Moving SF Bay Area to Atlanta

[eladril]

Which is more fuel effiecient, taking I-10 to I-20 or I-40 to Texas -278 to I-20? Map Point suggests the I-40 route being the shortest by 150 miles. However, driving a moving truck towing a mini-van, may not be the most efficent way to use fuel. Any sugestions? Is I-10 more fuel efficeint?

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

Fuel efficiency (how much fuel you use per mile travelled) is somewhat under your control. The biggest factor in determining how many miles per gallon you get is, as you point out, the rig you're driving. A sub-comp0act gets better mileage thatn an SUV, which in turn gets better mileage than a moving truck towing a mini-van. You're stuck with the last, and least efficient of these. You can increase your mile per gallon by maintaining as steady (and low) a speed as possible and making as few stops as you can manage. These factors favor using Interstate highways (fewer stop and go situations), but keeping your speed at or below the speed limit (not tough given your set-up). You also want to minimize the uphill portions of your trip, but this is largely out of your control, and ultimately the total change in elevation for your trip will remain the same. The other thing that you have control over is the total number of miles driven. The fewer miles you drive, the more efficient you are in getting from point A to point B. For all these reasons, I think the favored routing for your trip is I-5, CA-58, I-40, US-78 from Memphis to Birmingham AL, and finally I-20 into Atlanta. You can also see how your gas mileage and the rapidly changing price of gas will affect your cost with our handy-dandy Fuel Cost Calculator.

AZBuck