Are there any legal authority in Idaho that check diesel pickup tanks for off road diesel or dye color without reasonable cause??

Happens in Ca all the time. Red fuel has no road tax. $10,000 fine. Must be failure to pay taxes.

Idaho not kalifornia.

I've been told they like to check at the farm auctions. Don't know for sure

Here in Texas I know they check at construction sights.

Idaho not Texas!

I get checked maybe once every few years at the scales in ID but I've never seen a road side check for pickups.

Legally, I'm pretty certain you can get checked most anywhere as it would be an EPA violation in addition to a tax violation.

As a practical matter, if you have a pickup, how are they going to check? Commercial vehicles are usually easy to dip but most passenger vehicles and pickup trucks often have a baffle in there somewhere. I suppose one could unscrew the fuel filter but if it was removed the filter manufacturer recommends it be replaced and not just screwed back, so do they carry a bunch of filters on hand to replace them with?

Should one run agriculture diesel, IMHO the real risk is if the vehicle were involved in an accident that resulted in a fuel spill, you could pretty much guarantee a ticket in that situation. Also, what I do not know is if you were to fill up with a tank of red fuel how long would it take to dilute the remaining fuel so that it did not look visibly red any more. Let's say you filled up a truck with tractor diesel, would the residual still be red enough to get in trouble after 4 or 5 tanks of road fuel?

You will read on occasion of feuds between trucking companies, I have been surprised that over the years I have never read of someone sneaking into a competitors yard and dumping a bit of red dye into the oppositions' trucks fuel tanks.

It was a little known fact may be still is farmers were allowed to buy none dyed fuel then apply for a tax credit and get the tax back.

When I was involved in CMV enforcement a Federal IRS agent would ride with us once in awhile and dip tanks. Wis officers didn't have the authority to do so.

Also when they take enforcement action they had to have the fuel tested to see what percentage of dye is in it.

I saw some really big fines one ready mix company was fined around 60 thousand dollars.

On pick ups most have a small bleeder that they take a sample from.

don't know how up to date this info is it been years that a IRS agent rode with me.

Has far as Idaho all depends on how the state law is written

quote:

Originally posted by Mark:

As a practical matter, if you have a pickup, how are they going to check? Commercial vehicles are usually easy to dip but most passenger vehicles and pickup trucks often have a baffle in there somewhere. I suppose one could unscrew the fuel filter but if it was removed the filter manufacturer recommends it be replaced and not just screwed back, so do they carry a bunch of filters on hand to replace them with?

The Cummins diesel has a water trap with a drain, handy if you need to start a campfire with wet wood...

The USDOT doesn't care what state you reside in. I've had random checks in my lot more than once.

They don't have to dip your tank. If you have been burning RED they can swab your tailpipe. There is so much red dye it comes through in the exhaust. Saw a DPS Trooper doing this at a cattle auction. I asked why and he said the tank had a locking cap.