A few weeks ago, we received an email from a customer asking for a safety data sheet for our product. These are always provided to our customers, but this one was particularly important because the customer was required to present the SDS for the job he was about to complete.
Information redacted to protect customer information
With a large following on social media, we hear, daily, people claiming that they get away with using diesel fuel on the job, despite it being illegal and dangerous. While many people can, this email is proof that there has been a large shift in the industry’s outlook on using products like diesel fuel as a release agent or as an asphalt remover.
Many asphalt plants now require receipts of diesel fuel alternatives before they can get mix. Truckers in many states are being suspended from driving for 365 days if they get caught using diesel fuel. Using diesel fuel on any state job can put you at risk for hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines in most states. If there is any time to switch away from diesel fuel, that time is now.
It is as simple as that. You can’t use diesel fuel as an asphalt release agent. You cannot use diesel fuel on a paving job at all, except to run your equipment of course. It’s illegal under 4 federal acts: the Oil Pollution Act, the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Why is Diesel Fuel Illegal?
For starters, it’s dangerous. With a flash point of around 130°F, diesel fuel quickly vaporizes into a dangerous gas that can combust and explode, damaging expensive equipment and hurting or killing workers. It’s happened way too often on job sites, but also at asphalt plants as well.
In addition to the health and safety dangers presented by diesel fuel, it’s also bad for the environment. This is the reason behind the three federal laws. Whether you believe in environmental protection or not, we have to follow laws and regulations when were completing our paving jobs.
Diesel Fuel Can RUIN Your Project
But it gets worse than that. Even if you’re a badass who doesn’t care about the environment or safety, your job is to pave and I can assure you that you take pride in your work.
Diesel fuel can legitimately destroy your asphalt’s integrity and ruin your project.
Your guys will sit over the hopper of your paver all day long spraying diesel in there from the nozzle on the paver to keep the asphalt from sticking. There’s no hiding it. It happens. Even the smallest amount of diesel fuel strips the asphaltic cement from the aggregate in the mix and weakens the asphalt you are laying. It’s hard to imagine how bad it gets with as much as some people spray.
And over time, it gets worse. The diesel fuel sits in the pavement for up to two months slowly, but surely, cutting through the asphalt and shortening the life of the pavement, and causing the asphalt to fail more quickly than it should. If you take pride in your work, you shouldn’t allow this to happen.
The Best Alternative: PavePro
Instead of diesel fuel, you should incorporate PavePro in your paving operations from the plant to the laydown site.
PavePro doesn’t deteriorate the integrity of your mix
PavePro quickly biodegrades out of your mix before it can ruin and strip the mix (in less than a week), compared to diesel fuel which takes up to 2 months. In addition to that, you use a significantly less amount of PavePro to prevent buildup better than you do with diesel fuel because it lasts much longer as a release agent. This means that less product comes into contact with the mix.
PavePro is environmentally-friendly
PavePro is 100% biodegradable and eco-friendly. It doesn’t contain any petroleum and is waterway safe.
PavePro is safe for your workers
PavePro has a flash point well above 400°F and will not vaporize into the air like diesel fuel will. It is non-flammable, non-toxic, and non-hazardous.
PavePro is legal
Because of its flash point and the fact that it contains 0% petroleum, PavePro is 100% legal to use. We even have non-stripping release agents on most states’ QPL- and QCML-approval lists. It does not violate any federal or state laws.
Most importantly, PavePro works better than diesel at preventing build-up for longer. So the next time you see the sign at the plant that says “DO NOT USE DIESEL” or you see a DOT inspector walking around the job site, think about the alternatives that you could be using that work better than diesel fuel instead of hiding that spray filled with the “good ‘ol #2.”
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Diesel Fuel Is RUINING Your Asphalt
Customers don’t want their pavement failing sooner than it should. And that’s exactly what diesel fuel causes the asphalt to do. If you take pride in your work, and you care about your final product, this article might be for you.