This guy tracks gas prices for a living. Here are his tips for saving.

Fueling up your car can be a bit pricier these days.

As conflict continues in Iran and the broader Middle East, the cost of gasoline has shot up well above $3 per gallon for most Americans, according to a press release from AAA. In Maryland, the average price is trending slightly above the national average at about $3.49 per gallon for regular unleaded gas.

“It’s pretty rare to see the amount of volatility that we have,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, an app that maps gas station prices. “Gas prices are going up pretty significantly.”

De Haan found that Americans spent about $350 million more on gasoline on March 18 than they did on Feb. 28.

Naturally, this is causing people to look for ways to save at the pump. Here are a few tips.

Where to find cheaper fuel

Plenty of online tools and apps point out live prices at gas stations around Maryland.

Besides the GasBuddy app, which shows the best gas prices in your area, apps like Waze track community-shared price data to help users locate the best stations along their routes. For longer road trips, use the AAA TripTik tool to plot gas station stops and avoid major detours to find a pump.

If you have a go-to station or two in your area, most major gas companies have fuel rewards systems or cards that offer discounts over time.

De Haan said that wholesale stores, like Costco or Sam’s Club, also have “pretty aggressive” low prices for gas for members.

“The savings can be worth it,” for a wholesale store membership most of the time, he said.

How to conserve gas between fill-ups

Slow it down. We’re looking at you, Baltimore drivers.

Accelerating between lights and zooming past cars on the highway might shave a few minutes from a trip, but your wallet will take a hit. AAA experts said that you can maximize a car’s fuel use by 14% by reducing speeds by 5 mph to 10 mph on the highway. Maintaining tire pressure is another good way to take the strain off a vehicle and help conserve fuel.

Removing unneeded items from a vehicle to make it lighter can also increase fuel efficiency.

“If you’re one with junk in the trunk, get it out,” De Haan said.

Racks on the back or on top of the vehicle can weigh a car down as well. It is best to take them off when not using.

When you might see better prices

In a stable market, stations will engage in “price cycling,” or lowering prices each day to match competitors and attract customers.

“It’s kind of a race to the bottom,” De Haan said.

But once the profit margin is depleted, stations have to restore their prices, forcing them to jump back by 30 cents to 50 cents a gallon, he said, adding that “you almost never see prices jump on a Sunday because energy markets are closed over the weekend.”

But if oil reports in the middle of the week show that the price of oil is actively going up, it’s probably better to fill up sooner than later, De Haan said.