Mario Hernandez, 31, of North Las Vegas has driven a FedEx Ground package delivery truck throughout Southern Nevada as part of his weekday rounds for the past 10 years. In that time, he's learned some tricks for getting around the increasingly congestion-plagued Las Vegas Valley. Photo by Sara Tramiel.

Think you spend a lot of time in traffic every day? Unless you're a cop, a cabby, the beer delivery guy or otherwise trapped behind the wheel to pay the bills, Mario Hernandez probably has you beat.

For the past 10 years, Hernandez has been a Las Vegas-based driver for FedEx Ground, the express package delivery company. And every workday, the 31-year-old motors about 100 miles or so to get parcels from planes to people across Southern Nevada.

Do the math. That's like 500 miles a week, or 26,000 miles a year, or 260,000 miles since he started the job. And that doesn't even count the miles he puts on his own car schlepping between his Henderson work base and his North Las Vegas home.

"I've driven from Pahrump to Summerlin to Boulder City, all over town," Hernandez told me recently.

One of the good things about doing all that driving is that Hernandez has learned some tricks to make his trips as trouble-free as possible. His advice isn't foolproof, but Hernandez bets his career on such tips. After all, FedEx wouldn't be in business very long if they absolutely, positively screwed up your delivery.

To avoid that fate, Hernandez tries to keep up with changes in a valley where a new resident moves in every 7 minutes, a new home is built every 17 minutes and more than 100 cars join the valley's road network every day, according to U.S. Census and Regional Transportation Commission data.

"It's changed a lot. It's changed from the growth of businesses and (the addition of) new streets every year," Hernandez said, adding that new maps are practically outdated as soon as they get printed.

"Last year, they added three new ZIP codes to the area," Hernandez said. "It's growing incredibly. New streets. New connections."

Add in road work, fender-benders and all that congestion, and travel times across the valley can widely vary.

"I'd say about 40 minutes to get from one end (of the valley) to another. That would be on a good day," he said. "On a bad day, about an hour."

Hernandez finds that Interstate 15 and U.S. Highway 95 -- the valley's two major crosstown freeways -- aren't too shabby, as long as there's no wrecks and you know when to go.

"You're probably going to fly through there between 9 (a.m.) and 2 (p.m.)," he said, estimating that the valley's real rush hours are from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., and from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

"It depends on the time," he said. "If you're going to hit the 15 at 3 o'clock (in the afternoon), it might not be wise" to take it. "After 9 or 10 o'clock (in the morning), it might be smooth sailing. After 6 o'clock in the evening, it's pretty clear.

"If you leave at 2 (p.m.), there can be a huge difference than leaving at 2:30 (p.m.)," when traffic builds for a typical casino shift change around 3 p.m. "Leaving at 2, you might beat the rush hour. Leave at 2:30, you might get stuck in it," he said.

So, if I-15 or U.S. 95 are no-go, where does Hernandez go? Instead of U.S. 95, he may take Rainbow Boulevard, Jones Boulevard or Torrey Pines Drive. To avoid I-15, he'll consider detouring to Industrial Drive/Dean Martin Drive or Frank Sinatra Drive.

And he loves the Las Vegas Beltway, also known as Interstate 215 or Clark County Highway 215, as an all-purpose time saver.

"It seems longer if you look at a map" and compare a Beltway route to a more direct path, Hernandez said. "But traffic-wise, at 8 o'clock in the morning or 3 o'clock in the afternoon, it's faster."

The Beltway also works fine as an east-west route in the northern valley.

"The 215 is great," Hernandez said. "It's probably the least amount of traffic. There's not much (growth) out there yet."

Another good crosstown road in the northern valley is Ann Road. In the congested southern valley, Hernandez suggests Warm Springs Road as an east-west connector.

"Again, on a map it looks longer, distancewise. The speed limit is not that high, but there's less traffic than Tropicana (Avenue) or Russell (Road), where the speed limit is faster but there's more traffic in that area," he said.

Hernandez puts a lot of stock in preplanning.

"You organize your route. Know where you're going, so you don't have to backtrack," he said. "If you were going to pay a bill, go to the mall, you'd plan it. Give yourself a head start. Route it out. That's how you make your day faster."

And figure in a time cushion to account for the inevitable slowdowns.

"Give yourself a head start every day, and your day will go much smoother," he said. "You're not rushing. You're not speeding. You're not getting lost."

To keep up on traffic wrecks and other instant impediments to your travels, Hernandez urges fellow drivers to keep an ear open for radio traffic reports, and to make adjustments accordingly (but avoid unnecessary and potentially crash-causing distractions, like blabbing on a cell phone).

He also leaves some necessary but time-consuming errands for day's end, when time pressures are off.

"We pump gas at the end of the day," Hernandez said. "In the morning, you don't have to stop and do it."

I guess that means buying your breakfast doughnut the night before.

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