Posted on 06/15/2011 6:07:50 AM PDT by Red Badger
What part caught fire?
Fuel leaks on exhaust from deteriorated hoses or shorts from the batteries to chassis can cause a fire no matter the fuel..........
My guess is, with the way the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) works, is that truckers who drive into, or through Illinois, and fuel up there, are getting a net refund from Illinois on fuel taxes every quarter. Of course, that net refund will go to pay taxes in another jurisdiction.
For those not familiar with IFTA, the way it works is to allow interstate truckers to deal with (mostly diesel) fuel taxes for all the lower 48 states, and 10 Canadian provinces, with a single quarterly filing in your home jurisdiction (state or province). With diesel for interstate trucking, you only owe taxes on the fuel you consume in that state/province.
Example, say you drive 500 miles through three states, but you only fuel up in the last state (say 100 gallons for a net of 5 miles-per-gallon).
State A has a $0.23/gallon tax rate, state B has a $0.20/gallon tax rate, and state C has a $0.25/gallon tax rate. You drive 100 miles in state A, 250 miles in state B, and 150 miles in state C. So, you initially paid state C $25.00 in fuel taxes on that 100 gallons, but you only consumed 30 gallons there.
So on your quarterly IFTA return, you fill out that you drove a total of 500 miles, and consumed a total of 100 gallons, for a fleet average MPG of 5.0.
You drove 100 miles in state A for a taxable use of 20 gallons at $0.23/gallon, so you owe state A $4.60 in fuel taxes.
You drove 250 miles in state B for a taxable use of 50 gallons at $0.20/gallon, so you owe state B $10.00 in fuel taxes.
You drove 150 miles in state C for a taxable use of 30 gallons at $0.25/gallon, so you owe state C $7.50 in fuel taxes, but you paid state C that initial $25.00 at the pump, so you get to net the $7.50 due against the $25.00 paid, for a refund of $17.50 from state C.
So, out of that $17.50, you pay state A and C (all netted on the form) the taxes due them (a total of $14.60). Then, at the bottom of the form, you net all the taxes due against the all the taxes paid (due $22.10) and all the taxes paid ($25.00) and get a total due or refund. In this case, you'll get $2.90 back.
The forms get sent, electronically, to the IFTA clearing house for all jurisdictional taxes due/paid, and the jurisdictions settle these taxes amongst themselves based on the filed returns. You only pay the net due to, or get the net refund paid to you by, your home jurisdiction.
No math required....diesel here is pricier than gasoline, irregardless.
Should be states A and B, not A and C.
Or keep the batteries and you have a diesel/electric hybrid. The Germans are experts with those - think U-boat.
One thing I haven’t understood since they started coming out with hybrid cars, is why noone is doing a hybrid with diesel. I would think it was a natural to use as a generator. A diesel engine will run forever at a set rpm.
I well remember when Blajoavitch first took office, he proposed a special tax on in state trucking companies. A group of owners got an audience with him and let him know just how mobile their business was and promised him that they would set up operations in neighboring states, if he pursued that "special" tax on them. He quietly dropped his efforts.
I think that should be "below about -40F" (which is also -40C). I think the author goofed on this one.
“Here in Southern California, diesel is 35 to 40 cents higher...so no “myth” around these parts.”
Diesel at 35 to 40 cents more is about 10% more expensive. However, you get between a 25% to 35% mileage increase over a comparable gas engine because diesel contains more energy per gallon.
So, it’s still a net savings - and your engine will likely last far longer to boot. Not to mention that there’s no ethanol in diesel. ;-)
I’m planning on going diesel for my next vehicle.
Yup, especially those ford powder stroke (miss sp intended) diesels. I hate those stinky things.
Could be a printer’s mistake................
Do you have any idea why here is such a cost premium for the diesel Sportwagen? I understand that diesel engines are more expensive to produce but is there really a $5,000 cost differential?
This explains the whole process....
I know how diesels work but CO2 is an unavoidable by product of hydrocarbon combustion.
My comment was directed at your statement that the exhaust only includes oxygen and nitrogen...
“Often this is remedied with glow plugs, which are heated by the battery and help warm up the fuel so it can vaporize.”
In trucks in cold climats they sell #1 diesel instead of #2 which doesn’t gell and has a lower flash point.
If you go into cold climate with a load of #2 all you have to do is add 1 quart of ATF per 50 gallons of #2 and you have #1.
“#2 will jell in very cold weather.”
Add a quart of ATF per 50 gallons of #2 and you have #1 which won’t jell.
THAT’S GOOD INFO!..............
Yes my 93 Dodge 1 ton is noisy, a little smelly but by no means slow. Everyone that I let drive it remarks how peppy it is for a 7000 lb truck. I could probably fix some of the noisy if I stuck a muffler on it. It gets 16mpg as versus my former F250 that approached 11 if the stars were properly aligned with its 5l gas engine. The Dodge will pull anything the Ford always hated a trailer. The chevy b4 the Ford was killed several times (expensive repairs) by trailer pulling. Now if you want to talk slow I have an 81 Mercedes 240D 4 cyl stick no turbo that basically defines slow boat.
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