One of the most exciting things about summer is the freedom to hop in your car and go wherever the day takes you.  As a teenager, I remember traveling all over the city and country trying to find anything to quench my thrist for adventure.  My friends and I would inevitably pick a driver and then head out on the open road.  It was in that instant that we were presented with the most problematic dilema of our travels: who would pay for the gas?

As a teen one of the most common necessities is cash.  When a traveling band of merry-makers hits the road, there has to be someone to pay the bill.  These days it is even worse than when I was young.  I could not imagine engaging in any type of road-warrior activity at today's gas prices.  By the time you get to your location, you no longer have the funds required to have a good time.

This brings me to the point of this discussion; who pays for the gas when you travel in a group?  Most of the time, someone posseses a vehicle which is better suited for traveling en masse.  Someone usually has a van or a truck which is properly equipped for hauling supplies that the modern traveler needs.  What is the proper protocol for using that person's vehicle?

Here are what can be considered proper, logical, etiquette in such a traveling connumdrum.  Now, the vehicle's owner usually already has gas in their vehicle that they were going to use anyway, regardless of the addtion of the new travelrs.  Therefore, the new travelers are not responsible for the use of this gas.  That translates into, new travelers are not responsible for "refilling" the tank upon completion of the journey.  Also, if a group is traveling to a location that the "owner traveling vehicle" was going to go to anyway, again, the group is not responsible for any fuel costs.  The new travelers are simply additional cargo.

Now, one could argue that the addtional weight casues additional fuel usage, so the new travelers should be responsible for something.  This would totally depend on the number of travelers and if the owner of said vehicle can clearly ascertain what would be the proper distribution of this additional weight is in regards to fuel effiency.  The bottom line is, only if a group is traveling to an agreed upon location, via an agreed upon route are they liable for any fuel costs.  Second, the only fuel they are responsible for is for the trip itself (including their direct engagement in the trip), nothing more.  As soon as they are dropped off at their home, their fuel-cost-responsibility ends.

What have we learned here?  If the owner of a vehicle is going to allow their vehicle to be used by a traveling group then they must follow some simple rules:  Start with an empty fuel tank, determine the fuel costs for the overall trip, have the group start and end at a central location (no dropping people off at home), have each party invoved pay for their share (up front) with adjustments made for weight of other cargo etc, plan on ending with an empty fuel tank, and if at all possible find some better friends who are not such cheap-skates.