Prime Is Suing the IRS for $11 Million Over Fuel Tax It Paid on Reefer Diesel. The Same Credit It Is Fighting For Is One Small Carriers Can Claim Too.

Prime Is Suing the IRS for $11 Million Over Fuel Tax It Paid on Reefer Diesel. The Same Credit It Is Fighting For Is One Small Carriers Can Claim Too. The diesel that runs the reefer unit is burned to keep freight cold, not to move the truck, and the federal excise tax on that fuel is refundable as a nontaxable off-highway use, a credit available to large carriers and owner-operators alike. (Photo: Pexels) Adam Wingfield Sun, June 28, 2026 at 1:58 AM GMT+7 8 min read. A reefer unit burns its own diesel. Anyone who runs refrigerated freight knows this, because they are paying for two fuel burns on every load: the diesel that moves the truck down the road, and the separate diesel that runs the refrigeration unit on the trailer keeping the freight cold. Both come out of the same pocket. Only one of them is actually pushing the truck down the highway.

Prime Inc., the Springfield, Missouri carrier that runs roughly 9,000 trucks and is one of the largest refrigerated carriers in the country, has decided that the distinction is worth more than $11 million, and it is now making that case in federal court against the Internal Revenue Service.

In a complaint filed June 16, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Prime petitioned the IRS for a refund of $11,016,644 in federal fuel excise tax that it paid between 2018 and 2021. The basis for the claim is specific and, on its face, straightforward. Prime argues that the diesel used exclusively to power the refrigeration units on its trailers, fuel that never propelled a vehicle, constitutes an off-highway, nontaxable business use, and that taxing it as standard highway fuel was improper.