Some California drivers are taking advantage of the freeway service patrol by deliberately running dry on the state's freeways and waiting for rescue.

"Every time fuel goes up, we start noticing it. But right now we are noticing it a lot more," Andy Lujan, owner of California Coach Towing in Orange County, said on Tuesday.

Lujan's 20 trucks roam the busy freeways of Orange and Los Angeles counties as part of a publicly funded patrol that gives a free gallon of gas to drivers who have run out of fuel. It also offers other basic assistance to drivers whose vehicles have broken down.

Gas prices in California, where the car is king, are some of the highest in the nation at more than $3 a gallon and rising.