You've probably heard from your fellow truckers that not everyone has the same experience when running biodiesel. Many truckers and fleets across the country use biodiesel every day with excellent results. However, what blend you buy and where you buy it could affect your results. Buying from reputable truck stops and using a 20% blend of biodiesel (B20) or below should provide a good outcome. The national quality standards program, BQ-9000, provides biodiesel producers and distributors with quality standards, procedures, and tests that when followed ensure the purchasers are getting ASTM specification fuel.

One factor depends on how many diesel deposits are left in your fuel system. Biodiesel has a cleansing property that increases with the level of biodiesel in the blend, so any deposits left in your fuel lines will be flushed out, potentially clogging your filters. You may have to change fuel filters after driving on your first tank of biodiesel, but a clean fuel system promotes the efficient burning of fuel.

Since biodiesel is not always available, we often get asked if a vehicle can run on a tank of biodiesel and then fill up with petroleum diesel or visa-versa. The answer is yes! Biodiesel is a drop-in replacement for diesel in heavy equipment, resulting in an easy transition between conventional diesel and biodiesel. After running a tank of biodiesel you will still benefit from the added lubricity and the engine cleansing. If you run conventional diesel for several years before switching back to a biodiesel blend, be aware that you may need to change the fuel filter the first time you run biodiesel again, although many truckers who run biodiesel blends have never had to change fuel filters outside their normally scheduled maintenance.

In my previous blog, I talked about cold weather usage of biodiesel, so I won't go into detail here except to say that a B20 blend of biodiesel does gel at a higher temperature than straight petroleum diesel. So, in colder climates, many truck stops switch to selling a B5, or a 5% biodiesel blend, as this blend has close to the same cloud point as petroleum diesel. If you are currently using B20, it can be winterized with readily available cold weather additives or lower cloud point diesel fuel, both of which are often blended in the fuel at the pump.

Engine manufacturers across the board provide warranty coverage when using B5 blends and many allow B20, including Buhler, Cummins, Case, Caterpillar, Chrysler for some engines, GM for some engines, International/Navistar, John Deere, and New Holland. If your truck is under warranty, check here for complete statements: http://www.biodiesel.org/resources/oems/default.aspx. However, no warranty covers engine damage from bad fuel whether biodiesel or petroleum diesel, so the most important thing to do is use only high-quality, BQ-9000 certified biodiesel.

Hundreds of truckers and fleets use biodiesel every day, all year round. Many praise the added lubricity and many like reducing America's dependence on foreign oil. Whatever their individual reasons, they all know to take the same precautions as they did when they used petroleum diesel-buy quality fuel from reputable truck stops and distributors, perform regularly scheduled engine maintenance, and take precautions in cold weather.