According to polling this spring and through last week here at OverdriveOnline.com, a slight majority of owner-operators report the use of fuel treatments year-round (53%). There's anecdotal evidence that number could well be on its way up, in part due to greater recognition of the diesel-quality situation all around the country, likewise the longer-term maintenance benefits of regular treatment use that have been shown by makers from Pittsburg Power with its Max Mileage Fuel Borne Catalyst to Clean Air Fleet and others.
Howes, too, maker of the long-available Howes Diesel Treat winter anti-gel and the warmer-weather Diesel Defender product, among others. Company President and Chief Testing Officer Rob Howes shared results somewhat similar to those above from a survey of Howes customers about treatment practices during the Mid-America Trucking Show this spring, finding that about a quarter of Howes customers only treat in the winter for anti-gel properties. The benefits of year-round treatment, though, can extend to enhanced water removal, noted by 69% of those who treated year-round among the customer base, and increased power/performance (63%), improved fuel economy (57%) and less maintenance (48%).
Fuel-quality issues continue to be a concern for many, too, generally. Rob Howes noted a principal question he gets from customers calling in is this: "Are fuels getting worse or is it just me?"
The answer? It's complicated. "No/yes, yes/no," said Howes. While the rise of Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel well more than a decade ago presented issues of less lubricity for engines of that era, and which continue, the increasing blending of biofuels into diesel stocks today presents issues of its own. "It's becoming extremely common," said Howes. Five-percent blends are "almost a guarantee at this point, and 20% is getting pretty common." Suppliers "dial it back usually in the winter, but" not in all areas. "And then you see people gelling up more often."
Jamie Hagen, owner-operator of Hellbent Xpress out of Aberdeen, South Dakota, runs his 12-truck fleet of Macks and still turns the wheel of one of them himself, with five leased to the well-known food-grade tank operation of Viessman Trucking and the rest under his authority, pulling dry vans and one step deck. For two years now, after having used a different product to treat his fuel, Hagen decided to install the on-board dosing system of Clean Air Fleet and try out their treatment product. "I had heard about them in a roundabout way," he said, "just by accident" you might say. "I started having really good success with it."
