A jet fuel truck at JBER is out until at least the end of December

A truck that carries 6,000 gallons of jet fuel and pumps it at 600 gallons a minute is sitting dead on the flightline at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Its engine failed completely, and the Air Force says that is "directly degrading base refueling capability and impacting flightline mission support."

The fix is months out. The Air Force is taking quotes until Sept. 24 for a replacement engine and wants it delivered by Dec. 29, remanufactured and built to 2005 specifications.

It has to be one particular engine, an International DT466. The Air Force says the refueler's chassis, engine mounts, wiring, cooling system and fuel-pumping drive were all built around that model, and that any other brand would take significant and costly modification, with the downtime and retrofit outweighing whatever competition might save. The restriction governs what the Air Force will accept, not who can sell it: the purchase is set aside for small businesses and goes to the lowest acceptable price.