Cursa Fuel Co. / Learn / Red dye diesel
Diesel Explained
It is off-road diesel marked with red dye to show road tax was not paid. Same fuel, different legal use. Here is what that means for you.
Red dye diesel confuses people because they assume the color means a different fuel. It does not. The diesel itself is the same as the clear fuel in an over-the-road truck. The red dye is a marker, added so inspectors can tell at a glance whether highway road tax was paid.
Clear diesel has the road tax built in and is legal for licensed vehicles. Red diesel skips that tax and is reserved for off-road use: equipment, generators, farm machinery, and anything that does not drive on public roads.
The line is the public road. If the engine drives on public roads under a license plate, it needs clear, tax-paid diesel. If it works off-road, red dye diesel is the right and cheaper call. Burning red in a road vehicle is a tax violation with real penalties.
We carry clear on-road diesel and red off-road diesel and help you put the right one in the right tank. If your operation runs both, like trucks and equipment on the same site, we deliver both, often on the same stop.
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