North Texas truckers react to Trump order allowing off-road diesel
Truck drivers react to dyed diesel restrictions being lifted
President Trump is trying to make costs better for truck drivers. He signed an executive order allowing off road dyed diesel to be used on the roadways. Dallas News Live's Steven Dial talked to North Texas truck driver Joel Rifkin, who transports horses. He said he's spending up to $3,000 per day per truck. He's worried the order won't provide enough relief.
DALLAS - President Donald Trump has issued an executive order allowing anyone to purchase tax-exempt dyed diesel in an effort to bring down soaring fuel prices driven by the wars in Iran and Ukraine.
Dyed diesel is typically restricted to off-road machinery, such as agricultural equipment. The executive order aims to lower fuel costs across the country by removing the added tax burden.
Trump’s executive order essentially does the same thing Gov. Greg Abbott’s statewide disaster proclamation did last week, but on a national level.
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Truckers express skepticism
What they're saying:
North Texas resident Joel Rifkin owns Run Amok Transportation. He is in the business of hauling horses and said his drivers are now spending about $3,000 per day on fuel.
He remains skeptical because of the logistical hurdles that come with purchasing off-road diesel.
"For somebody like me, it's not really going to change anything. Because where can I take a tractor trailer and get off road diesel?" Rifkin said. "It's not like your mainline truck stops are going to support, start supplying off-road diesel."
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While some locations like Buc-ee's in Texas do sell off-road diesel, major national truck stop chains such as Love's, Pilot Flying J, TA, and QuikTrip generally do not stock it.
Additionally, off-road diesel contains red dye, whereas standard on-road diesel contains green dye. Because the red dye remains present in fuel tanks, lines, and filters for extended periods, truckers are concerned about inspections and penalties once the order expires.
Under normal operations, getting caught with red dye in an over-the-road truck's fuel system results in it being taken out of service.
"So, I don’t know what the long-term implication is because the dye stays in your tanks and lines for quite a while. So, I don’t know how the federal motor carriers will end up doing that long term," he said.
Rifkin said truckers hauling specialized loads, such as livestock, face additional challenges in mitigating fuel costs.
"I have some buddies that run freight and hay and grain out on the West Coast and they're lucky because they're not hauling livestock like we do. So, they can actually slow their trucks down a few miles an hour and get another half mile a gallon or another mile a gallon going down the road. But unfortunately, hauling livestock, backing it down and trying to slow down for fuel savings is a really hard pitch to our customers when their animals are on the trailer for a couple, three hours longer than they need to be," he said.
The Source: The information in this article comes from an interview conducted by FOX 4's Steven Dial on Dallas News Live with commercial trucker Joel Rifkin of Run Amok Transportation.