Has Anyone Heard Anything About A Possible DEF Shortage?

Yesterday a trucker called into a radio show I listen to and said he had heard of a possible DEF shortage in the near future. Has anyone else heard this?

Def is made of urea and deionized water. There's a urea shortage because there's a higher demand for it in agricultural as well as diesel vehicles. The price of urea is what determines the price of DEF and the price is constantly going up. From the beginning of the year to now the price of DEF has gone up about 40%. That's where we are now. Like any other commodity, supply and demand determines price.

Thanks Banks, It's my understanding we can't run these trucks without it is that correct? That would not be good if it became scarce.

Thanks Banks, It's my understanding we can't run these trucks without it is that correct? That would not be good if it became scarce.

That is correct. I believe all trucks manufactured after 2010 (I could be wrong) require def.

From my understanding, the urea used in DEF is synthetic, so it wouldn’t be bumping heads with agriculture as much. Engine manufacturers are transitioning to systems which require more DEF and do away with the EGR systems as Diesel engines don’t work well with EGR and they cause more reliability issues. The new Cummins X15 uses double the amount of DEF as the previous ISX.

The cardlock pumps our local school buses go to were out of DEF for almost a week in October. fun times.