# how to check if the delivery man give me the right amount of kerosene oil?



## danirl (23 Aug 2013)

Hello there,

If anyone knows how to check if the delivery man give me the right amount of kerosene oil? 

I dont want to look rude, but I think he should show me a meter or something confirming the 1,000 litres that I will pay. Instead  last year (I used for the first time kerosene, I used only gas  ) he only ask me to sign something  and he gone. 

This year i would like to ask him to show me, but don't know what to ask and if is OK to ask. 

What do think about this? 

Thanks


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## emeralds (23 Aug 2013)

Just ask him to show you the meter before he starts the delivery and when he finishes it...it should not be an issue for him to do that.


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## Time (23 Aug 2013)

He should be giving you a printout from the meter showing the start and finish readings. This usually forms part of the delivery note.


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## danirl (23 Aug 2013)

I will do that! Hope he won't get mad when i'll ask him...So that's the only way he show me , read meter before he starts - drop kerosene-read meter when he finnish , the difference is my kerosene amount. All of them (delivery lorries) have the same system?


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## danirl (23 Aug 2013)

He may gave me, i don't remember now...i remember he gave me it was  a receipt , after he droped the kerosene, with the amount of money that i paid (he took it out of some kind of machine) which i signed it.


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## dub_nerd (24 Aug 2013)

Do you still have the receipt? It has the number of litres printed from the meter on the truck. Alternatively, just stand beside the truck when he's filling your tank -- the meter is quite visible on the side of the truck. 

Also, do you know the capacity of your tank? You can tell roughly how full it is by the sound it makes when you bang on the side of it, or for greater precision you can use a dipstick.


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## ajapale (24 Aug 2013)

Next time why not ring around a few suppliers and ask them for the price and delivery docket arrangements? Then go with the best value or the supplier that you trust.


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## Black Sheep (24 Aug 2013)

I always use a dip stick before I order oil. BTW my tank takes 1100 litres. Oil man arrives and knocks the door. I go out for a chat while he's filling up, usually saying I think it will take the full amount ordered (1000 litres) but as there's still some in the tank please be careful as you reach 900. Meantime I have the opportunity to see the meter being set at zero and climbing to 1000.

He gives me receipt with start and end figure. I pay. Job done


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## dub_nerd (24 Aug 2013)

cashier said:


> my tank takes 1000 litres, most tanks have capacity of 1000 litres so unless your tank has greater capacity you have nothing to worry abóut.


 
Mine's 900 litres, and it's never quite empty at refill time, so the capacity can't really be used as a guide to how much is delivered.


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## roker (24 Aug 2013)

I always wonder how much was in the pipe before and after delivery


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## SparkRite (25 Aug 2013)

roker said:


> I always wonder how much was in the pipe before and after delivery



The same, ie: full.


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## mercman (25 Aug 2013)

SparkRite said:


> The same, ie: full.



Not neccesarily. What happens if you're the first delivery of the week, and the pipe of the lorry has been emptied for the weekend. Or as there are different tanks on the truck, and if the previous delivery was agricultural diesel and your order is for Kerosene. The operators automatically empty the hose and then they do a run of Kerosene deliveries. The first in the line for delivery pays for the hose full of diesel.


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## Time (25 Aug 2013)

They should empty the hose after each delivery. I would be insisting they do.


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## SparkRite (25 Aug 2013)

Time said:


> They should empty the hose after each delivery. I would be insisting they do.



And how exactly would you suggest they do that? 
The pump cannot pump air so therefore the hose must stay full.
Different fuels are easily catered for by knowing how much the hose holds and changing fuels when the required delivery is minus that amount and thus purging the hose of the deliverey required.
Standard practise.


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## SparkRite (25 Aug 2013)

mercman said:


> The first in the line for delivery pays for the hose full of diesel.



Absolutly not true!


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## mercman (25 Aug 2013)

Well I have asked many many times from different companies and each time, the conversation ends with 'Look do you want oil or not ?'


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## SparkRite (25 Aug 2013)

mercman said:


> Well I have asked many many times from different companies and each time, the conversation ends with 'Look do you want oil or not ?'



I rest my case.

If you actually stopped to think about it, the hose must remain full.

Therefore inane questions like "Who pays for whats in the hose" will be met with a degree of disdain.


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## Time (25 Aug 2013)

They can and do empty the hose.


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## ajapale (25 Aug 2013)

I think they use a lay-flat hose.


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## mercman (25 Aug 2013)

The important question is at what point does the meter start calculating the output. Is at the point of output by the tank or at the start of the hose ?? If and when this was known, an accurate assessment of the question could be answered.

My belief is that it is at the start of the hose in the mechanics of the delivery truck.


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## polarbear (25 Aug 2013)

Only way to know how much oil was delivered is to install a device on your tank. This will monitor how much oil you have in the tank before and after delivery. these devices are not cheap but you would know for sure.


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## SparkRite (25 Aug 2013)

mercman said:


> The important question is at what point does the meter start calculating the output. Is at the point of output by the tank or at the start of the hose ?? If and when this was known, an accurate assessment of the question could be answered.
> 
> My belief is that it is at the start of the hose in the mechanics of the delivery truck.




Its makes no difference, as I said the hose is full, so therefore a litre going in at the start equals a litre coming out at the end. 

So where the meter is situated is irrelevant.

I dont know why people are complicating this, it is a very simple procedure.


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## Time (25 Aug 2013)

If I was getting a delivery of DERV (road diesel) I would not want the contents of the hose if the last delivery was green diesel. Even a small amount of green diesel will contaminate a whole tank and land you in serious bother with the revenue agents.

The hose can be emptied and I do insist on it. No one has a problem with that.


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## mercman (25 Aug 2013)

SparkRite said:


> it is a very simple procedure.



Maybe it is. But I am never able to get a real answer from the Oil companies personnell in relation to my query. I'll go down now to the pub and ask the rep from the Oil company. I'll report back, but I have asked him previously to no avail.


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## pudds (25 Aug 2013)

*Always at 000*

How come over the years I have never got a receipt print out that read something like this.  Start 1300 Finish 1800 after getting a 500L fill.

It has always been start 000 finish 500


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## Time (25 Aug 2013)

Because the meter is reset for each delivery.


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## Buddyboy (26 Aug 2013)

I can only answer from my experience with my oil deliveries.

As regards the meter, they put in the docket, press the reset lever, which resets the count to zero and then start pumping. At the end of the fill, the docket is taken out with the stert (zero) and end fill values on it. The difference is the fill. This is the delivery docket and it is the standard way he records the delivery (and payment).

Also, he once put the hose into one of the openings on the top of the truck and pumped in a number of liters. I asked him why and he explained that the previous fill had been diesel, and he needed to clear the hose of that before he started my kerosene fill. This leads me to conclude that 

1. He knows how much is contained in the hose and

2. he clears out the hose and pre-fills it as necessary. He had selected kerosene before clearing the hose so the incoming kerosene in the hose pumped out the diesel - the hose was not empty at any point.

3. You pay for what you get, and you get what you pay for.


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