You may’ve heard the term “off road diesel” before and wondered what it is. In this post, we will explain exactly what off road diesel is and how it differs from regular diesel.

Essentially, off road diesel is the same thing as regular diesel but the difference is that it has not been “road taxed”. This diesel is used for construction vehicles, farm vehicles, heating oil boiler fuel and basically anything that doesn’t require it to traverse a public paved road.

The road tax we are talking about is a special tax that is included when you purchase diesel from a gas station for vehicle that is mainly driven on public roads or highways. This fuel is naturally cheaper since it does not include any state or federal taxes.

The fuel is dyed red so that it will not be misused as a way to get around taxes. If authorities catch a person using off road diesel for their every day transportation vehicle there are severe fines. The fine is listed exactly as follows:

“The amount of the civil penalty for any act described in subsection A shall be the greater of $1,000 or ten dollars per gallon of fuel, based on the maximum storage capacity of the storage tank, container or storage tank of the highway vehicle, watercraft or aircraft.” Virginia law code § 58.1-2265

It only makes sense not to add a roads tax to fuel that will not be used on the main roads. It may seem like aa small amount on a gallon by gallon basis, but when you are talking about thousands of gallons it can be a huge amount.

You can find out more about this type of tax here: Virginia Road Tax Fees

The National Fire Code categorizes off-road diesel as a Class II combustible liquid. Any fuel with a flash point lower than 100 degrees Fahrenheit is combustible. The flash point of diesel is normally estimated to be between 126 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit, or roughly 160 degrees. It is therefore categorized as a Class II combustible.

You can order off road diesel from us by calling 434-845-0871 or using this page to contact us