Oil trucks and school buses share a lot of the same roads in the oil patch.

Now, they're in a race to the No. 1 diesel fuel pump in some places.

School superintendents in some districts say they're challenged to get the high grade motor fuel, which is in such big demand compared to supply in this prolonged cold weather that suppliers are under allocations and some, if they have it, are rationing it to their customers.

Diesel drivers need No. 1, or at least a blend, because the common lower grade diesel gels up like wax and engines either won't start or run reliably if they do.

Some stations have been pumped dry for hours, or days at a time.

Tioga Public School Superintendent Dwayne Johnston said he's got enough No. 1 diesel in his four-bus fleet to get rolling when school starts Monday. It's day by day, though.

"It's a struggle to who gets there first. We're all looking for the same product," Johnston said, referring to heavy oil truck traffic, along with city and county road equipment operators, all looking to fill with a fuel that won't lock up their engines.

He said buses fill up with No. 1 diesel at the local Cenex bulk plant and, "When we get there, if it's there, it's there."

Johnston said local suppliers have been helpful, but he expects he might have a few interesting days ahead as long as the cold weather holds.

He said he's planning to recommend the school build a heated bus barn to help curb the cold morning starts.

Killdeer Public School Superintendent Gary Wilz said No. 1 is hard to come by in Killdeer, too, another community impacted by heavy oil traffic.

Wilz said because of local fuel outages, he worried about having enough fuel earlier in the week to get an activity bus to a vacation basketball game. He said the school managed to get all four of its buses topped off with No. 1 mid-week, lining up behind oil service trucks on every return trip with a different bus. Killdeer stations are rationing No. 1.

"It's still not good," Wilz said. "By the middle of the week (when it's time to refill), I'm not sure how we'll fare."

Wilz said he contacted Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., about the situation. "We don't want to jeopardize these route buses and activity buses," he said.

Duane Mueller, superintendent at Kenmare, said he's been able to purchase No. 1 diesel to keep the school's five buses rolling down the country roads.

"So far, we haven't had a problem," he said.

Jeff Schaefer, general manager of the Cenex in Stanley, posed his own question to a reporter calling about availability.

"Can you bring us some?" he asked.

Schaefer said he looks for No. 1 diesel every day, from outlets between Fargo and Laurel, Mont. Stanley is the epicenter of the state's heaviest oil development right now, and oil traffic and fuel consumption is exceptionally active there.

He said he can't prioritize between oil or school traffic, and as of Friday, he had a limited amount of the higher grade fuel available.

"We've been under allocation since November," he said. "It's hard to keep up with this cold weather."

Schaefer wouldn't say how much No. 1 he sells a day, or how much more he could sell if he had enough to keep up with demand.

Wilz said a Killdeer station planned to get its next No. 1 diesel load out of Denver.

"They'll have to tack on (for freight) what they have to tack on and people will just pay it," Wilz said.

(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511 or lauren@westriv.com.)