The common diesel fuel problems fleet owners and drivers have to deal with can be quite annoying. When you are first starting out, diesel fuel problems can really drain your confidence in running a trucking business. However, diesel fuel problems can get blown out of proportion pretty often. Before running down diesel semi-trucks, people should understand the misconceptions behind some common problems and stances. Semi-truck tire repair Flint Michigan experts outlined some common thoughts on diesel trucking.
Clean Fuel Will Fix All The Problems
A prevalent thought is that diesel fuel is very dirty and that most of the problems will be solved by replacing it with a cleaner fuel source. A clean fuel source would be more beneficial. This is simply not the case. A clean fuel source would be better, but all the problems wouldn’t magically vanish. All fuels are deemed clean when they exit the refinery, but it is when it is outside the refinery that they are exposed to dirty elements. The most common element that can impact fuel is water intrusion. There are many opportunities for contaminants to seep in. It is ignorant to say that a cleaner fuel source would be invincible to these problems.
The Age Of Vehicles & Equipment
With any form of vehicle or piece of machinery, there is always a great emphasis on age. Age isn’t the best indicating factor of quality, but it is commonly used as the leading factor. The best indicator for vehicles and equipment is taking a look at what they have been exposed to. Preventative maintenance usually gets scheduled based on a specific time period such as an oil change every certain amount of miles. In reality, vehicles and equipment should be treated a lot more often based upon the elements they are exposed to, not the overall age.
Alcohol Additives Can Help
A lot of fleet owners and truckers use fuel additives that are combined with alcohol. These additives describe how the alcohol and other chemicals help keep the gas tank from harboring contaminants. This is extremely untrue and a bad idea for multiple reasons. First, many mechanics have disapproved of the theory that alcohol removes water from your gas tank. If your gas tank has water in it, it will simply join the mixture and rest inside the tank rather than remove it. This water and alcohol mixture can be very corrosive to metal. If bacteria are harboring in your gas tank, alcohol can fuel its growth rather than kill them off. Lastly, alcohol can cause important pieces of your fuel system to break such as gaskets and seals.
The Underutilization of Fuel Stabilizers
Fuel stability is an issue when it comes to diesel fuel. If the diesel fuel contains high amounts of sulfur, it can be stabilized and cleaned further by using fuel stabilizers. If the diesel fuel is low in sulfur, fuel stabilizers are not needed and can be stored safely in normal environments.
I hope this helps!