Is diesel commonly available in Canada?

Early Riser · May 9, 2013

I am considering the purchase of a diesel Jeep, and I will be traveling in Alberta, Canada. Is diesel readily available at gas stations? Thanks.

MattKing · May 9, 2013

Early Riser said:
I am considering the purchase of a diesel Jeep, and I will be traveling in Alberta, Canada. Is diesel readily available at gas stations? Thanks.

Yes, in my experience. Although most of my experience is in BC.

I just experimented with the "Station Finder" on the Petro-Canada site. They are just one of many retailers here.

If I enter Calgary, Alberta and Diesel as the search criteria, 14 stations are listed.

heterolysis · May 9, 2013

You can easily get diesel all over Canada. Propane however, which my first car ran on, is harder to find.

Eric Rose · May 9, 2013

If your in Calgary give me a call. PM me for my tele number.

Kevin Kehler · May 9, 2013

Especially in Alberta and Saskatchewan where there is a lot of farm machines (tractors, etc.), diesel is widely available.

PhotoJim · May 9, 2013

Not every station has diesel, but I'd wager probably about a quarter of them do. The two stations I routinely use (which are Shells) both have diesel.

Steve Smith · May 9, 2013

I would be very surprised if Canada doesn't have diesel. What do they run their trucks on? (proper trucks, not pickups).

Steve.

hdeyong · May 9, 2013

When you get down to a quarter tank, keep an eye out, and you'll have no problems.

Early Riser · May 11, 2013

Hey guys thanks for the info! Now if only the jeep diesel is available in time for my next trip.

AgX · May 11, 2013

Steve Smith said:
I would be very surprised if Canada doesn't have diesel. What do they run their trucks on? (proper trucks, not pickups).

I'm wondering too.

Early Riser said:
Hey guys thanks for the info! Now if only the jeep diesel is available in time for my next trip.

What is the difference between truck and Jeep diesel?

MattKing · May 12, 2013

There certainly are fueling stations here in Canada (and the USA too) which are designed to supply fuel (primarily diesel) only to transport and other commercial trucks. Someone with a passenger car or small, personal use truck (or Jeep) cannot normally use them.

But there are lots of alternatives available - just as there are lots of passenger cars and small trucks here that run on diesel.

And I think that "Jeep Diesel" as it is used by Early Riser refers to the new Jeep he is getting, which is a model setup for using diesel fuel.

Steve Smith · May 12, 2013

MattKing said:
There certainly are fueling stations here in Canada (and the USA too) which are designed to supply fuel (primarily diesel) only to transport and other commercial trucks. Someone with a passenger car or small, personal use truck (or Jeep) cannot normally use them.

Really? Over here we all use the same pumps.

I can only think of one place here which has a diesel pump in the main area and a separate one at the side for commercial vehicles. However, I have used the commercial one to fuel a car and the car one to fuel a truck. They don't put any restrictions on use (other than the truck having to fit under the canopy!).

Steve.

hdeyong · May 12, 2013

Because the truckers want to be able to pump in large quantities fairly quickly, in many cases the fuel nozzles are too large to go into the filler neck of a car, I believe. I worked for years for a transport company, and the fuel nozzles on our pumps were easily half again as big as what was at the normal gas stations.

Steve Smith · May 12, 2013

That makes sense. They are all the same size here. You regularly see a truck alongside a car fuelling up from identical pumps.

Steve.

Mick Fagan · May 13, 2013

Steve, in Australia we have what is called High-Flow diesel fuel pumps.

These have a larger nozzle and will not fit into a normal passenger automobile fuel tank hole.

High-flow pumps are usually grouped away from the main fuel pump with very high or no roofing, especially outback. I myself use high-flow to refuel my ute, otherwise I stand around for an eternity putting about 120 litres of diesel, whereas with high-flow, about 30-40 seconds is all it takes for me to re-fuel. When you pull up and the truck immediately in front of you takes $1,350.00 of diesel, you do not sit around very long waiting to use the pump; happened to me last year in outback Queensland.

High-flow is what is often referred to as truck diesel, but it isn't. I don't know what truck diesel is, but on major rural highways you will often see signs flogging truck diesel about 2 cents a litre cheaper. I have a suspicion that it is just a discount for what is a bulk purchase.

Mick.

redrockcoulee · May 13, 2013

Trying to think of any stations around here that do not have diesel. Between farm and oil industry pickups they make up a sizeable chunk of the vehicles on the road. And although farm trucks usually fill up at home with purple they still need to be able to get diesel when they are towing their trailers on a holiday or to a rodeo.

At most stations they are at the same pump, the bright yellow nozzle is for diesel and the other for the rest of us. I would not worry about getting diesel in Alberta.

RattyMouse · May 13, 2013

Without diesel, Canada would have no trucks. I seriously doubt that there are no trucks in Canada, so there must be diesel.

Martin Aislabie · May 14, 2013

Steve Smith said:
That makes sense. They are all the same size here. You regularly see a truck alongside a car fuelling up from identical pumps.

Steve.

No Steve, they are not

Domestic/Car Diesel Pump nozzles are slightly larger than the Petrol versions.

This has been done to help prevent the unbelievably frequent case where inattentive people try and fill their Petrol car with Diesel (clogs the injectors and gives the catalyst a hard time) or putting Petrol in their Diesel car (washes the lubricating film off the cylinder bores and will quickly result in a seized engine)

Commercial Diesel Pump Nozzles are much bigger than those used for cars to help deliver a sensible flow rate when you need several hundred litres of fuel and don't want it to take all day - although the Lorry Diesel Pumps are usually round the back of the Petrol Station - away from the Canopy height restrictions and have less tight turns to get those very long vehicles on and off the forecourt.

Martin

MattKing · May 14, 2013

In Canada and the US, there are entire networks of stations which are designed to only fuel large commercial trucks.

They tend to be cardlock systems - i.e. they aren't staffed during most times, and the customers require existing accounts to use them.

They are large enough to accept the largest trucks, and have room to maneuver those trucks. The pumps are fast, and supply high volumes. I expect that they have larger nozzles.

The attached image is taken from the website of one of the many companies that compete for the commercial truck business - it gives a sense of their scale.

In addition to the suppliers that cater just to the large commercial truck business, many of the retail petroleum stations that are designed to serve personal automobiles and small trucks offer diesel fuel as one of their product choices. Their dimensions and layouts are more suited to smaller vehicles, and their pumps are similar. It is stations of this type that the OP was most likely inquiring about.

Is diesel commonly available in Canada?

Early Riser

MattKing

Moderator

heterolysis

Eric Rose

Kevin Kehler

PhotoJim

Steve Smith

hdeyong

Early Riser

AgX

MattKing

Moderator

Steve Smith

hdeyong

Steve Smith

Mick Fagan

redrockcoulee

RattyMouse

Martin Aislabie

MattKing

Moderator

Attachments

Is diesel commonly available in Canada?

Moderator

Moderator

Moderator

Attachments

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency