Investigating Fuel Variances can be a daunting task!
The Tedious Task of Investigating Fuel Inventory Variances
Warren Rogers Precision Fuel System Diagnostics
PDF version: Investigating Fuel Variances May 2025 v2
Investigating fuel inventory variances remains one of the most labor-intensive and disruptive tasks for fuels compliance, maintenance, and accounting managers. Suspected inventory loss can consume days of follow-up, pulling resources away from standard operations to isolate the source of discrepancy. Much of this cost of doing business is off-the-books and uncalculated, consuming many extra hours of staff time and thousands of dollars of expense. The investigations also lead to long hours and other work not being done in a timely manner, if at all.
Fortunately, many companies today employ technology to assist with decreasing the fuel variances they see in their daily tank inventories and the frequent investigation of suspected losses. Those practices could involve:
• The employment of real-time fuel monitoring and inventory reconciliation, tracking fuel transactions and tank movement to ensure what leaves the fuel tanks match what is dispensed. When suspected discrepancies are recognized, system alerts occur, the operator is informed through various means, and the suspected variances are investigated.
• The key to good fuel inventory control also begins with a good foundation. That foundation would include precision tank charting to ensure that the product levels in the fuel tanks are accurately tracked. Incorrect tank charts can occur due to unknown tilt of the tank in the ground or deformation of the tank since the tanks were installed, leading to a change in the physical size and dimensions of the tank. Precision tank charting can recognize these changes and adjust for more-accurate measurement. Incorrect tank charts lead to fluctuations from day to day in inventories and excessive “noise” that exists only on paper. Precision […]