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Tennessee: Checking off-road diesel

By: Andy Johns
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DUNLAP, Tenn. — Surrounded by flashing blue lights and government special agents, a dark Mercedes was forced to pull over on the side of the U.S. 127 in Dunlap on Tuesday morning.

The agents who converged on the car weren’t looking for drugs or fugitives. They were checking for untaxed diesel fuel.

The Tennessee Department of Revenue chose the intersection of U.S. 127 and State Route 111 in Sequatchie County as the location for a fuel check.

The agents reported pulling over 252 diesel vehicles. On each vehicle, agents stuck a clear tube in the fuel tank and pulled out a thimbleful of the contents. If the liquid had a greenish color, meaning it was properly taxed diesel, the driver moved along. If the inspection tube filled with red liquid, the driver was hit with a ticket that could cost more than $1,000.

“It's pretty clear —when it's red, it's red,” said Pat Cheek, manager of special investigations for the revenue department.

The red fuel is intended for use in generators, irrigation pumps, heavy equipment and other off-road machinery. The users do not have to pay federal and state tax fuel taxes because they don’t use the roads that money goes to maintain, according to John Jones, assistant director for special investigations with the revenue department.

On Tuesday, agents were checking to see if diesel drivers were filling their on-road vehicles with off-road diesel and shortchanging the state. Two suspicious samples will be sent off for verification.

“Normally it’s going to be someone with ties to construction or farming,” supervisor Paul Dennison said. “Someone who has access to the fuel.”

Most of the vehicles were semis or work trucks, but inspectors checked a few diesel sedans.

The drivers who were stopped seemed not to mind the checks, which took about 20 seconds.

“It doesn’t bother me,” said Donald Troy, a driver for Sequatchie Concrete, as agents unscrewed his gas cap and inserted the inspection tube. “They need to check things out.”

After getting a thumbs up from the agents, Mr. Troy and his load of cinderblocks rolled on their way.

“We're protecting the people who are trying to do it right,” Mr. Jones said.

He said users may save 12 cents to 15 cents a gallon using off-road fuel, but violators have to pay either $10 per gallon of dyed fuel in their tank or a $1,000 fine, whichever is higher.

Diesel prices averaged $4.37 a gallon nationally on Tuesday, according to AAA, and investigators think more people are tempted to use the untaxed fuel.

“The last two months it seems like we have seen an increase in violation,” Mr. Cheek said.

Between July 1, 2007, and June 1, 2008, investigators found 26 violations. Since June 1 they have found 27 violations, not counting the samples they took Tuesday.

The department will conduct another checkpoint in West Tennessee next month.

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