Diesel drivers: Keep the red stuff off the road

RENO -- If you drive a diesel, state authorities have a stern reminder: Keep the red stuff out of the gas tank.

The special fuel, sold only for off-road equipment use, is dyed red at refineries to distinguish it from other diesel fuel used in highway vehicles.

Dyed diesel is exempt from state and federal taxes, so it's roughly 50 cents per gallon less than clear, regular diesel, which sells for about $2.88.

But there's a big restriction on where the red fuel can be used.

"If you're going to run it up and down the road, you need to use the taxed fuel," said Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper George Edwards in Elko.

Most dyed diesel is used for large equipment such as backhoes, graders, and mining and farming machinery.

"It can be bought anywhere commercial fuel is sold," said Tom Jacobs, of the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles. "There is a form that you have to fill out declaring how the fuel will be used."

There are two types of offenses, Edwards said.

One involves equipment fueled by dyed diesel using roadways. Though they can cross a road, it's illegal for them to travel down a highway going from job to job, he said.

The other is using dyed fuel in highway vehicles, such as diesel pickups.

To identify scofflaws, the NHP administers a sort of breathalyzer test on the tank.

Fines are steep. A first offense is $2,500. It jumps to $5,000 for a second offense; $7,500 for a third; and $10,000 for a fourth, Jacobs said.