GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. – The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) has launched a public awareness campaign about the costs of “hot fuel” in the US.

Hot fuel is expanded fuel that is sold at US pumps that are not temperature controlled.

While Canadian pumps maintain diesel temperatures at 15 C, that’s not the case south of the border where OOIDA argues consumers don’t get the BTUs they’re paying for.

OOIDA claims hot fuel costs consumers about US$2.3 billion per year.

The lobby group says 200 gallons of 98 F fuel will run out 36 miles sooner than the same amount of fuel at 60 F.

The ‘Turn Down Hot Fuel’ campaign is aimed at educating motorists and professional drivers about the costs of hot fuel.

Information about the issue can now be found at: www.turndownhotfuel.com.

Recently, the issue gained attention through a US House of Representatives subcommittee on Oversight and Reform hearing.

OOIDA told the committee that hot fuel has less measurable energy, reducing the amount of miles travelled per gallon.

OOIDA is urging industry to equip retail pumps with automatic temperature compensation retrofit kits.

For their part, retailers and refiners have resisted due to the cost of such devices.

Canada has been using temperature devices on its retail pumps since 1990.

Some northern states have argued that the issue is a “wash” since fuel is sold at colder temperatures during the colder months.

“But the numbers just don’t add up,” says OOIDA project leader, John Siebert. “The difference in prices paid in the warmer states is far greater than any savings you get in the northern areas. Temperature compensating retail pumps makes the entire transaction transparent, and allows consumers to shop for their best fuel values, because, every gallon of similarly labeled fuel contains the same energy.”