Canadian truckers protest terms of Manitoba, BC biodiesel mandates

In Canada, truckers are protesting over the terms of Manitoba’s implementation of its B2 biodiesel mandate. Instead of requiring a 2-percent biodiesel blend in all vehicles, the province has required that fuel suppliers have an average fuel distribution of 2-percent biodiesel.

Truckers say that some customers will successfully demand biodiesel-free fuel, perhaps over cost concerns, and that fuel suppliers will be forced to blend in higher concentrations of biodiesel for smaller truckers, who say they are concerned about cold-start problems and gelling.

The truckers are also protesting the province’s decision not to require retailers to display biodiesel blend percentages at the pump. The biodiesel blending mandate takes effect in November.

A similar approach to “fuel averaging” has been proposed for the British Columbia B5 mandate scheduled to take effect in January.

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