> There are rumors of diesel shortages and urea shortages. In order to operate a diesel engine on the road you have to use DEF fluid which is urea.
This isn't strictly true, you can remove the DEF emissions control system from most trucks for a small price and this even yields a small performance gain. In my state, this is quite common as there is no emissions testing. The emphasis on diesel/DEF shortages is greatly exaggerated and somewhat misguided, I think.
You can do a "DEF delete," but if you are caught you will be paying some major fines for EPA violations that will quickly exceed the value of the truck.
Do the DOT inspections at weigh stations not check for this? I know that older trucks are grandfathered as they never had it; generally vehicles are required to have all the original emissions controls intact.
You also will need to know how to reflash the engine computers, which will not be happy if expected emissions equipment is simply removed.
I think the point is that if there's a urea shortage, good governments would waive the DEF requirement until it ends, rather than effectively saying "sorry, it's illegal for you to drive that truck at any price".
This isn't strictly true, you can remove the DEF emissions control system from most trucks for a small price and this even yields a small performance gain. In my state, this is quite common as there is no emissions testing. The emphasis on diesel/DEF shortages is greatly exaggerated and somewhat misguided, I think.