How To Buy A Diesel Fuel Additive: Businesses Have A Real Challenge On Their Hands

The market is flooded with fuel additives, all claiming to be awesome and the best around.  If you don’t know that much about them, then all their claims look the same. And if it’s all the same, then that means none of it is helpful. There’s no way to know what you should be looking for.

Diesel fuel additives are a higher stakes game than gas additives.  The bulk of gas additives are aftermarket products purchased by consumers for their personal vehicles. They don’t have that much invested in their purchase.  Diesel additives are different. They are primarily B2B and the fuel volumes are many times larger.  The investment runs many times larger, as do the potential rewards (and risks).  So there’s much more at stake and more reason to be nervous that you’re selecting the right diesel fuel additive.

How hard is it to make a good choice? Easy or hard depends on what kind of additive you’re buying.  Do you just need a cetane improver? Well that’s a commodity item in most cases, like buying bleach at the grocery store or antifreeze for the truck.  Do you need a multifunction additive that does many things at once? Now it’s a lot harder to make a good judgement. The more “moving parts” in the picture, the harder it is to get a clear view of what’s good vs. not so good.

How much weight do you give benefit A vs. benefit B? Especially if one benefit is more reliably measured than the other? Or the cost-benefit ratios are different? Then throw in benefit C, D, E and F, and the picture grows even murkier.

This is why testimonials and references still hold a huge amount of weight in business.  If the operations manager at City of Helena uses a specific brand, his colleagues at City of <Fill in the blank> are probably going to consider that too. His decision makes it easier for them.

The challenge for fuel management professionals and businesses that use stored fuel is to make the best decision for them in a crowded “me-too” landscape.  If that’s you, our suggestion would be to take advantage of the experience of those you know.

You may be interested in these other posts about diesel fuel:

• Diesel Fuel Additives: Top 5 Things You Never Knew You Didn't Know
• "Wow" Facts on Contaminated Diesel Fuel. Be Prepared.
• 4 Biggest Misconceptions About Diesel Today