Filling up the gas tank can seem more like playing the stock market as pump prices fluctuate during warm-weather months.

But when it comes to diesel fuel for its buses, the Hall County school system doesn't leave anything to chance.

Superintendent Will Schofield says the system recently purchased diesel futures to last through October.

"What we have purchased is the responsibility of buying 42,000 gallons of diesel fuel during the month of October," he said. "We've guaranteed that we'll pay ($2.87 per gallon) for 42,000 gallons for delivery anytime we want it in October."

The district had already purchased fuel for September. Schofield said it may buy more if prices continue dropping.

The most recent purchase locked in the diesel prices at 35 cents a gallon less than what had been budgeted.

This may not seem like much, but with 300 buses driving 3 million miles a year and using 50,000 gallons of fuel a month, Schofield estimated this would save the schools about $14,000 in October.

"What it allows us to do is take some of the risk out of our budgeting process," he said.

"Obviously, we could have a world depression and diesel fuel could drop to $2 a gallon, but we continue to believe what we would really be stung by is hurricanes and another war in the Middle East. (We could) end up with $4 or $5 a gallon diesel. So we just think it's a way to lock in prices we can afford for a commodity we know we're going to use."

Jewel Armour, the school system's director of transportation, said the purchase also brings peace of mind by guaranteeing access to fuel. When hurricanes hit the U.S. mainland, Armour said it can sometimes be difficult to find diesel at any price.

"So now we know we can get at least 42,000 gallons on that contract," he said.

The school system has also been considering a more permanent solution to dealing with the unpredictable foreign oil market.

"What we're trying to move toward is a (liquid petroleum) fleet and to get out of the Middle Eastern oil business and get into a domestic product," Schofield said.

The system plans on introducing 20 new school buses that operate on the alternative fuel early next year.

"We would hope over the next five to seven years we could transfer into at least half of our fleet being (liquid petroleum), with a 10-year goal of being 100 percent LP," Schofield said.

Armour said Hall County would be the first school system in Georgia to make the switch, but the incentives seem too much to pass up.

"We would be saving a tremendous amount of money," Schofield said.

"We're hearing conservative estimates that this country sits on somewhere between 100 and 200 years worth supply of natural gas. While gasoline and heating oil have been going through the roof, natural gas in the last year has been dropping and is at inflation adjusted historically low prices."

Schofield said they expect to pay $1.17 a gallon after a federal rebate of 50 cents a gallon for the alternative fuel.

But the benefits don't end there.

"They run much cleaner, there are no emissions to deal with, you can go longer between oil changes and that sort of thing," Armour said.

"If we're pleased with them, I'm sure we'll buy more down the road."