizens. Continued consumptive greed of American drivers, at such a high (even mortal) price to others, will keep American people un-loved around the world. Only by ending dependence on Milddle Eastern oil can the USA be seen as an ‘honest broker” for peace in that region.

If the USA can reduce its consumption to be self-sufficient, the way Europe is rapidly becoming, then high oil prices become the burden of China and India, and will move their cost structures back in line with the rest of the world’s. Their high energy costs will more than offset their low labour costs, until they realize Kyoto will benefit them as well.

Greetings Jack,

I would like to state that I am an educator whom loves teaching our youth. However I feel that the youth and all Americans can benefit from a 4 day work week. As many education municipalities have seen over the last year or two with rising gases is that our students are the ones whom are being shafted. Due to rising oil prices budgets are being cut left and right in all areas of public schooling. Lets face it school buses are not money savers and the funds need to come from somewhere. So we are left with schools that are short teachers, short text books and other learning tools, and thus leading to a population loosing out on learning. If the week was cut from 5 days to four days I feel that money could be saved in amazing ammounts and thus our schools can be properly equipped to serve our student population. After all is our youth not our future?

Sincerly,
JK

from the sunshine state

Yes, and we should have planned for the shortage of fuel/oil in the last two decades. The govt is with the BIG OIL companies. We do not have a real energy plan for the next decade , look at Brazil their govt is working for the people. Ameica is going broke, because we have lobbist (dick cheeny) as VP, and mentally challenged Pres.

Working 4 – 10 hour days is a fantastic way to not just lower fuel comsumption, but it would also allow for an extra personal day with family. I’m all for it!

It is getting more and more obvious that Jack does not like either of the Clintons as he sure is down on them. How can a person that is supposed to be neutral get to be so rude and mean to Hillary and Bill Clinton. For goodness Jack grown up and act like a normal person and report the facts and not try and push your views down everyone throat day after day after day after day after day after day, tired of this well so are the rest of us of you being so narrow minded. How come you aren’t at least asking How Obama and his wife could of gone and listened to this Pastor and accepted him as family and not know he thought and spoke the way he has been, it did not just start. Shame on you Jack you are trying to sway the voters and that is not fair.

Some of the comments say that people should move closer to their jobs. Good idea but in the Dallas downtown area, there are few actual houses and condos/townhomes start at around $250K. Not practical for a lot of working people, so many have moved out to the suburbs for an affordable home. One of the downsides of that is a commute that is probably between 30-90 minutes each way. I am an accountant for a large national company and we had the opportunity to work at least 3 days/week from home. That started 10 yrs ago. Companies have to be willing to bend some for their empoyees. I found with working at home, not only was I much more productive but I actually worked more since I did not have all the distractions from co-workers. But the biggest issue is the govt needs to step in and get green technology moving, like they did with the internet. People need to shed their laziness and selfishness and acknowledge that we might have to do a little work oursleves (smaller cars, recycling, being energy efficient). It’s really not that difficult.

I don’t want to sound rude but does anyone who is complaining about the shorter work week exacly know what a 4 day work week is? You still work 40 hours yet it is in 10 hour shifts. You would lose any less money. Also it doesn’t mean you day off would be a Friday. Your company would shift Coverage. You could have Monday off any work Tuesday, Wednesady, Thursday and Friday. Or you can have Tuesday off and work Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It could be any type of combination during the week.

Great idea! I’m a teacher and would willingly spend more time in my classroom for four days to have the fifth day off.

That fifth day off might be a good opportunity for schools to offer supplemental classes for students who are struggling or for those whose parents want them to have someplace constructive to go if they’re at work.

U.S. gas prices currently work out to about 91 cents a litre in Canadian terms. We in Canada, here in Nova Scotia, are currently paying $1.32 a litre. Thats 40 cents more a litre than the averaqe American. Now multiply that $1.32 X 3.78 (litres in US gal) =$ 4.98 gal.
Cute huh??? and its going to get worse

Yeah it probably would be a good way to save fuel BUT it would lead to an economic desaster! Look where we are right now. Our economy is already in a recession!! What would happen if we would work just four days a week? We would be nothing in the economic world. So its not a smart way to handle the gasprices.
Other than that I was in Europe a few weeks ago and sometimes I’m ashamed of what we complain about. In Europe they’re paying almost 8$ per gallon so our gasprices are really cheap compared with other parts in the world!

I feel that everyone that is an elected official in congress should be arrested and sent to jail or at least fired and start over from scratch with good businessmen that know how to run a business. As a voter I voted for these officals to run this country in an efficent way . They are paid good money and they have let the american people down. China who was an enemy of ours now owns us. The democracts and republicans need to come together and be united instead of divided. If I conducted my job the way congress has – I would be fired or arrested.

Jack, we are retired seniors and we do our part in saving $ on fuel by staying home and go out only when necessary..

The bottom line is that we have to work to earn enough money to survive. If we earn enough in one job, we have the choice of not driving to the second job. Even if today we earn just enough, with the price of food and gas skyrocketing, it may not be enough in near future. We have to think this way before we give up a second job. It may be very tough to get a second job at the time of need.

It’ll be difficult, if not impossible, to convince so many people for four-day workweek. Instead we should move nearer to the work place to save gas and money.

I’d love to work 4×10. There are even some people at my job that work 80 hrs in two weeks by working 3 on / 4 off, 4 on /3 off. But my job demands 5 x8. And I live 23 miles away. And there’s no transit system. I already drive a small car. I shop warehouse grocery stores and I cook in batches. I pack my lunch, never eat out. We don’t have cable TV. Haven’t seen a movie in 3 months. I’ve racked my brain looking for ways to economize, cut corners, save money somehow. My employer provides insurance for me but to add my son would requrire almost 1/4 of my check. There’s nowhere left to squeeze. I’ve been looking for a job close to home but my small town doesn’t have any. Something’s gotta give and I can’t believe I’m the only one.

At the rate that the economy is going , this will only increase the burden. Shifting to a 4 day week will only increase the burden on those that are unemployed now.

Why increase the workweek for everybody??

Yes going to a 4 day work week would help, for those few whose job would allow it. The added benefit of less pollution, traffic, car wrecks, with the fuel savings make the option for the 4 day work week a responsible alternative for some Americans. Let get it done!

I consume less than one tank of gas every 2-3 weeks. A 4-day work week will cut income of most businesses by 20%. That’s an easy number to remember. Why? Because on the days where America isn’t working, all those businesses that are open to support the workers will not see that revenue. Which leads me to my question. Is America ready to reduce their income by 20% and still have the additional 25% or more that the cost of gas and goods have risen in the past year? Is America ready to change the 40 hour 8 by 5 work week to a 4 by 10?? I don’t think so.

Yes it would. As another Joe mentioned, the only impediment (to telecommuting also), is management (many of whom aren’t formally trained in management).

Regarding not driving on their day off. Hundreds, Thousands, Millions even, are driving more longer than 1 hour in one direction just to get to work. Do you people honestly think these same people on a four-day workweek is not going to avoid at all costs, driving the same duration on their day off? I sure as heck won’t! I’ll be driving alright but, in my local area, if driving at all! I’m really tired of the long commutes, traffic slow downs (with no accidents), and traffic slow downs and jams (with accidents!).

And, I’m really tired of the people complaining about second hand smoke killing them when it’s really the other guy’s (x 100,000) exhaust fumes killing them.

Jack,
I do not think it will work. We drive more when we have a three day holiday. One way to stop the excessive driving is to alternate the working days so that no one will have to or three days in a row. It may sound Un-American but the main goal is to drive less. One can compensate this by giving a three days once every two or three months. Vijay Kumar

How much gas and oil do you think we could save if we did not have to provide gas and oil to all the troops, cars, trucks, ships and air planes being used in and around the war zone.??

Thanks, Bill Goforth

Arguably, it sounds like a good idea; however this flies in the face of American capitalism…Americans hardly take off a day for fear of adverse effects on their careers. This is a instant gratification society…look at Wal Mart…to my knowledge they only COMPLETELY close for one day…Christmas Day…soon there will be no holiday…just another work day in the USA.

I think it would be a great idea. It would also cut down on overtime and stress. We all know it will not fly because we are cutting Bush gas profitt.

Please tell some viewers that they would be working 10 hours or at least keep the same amount of pay if a 32 hour work week.
We all should work at home if possible. like all the HA’s should pave the way…..Do annual reviews at home. Go green…less stress

I along with 19 others paid $120.00 each for 6 years on 240 achas or land in WYO. with oil lease, but can not drill for oil in that state. 5 oil well working within 5 miles of this land. the state and channey say no to drilling for oil. Thia in goverment land. Wher is oil going from the pipe line from alaska?

Jack, tell me do you know anything about Hillary and a Black woman work at a university thats on her camp, that had something to do with Rev. Wright speaking tuesday on tv? this was discussed on the Rush Lombar radio station. They seem to think that Hillary had something to do with this. Let me know. Who ever was on the talk show said that they was going to investigate that issue. I don’t put anything against Hillary. Thanks Gloria

Hey Jack,

It is no secret in the business world that “4″ 10-hour days are more productive in several ways; the same 40 hours eliminate one lunch hour, two coffee breaks, less workplace overhead, and employees who are well rested after a three day weekend with their families. I am sure however, that a combination of government bureaucrats, organized labor, and a spoiled, selfish workforce would would neutralize any of the above benefits.

Yes i think a four day work week would save fuel.I believe in the early 1900s the standard work week was six days and when it became five it must have saved energy as well as having a extra day off.I also think that the large oil companys who are making billions of dollars in profit should be required to reinvest approx 33% of it into new energy/fuel .Or be taxed accordinally.

I can’t help but think how angry people are going to get at the DMV if they have to wait ten hours instead of the current eight to get their drivers licenses.
I hope this doesn’t happen, Jack certain officials will have a longer martini lunch break.

I think that would be a wonderful idea. I used to work 4 by 10’s for years. About 2 years ago I transfered jobs where that was no loger an option and I really wish I could go back. My commute is over 60 miles a day total and my wallet is really starting to notice. It was not only the drive I saved on but also daycare costs, I saved over 150.00 a month just by not working one extra day in child care expenses alone. Also parking costs went down as well as that is one less day. It all adds up quick!

Jack, I really want to take the 4-day plan, but bet ya 2-grand it will not make a dent. We need more straight dope from you on this price spike: is it a lack of refineries? dwindling supply vs. rising demand? the Hedge Fund screw-ups? the sliding dollar taking more $ than ever to buy anything? What? Are we being screwed by capitalism? Fill us in and fill ‘er up. Thanks.

Not a bad idea but most employers especially mfg. would just take advantage of that and have you come in on a Friday anyway.
The next thing mothers have to worry about is babysitting after normal hours.

Why not put refineries in all of the coal bearing states and turn the coal into OIL. It could be done a hell of alot cheaper then $100.00 a
barrel.

Jack,
I’ve work in construction all my life. With the amount of construction and the shortage of skilled professional craftmen, I work mostly 60 to 80 hours per week. This is how it’s been for over 6 years now. I would love to work 40 hour work weeks. In the real world it just will not work.
Ray

Wow, what a concept. To think that Americans do not need constant supervision to be productive is such a novel idea in this country. Why we are so far behind in revolutionary thinking is beyond me. In my opinion, the option to work from home should be the norm as well as a staggered work week. We are so faithful to a ‘one size fits all’ concept that we just hurt ourselves in the long run. We’d probably be a richer and happier country if we were as “free” as we say we are.

lol. sory jack, i thiught you said 4hrs a day. 4 days aweek? still cant afford it.

Hi Jack,
I think a four day work week would be great,so long as people don’t use their vehicles on this non work day. How about Public Transit and Car pooling? You would think that every one was willing to share with the prices going so high. Less consumption, I think is a better idea.

Kathy,
Ontario, Canada

Yes that would be great that way I could use my free day off to work my part time job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jack,
Yes working a four day work week has its advantages, three day weekends, and the obvious fuel savings. However as you mentioned the work schedules would have to be staggered. This means the three day weekends really are not weekend, at best it’s Wed, Thur & Fri off or Sun, Mon & Tues off. Rarely do you get Sat & Sun plus another day on either end. 10 hours a day seem easy, but it’s hard to be productive those extra two hours. If these things don’t bother you then it’s a good thing.

A four day work week can work in some industries and helps the environment as well as reduce energy costs for their employees. However, the work environment and the employee’s own family schedule may not enable a change. School schedules and day care situations are difficult for many to be able to lengthen their own day. For years, some employers have explored alternative work schedules including 4 day weeks and part or full-time virtual work; subsidized public transportation; encouraged car pooling; etc. With the added financial motivations of high gas prices, I’m sure more people will take advantage of these programs. I would hope with creativity and flexibility and willingness to participate, there will be more opportunities for all of us to reduce our miles for both the sake of our pocketbooks and the environment.

I’m wondering how people can be answering Mr. Cafferty’s questions hours before they are posted. Example: the question about being optimistic about the future of healthcare. The question was posted at
5:20p.m. ET, yet the first answer is timed at 1:53p.m. ET. I wrote an answer immediately after hearing the question on TV and found that there were already 270 answers posted, most of them written hours before the official posting time. Where does one go to get the questions ahead of time?

Staggering work schedules to 4 days/wk to save gas? That’s unrealistic, pie-in-the-sky idiocy.
Fewer cars on the roads? This is the U.S.A., not Singapore. A big part of what makes this country run is motor vehicles.
What we need (and should have built 30 years ago) is more U.S.-based oil refineries processing oil drawn from U.S. soil. We have more oil in the NW’ern part of this country (not just Alaska, Mr. Bush) than all the OPEC nations combined. Build more U.S.-based oil refineries and you can put this country back to work, and back on our feet.

“It has been predicted that in four years gas will be 7 $/ gallon in the US.; why not make it that now? The extra tax money taken in could be used to improve public transportation ( like EU and Japan), give tax credits to insulate your house etc.”

Have you seen the size of Europe or Japan? MUCH smaller than the USA. Therefore having a great public transportation system is more realistic/expected over there. Also, in Europe/Japan most people live in cities (which is where jobs are located, cities are compact so there is no room for parking, etc). All I am saying is that the size of the USA alone makes it almost IMMPOSIBLE to make the transportation system similar to that of Europe. Just like you can’t FedEx democracy everywhere we want, the same goes for our troubles with oil. Our size makes it impossible to mimic what Europe or Japan do.

However — here is a suggestion. In India, certain companies provide their own infrastructure (own buses that take people to and fro work), not to mention dormitories, nurse’s offices etc…BUT…why not have US companies do that?!? I know it’s more complicated than this, but we can make it work. Think about this – if you live 10, 20, 30 miles or more from work – wouldn’t it be great to go to a central location and have your employer’s bus meet you/pick you up and any other co-workers at that location? Just a suggestion….

Well Jack Great Ideal,
Until, my wife who did that, they make her come in on her off days to attend meetings or do some kind of education class or whatever else in her ten hours days she can’t get done.
Danny from texas

A 10 hour workday will be not only beneficial in terms of fuel savings, but also more time with the family. Also, shorter time will also save on the time that electric consuming equipment will be working. It will allow for reduction in accidents on the roads during commuting. A very good idea indeed.

An extra day off work a week would be nice, but would not save gas. Telecommuting would save gas. Better public transportation would save gas. Example, I live and work in Columbia, Maryland. I live 7 miles from my office, it’s takes 1 transfer and 2 hours to get to work if I take public transportation. I don’t have that kind of time. Instead I bought an $1800 used car and drive in everyday.

Jack:

A four-day work week may save fuel, but it may not, depending on what people do with that extra day off work.

Weekends generally mean more trips to malls, home improvement stores, short trips, or other recreational activities.

If driving for work decreases, only to be increased by driving for fun, nothing will be saved at all.

We need a complete energy strategy, not a bunch of little hit and miss “solutions”. Whatever it is. we need it now.

Will changing to a four day work week work?

Before we switch to a reduced work week, we need to examine other solutions to the biggest problem – the ‘rush hour’ traffic jam. Each day, Californians alone spend at least an hour each day sitting in traffic while their car engines guzzle gasoline.

In the 1970’s, when we had the oil embargo (remember that?), we had car pooling and the idea of expanding our public transportation, staggering work hours… . It was a bit tougher for a lot of us who traveled thirty or more miles each way to work, but we did it.

We had the shock of the ‘oil embargo’, but we soon reverted to our much more costly dreams – big SUVs, faster ‘race cars’,…

Efficiency and economy come at a much greater cost – our freedom to do what we want whenever we want to.

When will we learn that – first – we’ve all got to ‘tighten our belts’?

Survival is our choice, if we’re all willing to pay the cost of increased inconvenience.

Four day work week hmm not possible for me being a small business owner trying to keep up. Here is a suggestion. How about we sub contract a refinery to refine all the oil in the strategic oil reserve and release the gasoline on the market at say 2.00 dollars a gallon. According to you guys most of the price in fuel is due not to supply or demand issue but due to speculation driving up the price and a weak dollar. The glut of extra fuel supplied onto the market would immediately have an impact on gas futures and alot of speculators who have cost americans billions of dollars over the past few years would lose thier prospect rears. Curious how many gallons of gasoline would be produced if we just used half the reserve?

Kyle Williams
Louisville Kentucky

How about car pooling Americans!

I don’t believe that shifting to a 4-day work week would be a plausible solution, one less day of work is one less day of pay. So you essentially have less of both. May help Co2 emissions but would do little to eradicate the financial burden of these oil costs. All you get is another day of people slacking off driving to the beach essentially using more oil than they would to go to work.