12/09/21
Heavy Duty, Light Duty, Diesel Lifeline, Winter
By Erika Howes
As we ring in the holiday season, it’s easy for temperature changes to hit us as quickly as a gift selling out just before we get the chance to buy it. Almost anywhere across the US, what can start out as a no-jacket day can easily turn into a frigid afternoon or evening. Some nights we can go to sleep with one leg out of the blankets and wake up shivering from the cold.
These changes can also affect our trucks and fuel, so it’s important to be prepared no matter how your day starts or what the weather calls for. After all, not too many weather-people moonlight as fortune tellers.
There are plenty of examples of amazing weather phenomena that have drastically affected a truck’s ability to stay on the road.
Amarillo, Texas recorded such an event on December 12, 1919. A powerful cold front raced through the northwest Texas city during a 67° F lunch hour, ushering in cold, northerly winds that dropped the temperature to 23° F by 1 pm. That’s an incredible plunge of 44 degrees in one hour! It got even worse through the afternoon and early evening. In fact, by the time people were cleaning up from dinner around 7:00 p.m., it was only one degree above zero.
Another intense temperature flux took place on December 14, 1924. The temperature in Fairfield, Montana dropped from 63° F at noon, to -21° F degrees at midnight. This 84-degree swing in temperature stands as the greatest 12-hour temperature change recorded in the United States.
While these are some drastic examples, there are thousands of cases of severe fluctuations of 25° F or more in very short time frames. More than enough to gel diesel fuel in practically an instant. December weather is not something you want to gamble on.
Naturally, the best thing to do is to be prepared. Always have plenty of warm clothes in your truck, along with other personal safety equipment like blankets and survival tools. It’s also important to make sure you have an emergency fuel rescue product like Howes Diesel Lifeline®. If winter catches you off guard, you need to be ready to fight back. Lifeline re-liquefies gelled fuel and de-ices frozen fuel filters safely, without using alcohol. Extremely fast-acting, Lifeline requires no mixing with additional diesel fuel and eliminates the need to replace costly fuel filters.
“The last thing you want to do when it’s absolutely freezing out is to have to deal with mixing fuel and replacing filters,” commented Rob Howes, Executive Vice President and Chief Testing Officer at Howes. “In harsh weather conditions, you need to have a product on hand that can fix your problem fast, so you can get out of the cold and back on the road.”
Developed and perfected over the course of seven years, Diesel Lifeline definitely didn’t take the easy route to becoming worthy of the Howes Brand and family name. However, the end result was well worth the wait. Unlike other products of its kind, Howes Diesel Lifeline contains zero alcohol or harmful solvents, things that can do serious damage to your engine’s vital parts. It’s also warranty-safe and effective in all diesel and biodiesel fuels. Lifeline contains all the characteristics that live up to the Howes brand slogan of Tested. Trusted. Guaranteed.
Be sure to remember these key questions as you consider a rescue product:
With a great lineup of diesel additives that work to combat todays Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel fuel's shortcomings all through the year, Howes recommends a seasonal program to treat your fuel.
Spring and Summer Months - Use Howes Diesel Defender® for maximum lubrication and superior cleaning from its proprietary IDX4® Detergent package. Defender not only protects, cleans, and safely removes water, it boosts performance and fuel economy too.
Early Fall and Winter Months - Start treating your fuel when the leaves change with Howes Diesel Treat™ Anti-Gel. Use at every fill up until consistently warmer weather arrives, to prevent gelling and to add vital lubricity while preventing injector deposits. Also, keep that bottle of Howes Diesel Lifeline on hand just in case of any emergencies.
