With oil prices continuing to waver more up than down and rumors that regular gasoline may rise to more than $4 a gallon in the coming months, there are ways to keep money in your pocket instead of the gas tank.

Riley Tillman of Tillman Automotive in North Bryan County said one of the best and easiest things to do is make sure you keep your vehicle properly serviced.

"You want to be sure to keep your air filter and fuel filters clean. They should be replaced every third oil change, or about 9,000 miles," Tillman recommended. "And if you haven’t had a tune-up in a while, that can help also."

Economic analysts reportedly think the U.S. dollar’s depreciation is the reason oil prices increased to a record high of about $112 a barrel in the last week.

Meanwhile, a study on how much time drivers spend on their daily commute to work showed the average driver wastes nearly an entire work week each year, or 38 hours, sitting in traffic, according to information from the Associated Press, published by CNN.com.

Increasing gas prices don’t appear to have had any impact on commuter traffic, either.

In Bryan County, the Georgia County Guide for 2005-2006 estimated the county’s work force to include almost 11,000 people.

Of that, 75 percent – nearly 8,000 people – were working outside of Bryan County and more than 300 were working outside Georgia.

The average commute to work was more than 82 miles round trip for a Bryan County resident, with an average of 76 percent of commuters driving alone.

But the Development Authority is working to change those figures, helping provide more employment opportunities right here and preventing longer commutes to businesses outside Bryan County.

"We have at least 250 employees that are now able to stay within our area, based on the opportunities available with companies in the Interstate Centre," said DA Executive Director Jean Bacon.