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Get Tanked Up on Fuel Deliveries
28th December 2004
Perhaps it is a sign of historically high oil prices, that more consumers are paying more attention to fuel deliveries. Certainly, judging by the amount of queries we receive at Oilfiredup.com on this subject, that appears to be the case.
At the outset, it is only fair to point out that oil distributors and oil delivery personnel are no more dishonest than any other trade. Indeed, given the plethora of rules and regulations that govern the oil distribution sector, we’re confident that they are probably more honest than many in society. Cases of mis-selling and fraudulent deliveries are exceptionally rare… so rare, that we couldn’t find a single case to include in this article.
Most of the enquiries that we’ve received of late refer to customers who are of the opinion, they’ve received more oil than their tank can actually hold. In some cases up to 10% more and in none, has there been any indication of fraudulent deliveries or inaccurate meter readings.
Most oil tanks in the UK today are manufactured from plastic. Corrosion resistant and requiring considerably less maintenance than old fashioned steel alternatives, modern plastic tanks are a significant step forward from previous generation metal tanks.
An element of ‘creep’ is inbuilt into every plastic tank, so that the tank can easily accomodate the strains and stresses of a service life that often will exceed 20 years. Therefore, the volume of the tank increases when it is holding liquid as opposed to air and thus, the capacity increases accordingly. The precise rate of ‘creep’ is determined by a number of factors, including the design of the tank, the material used in its manufacture, temperature and the specific gravity of the fuel stored. In short, the amount of ‘creep’ and thus, the increase in volume will be installation specific.
Therefore, over time the actual volume of the tank will increase and thus, it will often be possible to get more into an older tank, than into a new tank.
The situation is further complicated by the procedure for measuring the capacity of a tank. Currently, according to OFTEC’s OFS T100 Standard, the ‘working volume’ (technically referred to as the Nominal Capacity) of a tank is equivalent to 97% of the maximum capacity of the tank.
Why 97%? Well, quite simply because when the tank is being filled, the fuel will foam inside the tank. The 97% value ensures an allowance is made for foaming and thus neither foam nor fuel, will emerge from the venting point of the tank after or during filling.
However, some tanker drivers will allow any foam to subside and then a short time later, top up the tank again to its maximum (i.e. 100%) capacity. So in essence, by utilising the full volume of the tank, the net value of the delivered fuel will appear to be more than the capacity of the tank. And that situation will be compounded by new European requirements, which state that the capacity stated on the tank should be calculated as 95% of the actual capacity of the tank.
So taking together capacity considerations and creep, it is quite possible that when you ask any delivery driver to ‘fill my tank right up’… you may quite literally receive more than you bargained for!
Additionally, there are a number of other issues which some consumers have raised with us… all of which are usefully explained by a useful summary prepared by M King BSc (Hons.), DTS, MITSA , County Trading Standards Officer with Northumberland County Council. To view the article, simply click the link below.
And finally, it’s worth remembering that as the person paying for the fuel, you have every right to oversee a delivery to your tank… a right to which no oil distributor will object.
And if you’ve any queries – which if you’re unfamiliar with the filling procedure for domestic oil tanks, you most probably will have – be sure and ask for a satisfactory explanation, a request to which again no reasonable distributor is likely to object.
