Road to the Rockies Paved With Lower Fueling, Fleet Costs

Wed October 29, 2025
Niki Patterson — SPECIAL TO CEG

Road construction — especially DOT (department of transportation) work — is more competitive and heavily regulated than ever.

Experienced contractors like Alyson and Brycen Buum, owners of AB Underground, know that being competitive in their bids, profitable in their work and compliant in their day-to-day operations requires a deliberate deployment of their people, equipment and resources.

Based in LaSalle, Colo., the contractor specializes in underground utilities, earthmoving and stream and creek restoration and has performed related work in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas and New Mexico.

The challenges of operating a decentralized fleet and business stretched across hundreds of miles and relying on preventive maintenance resources far from home is challenging at best, debilitating at worst.

Realizing that "there had to be a better way" than relying on employees with 100-gal. slip tanks in the back of their pickup truck for refueling, AB Underground invested in a 690-gal. Thunder Creek Multi-Tank Oil (MTO) preventive maintenance trailer.

The innovative design from Thunder Creek allows AB Underground's employees to haul the trailers with bulk diesel and service fluids without requiring the drivers to hold HAZMAT or CDL endorsements.

With thousands of miles and more than 300,000 gal. of diesel and other fluids pumped through the trailer, the company has realized numerous benefits that lower their operating costs and make them more profitable in their field operations:

• More equipment uptime/less downtime waiting for diesel or service.

• Less labor (time) and mileage wasted on refueling trips with pickup trucks and smaller transfer tanks.

• Less money wasted on fuel taxes while also ensuring compliance by hauling both on- and off-road diesel.

• Less time spent on fueling equipment each day due to pump speed (up to 40 gal. per minute).

• Fewer equipment downtime events related to emissions systems failures caused by contaminated diesel exhaust fluid (DEF).

• Simplified daily PM activities with a dedicated reclaim system to handle waste oils.

• Lower labor costs and greater flexibility by hauling these bulk fluids and service elements in a trailer that does not require the driver to have a CDL or HAZMAT endorsement.

• Improved security and quality: the ability to lock and secure the fluids helps minimize theft and contamination.

Open Road Engineered

Thunder Creek was the first manufacturer to introduce non-HAZMAT, non-CDL bulk diesel transportation for off-road equipment, and has evolved that platform in numerous ways to include more PM and service-oriented operations. This includes the MTO 690 deployed by AB Underground.

The trailer accomplishes the no HAZMAT, no CDL designations by storing all service fluids in capacities of 115 gal. or less and segmenting them in a way that their quantities never combine to exceed legal volumes. Tanks are configured in quantities of 115 gal., 55 gal. and 25 gal. and are capable of holding fresh oil (engine and hydraulic), coolant, reclaimed oils and diesel, and AB Underground has additionally configured its trailer with a 100-gal. DEF tank that runs with Thunder Creek's proprietary two-in-one closed loop pumping system.

Each tank/system is isolated and has to be intentionally engaged to make it available for use/connected to other tanks. All tanks can be automatically shut off and fully disconnected during travel.

One of the biggest advantages of the dedicated and controlled fueling and service trailer is the ability to control its own timing for fueling and service.

"Being a DOT highway contractor, we don't have the opportunity for large fuelers to come in off shift," Brycen Buum said. "All our work is done primarily in lane closures, so a fueler is not able to come in after shift because he has to reach our equipment in a lane closure. So, if we can get in there during the day, during the working hours, fuel something, get the trailer back in the staging area, then the superintendent can perform the rest of their duties that day."

The trailer also offers a significant advantage in time savings.

Ease of Compliance

Speed is not the only advantage as it relates to diesel, and the multi-tank design allows for other benefits beyond not requiring a HAZMAT. AB Underground hauls both on-road (clear) and off-road (red-dyed) diesel in separate tanks on the trailer. The operator can activate only the tanks with the clear diesel — or only the tanks with the dyed diesel — and pump into the appropriate machines or vehicles.

Why is this such a big deal?

On-road diesel is subject to the federal excise tax on fuel. Off-road diesel is not. The ability to separate the fuels and pump them independently from the same trailer eliminates any costly errors where an operator might put a taxed fuel into a machine or put a non-taxed fuel into a highway haul truck.

"One of the biggest benefits that we have of the Thunder Creek is being able to shut one tank off and run 100 gallons clear diesel," Brycen Buum said. "Some of our projects on the highway entail water trucks and on-highway tandem dump trucks. They need fuel as well."

Another advantage that the multi-tank trailer provided AB Underground was the ability to store and dispense diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). While DEF is not a new topic/resource, as engine emissions standards that require DEF have been enacted for more than a decade now, the handling of DEF still proves problematic for many contractors. DEF also is a chemically volatile substance in that even the most minor contaminants can alter its effectiveness and damage equipment.

Preventive Maintenance Made Simple

Daily preventive maintenance activities also have been streamlined by providing the AB Underground team with storage tanks for both engine and hydraulic oils, as well as a reclaim system that gives them a powerful tool for disposing of service oils in the field, as well as addressing unplanned failures in the field.

"We can run two different types of oil — motor oil and hydraulic oil — [and also have] the reclaim system," Brycen Buum said. "We were not sure that we would use [the reclaim system] as much as we do. But it comes more into play when you've got a hydraulic line that's leaking, or a failure and you need to contain the oil."

All of this functionality is great, but it means nothing if it can't stand up to the rigors of travel and working effectively off-road when it gets there.

Each trailer is built strong in Pella, Iowa. Thunder Creek has built its foundation on ASME and DOT-compliant tank fabrication and designed the business end of the trailer around that capability. This includes thick-gauge steel and a baffling system that allows for smooth towing.

*Niki Patterson is the western regional sales manager of Thunder Creek Equipment.