Dahon.Steve

372 miles round-trip a day

BY CHIP JONES
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Apr 15, 2006


Give your opinion on this story

Think you have a long drive to work?

Meet Dave Givens, an electrical engineer from Mariposa, Calif. Five days a week he drives 186 miles one way from his home to Cisco Systems Inc. in San Jose.

That's a round-trip journey of 372 miles a day, a drive that takes a total of seven hours.

He makes the trip five days a week and has been doing so since 1989.

Givens' commute means that every year he's motoring about the same distance as driving nearly 40 times from Richmond to Los Angeles -- a distance of 2,293 miles.

Givens was crowned "the ultimate road warrior" by Midas Inc. this week, the culmination of the muffler maker's search for "America's Longest Commute."

Givens out-drove thousands of other entrants for a grand prize of $10,000 in gas money along with four Bridgestone tires with a total value of $470.

The contest was part of Midas' celebration of its 50th anniversary.

Explaining his mind-boggling commute, Givens said in a statement released by Midas: "I have a great job and my family loves the ranch where we live. So this is the only solution."

Mariposa is in the Sierra Nevada mountains, near Yosemite National Park.

To stay awake, he listens to the radio and drinks a lot of coffee.

Second place went to Jeffrey Haussy of Georgetown, Ill., with a one-way commute of 175 miles north to his job with American Airlines at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.

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This story is insane folks. Can you imagine spending 35 hours a week or about 75 days a year on the road just to go to work? It's incredible what men do to keep a lifestyle for their family that has tremendous sacrifice.

I said this before but you couldn't pay me enough to drive that distance each day. My nerves would be shot at the end of each day. We take it for granted that most of us can either bike or take public transportation to work. Some of us can even walk!

I guess this guy doesn't know how much he has to suffer each day and thinks it's normal.

noisebeam

Maybe his family loves the ranch, but how can he like being with his family if he spends so much time away from them driving?
Surely he could arrange for some work from home options and/or condensed work week where he sleeps in apartment near work for say 3 nights a week. In net he'd end up with far more time at the ranch and maybe only do the commute 2x/wk (still absurd by Living Car Free standards of course)
Al

timmhaan

what a waste of time, engery, and resources. that is the only solution he can come up with?

noisebeam

But he won $10,470 for his dedication.

Here is the full Midas press release

https://www.midasinc.com/phoenix.zhtm...027&highlight=

Quote of distiction:
"Let's face it, he [the winner] needs all the help he can get!" (no kidding )

".... public transportation driving were not considered a daily commute. Motorcycles, buses, and all forms of public transportation were not eligible forms of transportation for daily commute." What about bicycles?

Al

Roody

Why dosesn't he at least get an apartment near work (within biking distance) and make the car trip only on weekends?

He's a moron. There's no possible rational explanation for this behavior.

noisebeam

The only thing I can think of is that he hates being with his family and his life in general. Why else would someone want to spend so much extra time away from them (by choice) and in the confines of a car?

Al

Roody

Bet he has a big soft butt and hemorrhoids.

Dahon.Steve

Agreed.

I suspect, he probably wakes up at 4 in the morning to get dressed and out the door by 4:30 or 5:00 o'clock the latest. Engineers usually don't go home by 5:00 (especially management) so he's probably home by 8 or 9 (or later) each night. In other words, if he intends to get up by 4 he'll practically has to go to sleep right away.

I'm sure his family loves the ranch but it's all at his expense! He's the one doing all the hard work and sacrifice. Make no doubt about it, his commute is practically a full time job in itself. I know people who live in "Ranch Style" homes and have no where near the commute he does each day. You can't tell me his family wouldn't be happy living in a home closer to his job even it ment giving up the ranch.

Bottom line is there is more to life than traveling and that's called quality of life. His family has a high quality of life but HE doesn't and is making the ultimate sacrifice when it's not necessary. One day, I'm sure he'll figure this out but by then, most of his life's free time would have been wasted on the road to nowhere. That's the point I was trying to make.

noisebeam

He would save money by renting a $1000/mo. place near work and only going home for the weekends. He could then work an official 12hr. work day 4 days/wk and have a 3 day weekend which would get him more awake time with his family.

372mi/day*200workday/year = ~75k miles per year of commuting alone. Thats >$20k/yr. of wear and tear and gas expenses. He probably goes thru a car new every 3 years of so.

Al

Jerseysbest

Either he makes a whole lot of money and works minimal hours, or, I dunno... There's gotta be more details to this, or this guy is just stupid

Man, and I was fretting over my potential 25 mile commute.

*cough

I can't believe anyone rewards that crap.

He's been doing it for 15 years (approx)
7 hrs a day, *5 *52 *15 = 27,300hrs

What a waste of a life.

Did it say what car he drives?
He could probably just buy a plane, seriously.

I hope to **** he was an anomaly.

matagi

My husband and I were in a similar situation 10 years ago, he had a 70 mile one way drive to his office and I had a 65 mile drive in the opposite direction to university. We were in a rural area with no public transit so cars were the only way to go at the time. After the initial excitement of driving very fast turbo-charged rice rockets wore off, the driving became a real chore.

As soon as they upgraded our local telephone exchange, my husband gave up the driving and started telecommuting. I had to keep doing the 130 mile round trip for another 4 years - yes, I could have taken an apartment or something near the university but then I wouldn't have been home to see my husband each night and that was (and still is) important to me. So maybe this guy feels the same, sure he might not see his kids except on weekends, but he sees his wife.

Mind you, I knew that I would only have to do this drive until I finished my degree - there is no way I would have contemplated that kind of existence indefinitely and no way would I still be doing it after 17 years (like the guy in the article). I agree it makes his family sound rather selfish too - they are happy for him to spend many hours on the road, so that they can enjoy their ranch life while he has no life at all. I find it rather sad actually.

timmhaan

after 17 years the guy probably doesn't know anything else. he's probably so used to that drive he just goes on autopilot everyday and gets it done. similar to how people come home and sit to watch TV for 4 or 5 hours before bed. i'm sure he really doesn't know what he is missing.

jamesdemien

Um are you kidding me...Thats the most ridiculous thing I've ever read. That dude should get a single engine plane and fly to work or something. I can't believe that someone rewarded him for wasting time and gas like that. Oh well people think I'm stupid too...

Golf XRay Tango

I was thinking he should fly to work as well. If he owns a ranch, he could easily put together a grass runway and get a good reliable plane for less than $50K. The fuel costs would be a little higher, but the commute would be a lot more enjoyable.

super-douper

when I heard it, the first thing I thought was he's a liar. What kind of company/boss would require somebody to commute like that 5 days/week instead of allowing telecommute? What kind of person would do that for 15yrs without transferring to a job that allows at least some telecommuting? Doesn't he know that there are closer places to Cisco that he could have a ranch? maybe he just calls in sick a couple days/week. who knows. For arguement's sake, let's assume he does drive that distance EVERY DAY.

What an ass. Congratulations pal, you've just undone all of the environmental benefits of every bike commuter on this board.

Maybe he really commutes 10 minutes to his mistress' house and telecommutes from there. It'd be pretty funny to see this guy jogging with his two steps forward then one step back gait.

Maybe I'm being a little harsh, it's just unbelievable to me. But I'd rather ride my bike for 1.5hrs or a bus for 1hr than drive the 20min commute to my job.

r-dub

I was going to say the same thing...guy must absolutely hate being around other people to want to spend 35hrs/week alone in traffic. Though I suppose mild versions of some neurological problems could lead to the same behavior.

cyclezealot

to me this is insane. how could one do this. In California, cost of housing- this is not totally uncommon.
I seem to recall some organization in the New York city area lists commuters with the greatest commute. ONe year the award?? , went to some motorist who daily commuted from Boston to New York . Is this possible. Bet one would have to buy a car almost every year.

noisebeam

Lets assume he works 240 days/yr, that takes into account weekends, holidays, sick days.

The scary part is not the hours, but the miles:
240*372*15 = 1,339,200mi,
At 25mpg that 53,568 gal. of gas.
Lets assume he tries hard and gets 200k miles lifetime per car.
Thats 7 cars he consumed. 13 if he disposes of his car after the more typical/wasteful 100k mi.

Al

Dahon.Steve

Good one.

I suspect he probably went through a load of cars but I doubt he leases or the milage penalty would be too great.

On a separate note, his average speed is 53 mph! = 53 mph * 7 hrs = 371 miles

There is NO WAY you're going to average 53 mph over that distance with lights and traffic. He must be doing 70 - 80 mph on some long stretches to get that kind of average in California. The guy must drive like a mad man in the morning to get to work. Very Sad Indeed.

smurfy

Actually that is a good idea and that is what I would do in that situation if there were no other options. How fast does a single-engine plane cruise at, 100 knots? How much does av gas costs nowadays? Also, you wouldn't be able to fly in fog or stormy weather and the FAA requires you to overhaul your engine after so many hours.

Edit: Oops, forgot to mention - I would have to be able to ride my compact folding bicycle from airfield to workplace and back!

ignominious

I wouldn't drive this kind of mileage for a commute, but I would be tempted to cycle this kind of mileage just to tell the guy that's he's one of the worlds biggest eejits.

noisebeam

Now that would make you crazy (in a good way) if you did it as a commute.

I was thinking along the same lines about car vs. bike and came up with the thought that any commute distance that would be considered insane cycle every day is equally insane to drive a car.

i.e. if its too far to bike then is too far of a commute.

Al

cyclezealot

This guys commuted up around Sacramento. Don't think CA gridlock has crept up there yet. If so, it would be impossible. San Diego freeways often move at less than 10 mph for the 15 mile crowded segments. Has taken me two hours and more to drive this 55 commute, when in the middle of the night with no traffic it takes one an hour or less. that will put an end to such lunacy.

matagi

Sounds like a good excuse for a bike tour - a whole crowd of cyclists turning up at his front door and yelling "you're an idiot, get a life - buy a bike"