Hauling with different fuels onboard

[4x4le]

Ok, so I have a drift car that I haul between a few states to go to events. The car runs on E85 and it was hard enough to find a transfer tank dot approved for flammable fuel but I found a 15 gallon tank that I have had for a few years that I mount in the bed of my trucks and ground it. I usually take 2 5gal cans along too and have the cars tank (~12gal) full. Ive never thought anything about it...... Till now.

In my gasser dodge I didnt have a large gas tank but would have liked one and with just another 15 gal transfer tank and as slow as it transfers (gravity) I was better off going to a station to fill it on my way.

In my f250 w/7.3 I have 2 tanks so never really thought about putting a diesel transfer tank in the back because I will surely have to piss before I run both tanks out so thats a good time to fill up.

Now with my 07.5 dmax, I have a small (what ~27gal tank) and I would like to add a diesel transfer tank or maybe even set it up so I can top off my main tank while driving if I desire. I can think of a neat way to do with when I get a air dog...

SO NOW THE QUESTION because I know many of you have knowledge about whats legal to haul ect.

Is the diesel exempt to the amount of fuel I can haul? Would having the transfer tank capable of topping the trucks tank count it as 1 tank? That could be a problem if I got a 97 gallon transfer... Right? No more than 110 gallons per tank right?

Does the fuel in the car count for how much fuel I can legally haul?
Im asking this now because It may help me decide how big I actually need/want my diesel tank to be if that fuel counts. And because I may be getting additional tanks for the e85 as some events I look to attend can be 2 day events and because the car is not only good as a drift car but grips well too. I can use up fuel (e85) pretty quick and dont want to cut the day short just because Im out after I drove who knows how long to my destination. e85 can be found locally here, but not always where Im "playing".


I know many people will say just do it, or not to worry about it ect, but I want to be legal. I dont know what the penaltys are and doubt I would just randomly get in trouble but I have a feeling that if anything bad happened (crash, or anything that caused a fire) that I could be in some real trouble if found to be in violation of the dot laws.

I havent even mounted the e85 tank my my new truck yet (dmax) and am even considering putting it on the trailer. It is an open car hauler.

Near future I may get an enclosed car hauler which is what got me to ditch the gasser and go diesel but I may end up getting a open double because my friend goes to all of the events too and his car runs on e85 so I would be looking at carrying double the e85, and the double is possibly out of the question if there is a limit on the fuel I can legally carry.

Thanks for the help in advance, sorry for the long post.

 

[Hot COCOAL]

You may just need to get a hazardous materials endorsement added to your license. You still have to find out how to carry/mount, and ground everything properly, you wouldn't have to worry about a fuel limit, but you do have to test and have a background search.

 

[4x4le]

That would be the easy/hard way out lol, dont know which one. I do want to be legal and can pass the background for sure, they do already allow me and the wife to carry handguns, and that is part of the reason I dont want to get caught breaking the law with something somewhat major.

Either way I would like to know what I can get away with legally with no endorsements. I already carry the 15 gallon tank and 2 5gal tanks as well as the car with a full tank and fully ASSUME this is legal and it should be. For the most part I am ok with this but want to make sure that diesel dont count toward any limit. Best I could find on my own is 110 gallons of flammable fuel is the limit provided they are in DOT approved containers which all of it is.

Diesel shouldnt count otherwise everyone with 90+ gallon transfer tanks break the law. I do think that tanks must be partitioned at 150 gallons apiece so that already is over the 110 gallon mark of flammable fuel so I should be good to assume that it dont count.

I have also heard that fuel dont count as long as it is for your own consumption at or on your way to your destination. I might just have to ask a highway patrol officer (was commercial vehicle enforcement prior to becoming THP) next time I see him. Used to be my neighbor, now I just see him around sometimes and dont know his name.

Willing to hear anyone who wants to chime in's insite on the matter.

 

[gregmorin]

Most of the time if you arent in commerce ( making money ) doing it its not a big deal

 

[Dozerboy]

The last thing you want is to put fall under HazMat on your truck. That just asking to get pulled over. You will have to have shipping paper work, MSDS, insurance, placement of the tanks, and the list goes on and on.

By not worrying about it you might no be doing anything wrong. But by trying to do the right thing you could get yourself in a shit load of trouble.

The best thing to do is call up you local enforcement agency and talk to them. There are lots of "loop holes" like Bleach. If you haul 1000gal tank of bleach your HazMat, but you could haul 1000 1gal bottles of bleach your just fine.

No the fuel in the car doesn't count.

Diesel isn't exempt.

 

[Hot COCOAL]

IIRC, 100-110g tank is the limit you can haul before it's a legality issue for a combustible (not flammable or explosive) material, such as diesel or kerosene. I've seen a number of guys plumb their transfer tanks into their running tank. AFAIK it's a grey area supported by loopholes and you should be ok so long as you're not transporting anything commercially or under permit that would subject you to being DOT inspected

 

[Hot COCOAL]

Here is a thread from another forum about hauling fuels. It seems to me like there's allot of discrepancy surrounding hauling fuel. Being smart about what you're doing never hurts, using an aluminum tank, and/or a tank with a rubber bladder and an approved pump for the fuel your transferring is a good idea. It also seems like 100g is the single container limit and there's no limit to the amount of containers you can haul as a private party so long as you're within your gross vehicle weight limit. There was also mention of using air pressure to transfer the fuel instead of a pump in this thread to avoid combustion via spark issues

http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/191024-hauling-gasoline-pickup-truck-3.html#b