Running a big rig on veggie oil

mowermech wrote:

NorthOrSouth wrote:

mowermech wrote:
Keep in mind also that highway fuel is TAXED!
There have been people caught using vegetable oil without paying the road taxes, and it cost them a LOT of money!

Bear in mind I'm a Canadian :) A report out of one of our think tanks yesterday said that Canadians spend a whopping 42% of our gross income on taxes of one form or another while only spending 38% of it on food, clothing and shelter.

So to be frank, I could give a rat's ass whether the government collects MORE taxes off me. And I've talked to quite a few veggie oil drivers and none have even been stopped, let alone ticketed or charged. I don't think the average authority would even have an idea what veggie oil conversion IS leave alone consider it 'illegal'. Its just not that common here.

Bear in mind that you admit to driving through several of the United States, and you admit to wanting to deny them of their fuel taxes by using veggie oil. YES, some states DO check fuel tanks occasionally, looking for untaxed fuel, either veg or red dyed.
It HAS happened in the past, and it WILL happen again. Will it happen to YOU? Probably not, but you need to be aware of the possibility. How lucky do you feel?

I feel very lucky :) Plus I'm not a fan of big government. If they want to fine me, so be it. But having never pulled into a weigh station, and being a boondocker 95% of the time, are they really going to be coming down the street to open every tank and take a sample? Besides I have a diesel tank for that purpose :) Oh and of course to start and purge the system.

You see, I believe MOST people don't try anything innovative because of fear. Fear of taxes, fear of fines, fear of getting a bad reputation, fear of this or that. That's great for the masses. Also great for the government who loves to control and tax the masses. But NOTHING was ever invented, changed or improved by the people who follow all the rules and don't want to rock the boat. If I want change, and I really do believe that diesel is the WORST way to power our engines, then I believe I have to BE the person willing to make that change. Damn the consequences, just do it and see what happens. To do otherwise is to live in fear and I make it a rule to never make a decision based on fear. It leads to a pinched life and lost opportunities. It also makes me a sheep to a system that is need of reform.

Also, I pay road taxes at the fuel pump. If I have a 2000 mile range I certainly don't stop in every state I drive through and pay road tax to each of them, just at the pump. So how is running veggie oil that I produce myself in Canada robbing the states I drive through any more than if I fueled up with diesel up here and drive through those same states? They don't get any revenue either way. Only the state I would fuel up in would lose out and if I do veggie on the way down, and diesel on the way back because I dont have enough storage for the entire trip, no one in the US loses anything.

Rant over :) Your mileage may vary of course, I may just be preaching to myself here.