Prices of Diesel Fuel Oil

How much is diesel fuel now? And how much was it in 1970,1980 and 1990?

I just paid $2.999/gal this week for my Jetta TDI. I guess that railroads pay somewhat less because there are no highway taxes added to the price, plus the enormous volumes of fuel that they purchase.

Stuart

RR's use a different type and grade of diesel than highway vehicles do.

My question is based on diesel fuel for locomotives.

Brad Smith wrote:RR's use a different type and grade of diesel than highway vehicles do.

Not True, #2 oil is home heating fuel, diesel fuel - offroad is dyed - & Taxed diesel fuel is un-dyed so the fuel tax police can tell if you have been cheating BUT it is all the same. The Cetane [like octane in a gas engine], Parafin Wax content & pour point change acording to the regional conditions. I've had a unit fuel in Panama City, FL [80 degrees] and it's fuel is semi-solid gel in Thunder Bay Ontario [-40 degrees] because the additive package was incorrect for the conditions.

Stationary Boilers and Ships use Bunker Oil [#4 Oil or # 6 Oil] which get tar-like when cold and is not useful in train/truck transportation units.

Diesel Fuel used to be around $0.10 less than gasoline; in the 60's it was $0.20 or so a gal. that's why it was so popular as a train fuel and road fuel. Big rigs get 5 - 8 MPG moving 80,000 LBS because they get MORE energy from diesel fuel. In the 50's Gasoline rigs got 2 - 3 MPG and barely climbed the hills. My dad said the drivers had a DAILY fistfight to see who drive the diesel that day back when my uncle had (4) trucks & one diesel [GMC 3cyl agound 120 HP.] cause the diesel climbed the hills better. By the mid 60's it was hard to find a class 4 & up truck that was still using gasoline...

Hi All,

Some time ago, it was brought to my attention that Diesels were originally conceived to burn Vegetable Oil, not petrochemical fuels. Since the price of these fuels has put several trucking companies, of some size, out of business, the idea of using Diesel fuel based on vegetable oils has been started once again. One fellow has said that he has been running his diesel powered truck on used McDonald's french fries cooking oils etc. for some time now. The only problem he has found is that his exhaust smells like french fries. Now that couldn't be too bad.

Is it legal for railroads to use the offroad diesel fuel they purchase in their MOW/hi-rail trucks? Or is the nozzle on offroad diesel incompatible with the receptacles on street-legal diesel vehicles?

Though I'm no expert, there are differences in the diesel for off road use and heating and on road use besides just the dye, sulfer content being one of them. I believe RR diesel is also less refined than on road fuel, but Icould be off base here.
byte,
As mentioned, off road diesel/heating oil is dyed pink to indicate that no tax has been paid on it. It is not uncommon for Commercial Enforcement cops to take fuel samples of vehicles they pull over. If the sample comes up pink from an over the road vehicle, you in a heap 'o trouble, boy! So no, they can't.

With fuel prices the way they are today, the states have ramped up fuel inspections as well. The state PUC's are dipsticking tanks at almost all of the weigh stations right now and the penalty for running off-road fuel far outweighs the tax savings.

I know a guy who got fired for fueling his pickup with the rr's diesel fuel. They were after him already though.