Imagine for a moment that you’re in search of a station with red dyed diesel at the pump and you finally find a place that offers it. You arrive, with your off road equipment of course, and proceed to make a purchase with your credit cards. But it fails. You try again, and the story remains the same. “Why isn’t this working?” you wonder. “Will I ever be able to find dyed diesel in California?” Well what you didn’t know before you arrived, was that this station doesn’t work like most others. Instead of credit cards or other more traditional forms of payment, this station operates entirely on fuel cards. What is a fuel card you ask? Well, please read on to find out.
What is a Fuel Card?
A fuel card for all intents and purposes is a credit card, with very narrow and highly restricted use. Just like a credit card, a fuel card has a string of digits along the front of the card and on a thick black reader strip on the back. Unlike a credit card however, a fuel card (as its name suggests) is restricted solely to the purchase of fuel. As a result, a fuel card is a popular choice amongst many companies who rely on employees to make fuel purchases but are looking to ensure that company funds are used appropriately.
How do I get one?
Earning the ability to purchase red dyed diesel is often no small thing. In certain cases, a license approved by the state’s comptroller is needed before any dyed diesel can be purchased at all. But not in the state of California. In this case, all you need is a fuel card and a statement of intent which can be found below.
A Few More Things to Know…
However in order to fully benefit from the use of dyed diesel, there are still a few things to be aware of.
1)Dyed Diesel is sold tax free, which translates to up to nearly a dollar a gallon, because it is restricted to off-road use.
2)In order to benefit from this tax exemption it is necessary that you distinguish between dyed diesel and regular diesel purchases when filing your IFTA claims.
3)In using a fuel card, your purchases are automatically separated making your filing simple and effective.
All in all, when it comes to purchasing dyed diesel in the state of California the best and nearly only way is to do so through a fuel card. If you are interested in applying for a fuel card for the purchase of red dyed diesel, click here and begin to fill out the short form we have to get you started.