FuelPub.com |

Every time he buys fuel, Max Liby pays his distributor an extra dollar per gallon more than the already-high price of diesel, driving his costs up even further And he doesn’t mind one bit.

The mine manager for the Hutchinson, KS-based Hutchinson Salt Company, Liby is in charge of not only his company’s bottom line, but the safety of the 20-plus workers he knows like family. He could make more money by putting diesel fuel in his vehicles, but he also knows that by running his fleet on 100 percent biodiesel, he is protecting both his employees’ health and his long-term investment in them, while doing what he believes is right for his country.

Gentle Push

It was a simple twist of fate that brought Liby and B100 together back in 2003. He had been interested in soy-based biodiesel for a few years because he heard it produced less particulate matter, but had been unable to find a supplier who could provide enough.

That year, an Iowa-based company emerged with all he needed, and the rest of the push was provided by Uncle Sam. Hutchinson was chosen as one of the mines the government wanted to check to set a baseline for the new particulate matter standard.

Tired of the poor results using diesel fuel, Liby decided to take a leap of faith and bought several thousand gallons of soy-based B100.

“The first thing you think is, ‘I don’t know what this is going to do to my engines, so I’ll only add 5 or 10 percent,’” he says. “But I decided that was a waste of time and I was going to take one of my machines and run it on 100 percent soy, so if it would ruin an engine it would only be one, and we’d know right away.”

All In

One of his heavy loaders served as the guinea pig, but thanks to the improved lubricity of the soy-based B100, Liby says he has never looked back.