What is a site diesel tank and bowser issue log?
Construction sites, oil and gas locations, mines, yards and camps often keep their own diesel: a fixed tank filled by a supplier's tanker, and a bowser that takes fuel to machines in the field. The storekeeper issues fuel to excavators, loaders, generators and trucks all day. Without a log, nobody can say where the diesel went, and a missing few hundred liters a week goes unnoticed.
This log is different from the Fleet Fuel Log, which records vehicle fill-ups at fuel stations. Here you control your own stock: what came in, what went out, and what the dip says is left.
How to use the diesel consumption sheet, step by step
- Set up tanks and units: each tank and bowser on Settings, and each machine, vehicle and generator on Equipment benchmarks with an expected consumption range.
- Record each delivery: dip the tank before and after unloading, with no fuel issued in between, and compare with the delivery note.
- Record each fill: pump meter before and after, the unit ID and its hour meter or odometer. One row per fill, written at the pump, not at the end of the day.
- Dip each tank daily at the same time, and enter the opening and actual closing dip on the reconciliation sheet.
- Review flags: a pump meter gap, a meter that did not move, consumption above range, or a daily variance above the limit.
- Read the monthly summary with the site manager: variance, its value, and the top 10 consumers.
How does the log calculate consumption and variance?
Consumption uses the fill-to-fill method: the liters you put in now replace what the unit used since its last fill. The 1% daily limit, the 0.5% delivery limit and the price per liter are example values on the Settings sheet; agree your own limits with finance. A negative variance means less diesel in the tank than the books show.
Worked example: three days at a camp tank
Tank T1 at a camp, with four units: an excavator, a loader, a generator and a water truck.
- Day 1: opening dip 18,400 L. A delivery note says 10,000 L; the dips show 9,960 L received, −40 L (−0.4%), inside the 0.5% limit. Issues 950 L. Book closing 18,400 + 9,960 − 950 = 27,410 L; the dip shows 27,170 L. Variance −240 L, −240 ÷ 10,910 = −2.2% of throughput, above the 1% limit: Check. At the example price of 1.70 that is 408.
- Day 2: the generator fill starts at pump meter 51,840, but the previous fill ended at 51,790: a 50 L pump meter gap, fuel issued with no record. The day's variance is −50 L.
- Consumption: the excavator used 400 L over 21 hours, 19.0 L/h, inside its 16 to 22 L/h range. Its next fill was 470 L over 18 hours, 26.1 L/h: flagged "Above expected range". The water truck used 160 L over 420 km, 38.1 L/100 km, inside range.
- Day 3: a 12,000 L delivery, 11,950 L by dip. Variance −20 L (−0.2%), inside the limit.
Common mistakes with site diesel
- Issuing during a delivery. The dip before and after then cannot measure what arrived.
- Writing fills at the end of the shift. Pump meter readings typed from memory hide gaps.
- No hour meter reading. Without it there is no L/h and no way to spot a fill that never reached the machine.
- Dipping at different times. Fuel expands with heat; dip at the same time each day, on level ground.
- Chasing a single variance. One day's difference may be a dip error; a repeated one needs an answer.
- Expected ranges copied from elsewhere. Use your own records or the manufacturer's data for each unit and its work.
What the log does not cover
It is an internal control file. It does not set rules for fuel storage, dispensing, bunding or fire safety: those come from your civil defense authority and site rules, so check your authority's current requirement. Manual dips depend on the dip chart, fuel temperature and tank level, so treat small daily variances with care and look for patterns. The expected consumption ranges in the file are illustrative examples, not reference rates.