DEF supply lines grow
As new trucks hit the road
With 2010 model year trucks hitting the highways in increasing numbers, fleets and truckstop owner/operators are finding they need to get their hands on diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) for both short and long-term supply.
Supply lines are forming rapidly as DEF demand moves toward a projected 1 billion gallon mark in the next decade, say sponsors of 16th Annual OPIS Fleet Fueling Conference & Exhibition, set for September 26 to 28 in Atlanta, GA.
Since EPA okayed selective catalytic reduction (SCR) as an acceptable technology for meeting new Clean Air restrictions on diesel exhaust, most engine manufacturers adopted SCR as a pre-exhaust treatment system.
SCR requires periodic replenishment with DEF, a solution of urea and de-ionized water. Without sufficient DEF, diesel vehicles of all sizes will eventually shut down as onboard diagnostic systems detect tailpipe emissions have risen to unacceptable levels, the sponsors say.
In the past two years, large DEF producers from the agricultural fertilizer sector have partnered with distribution and supply companies to set up the infrastructure necessary to get the product out to customers.
In addition, major truckstop chains have rolled out programs to offer DEF at an increasing number of their retail outlets.
Love’s Travel Stops is the most recent chain to hike the number of locations where it offers DEF. Ten new locations in Houston, Baxter, TN, and Greenwood, LA, will offer DEF at the pump in the next few months.
Additionally, Love’s will offer 2.5-gallon DEF jugs at all of its retail locations.
The Oklahoma City, OK-based chain chose Blue1USA to supply its DEF storage and dispensing systems at its fuel islands.
Pilot Travel Centers also offers pre-packaged DEF supplies at 350 retail sites, as well as at the pump at more than 100 locations. It opened the country’s first two DEF fuel island pumps last fall in Brooks, OR, and Charlotte, NC.
DEF producer CF Industries/Terra Environmental Technologies inked a marketing agreement last fall with distributor Brenntag and Cummins Filtration to feature DEF at the 20,000 outlets that sell its Fleetguard line of products.
Mansfield Oil distributes DEF through its DeliveryOne network of oil and lubricant marketers as part of its partnership with Yara North America which makes the Air1 brand of DEF.
Cardwell Distributing, Nash Oil, Craft Oil, Smoke Oil, Pumpelly Oil, and Mid-Town Petroleum all recently joined the DeliveryOne network to sell DEF.
Agrium, another fertilizer giant, inked an exclusive supply agreement with Old World Industries to provide DEF-grade pilled urea to its Borger, Texas plant to produce Old World’s BlueDEF product line.
