Entering and editing tank readings

→ FUEL TMS ONLY

If you are licensed for TMW’s FuelTMS suite of applications, you can enter and edit stores' tank readings in Fuel Dispatch.

For information on purchasing the FuelTMS suite of applications, contact Trimble Sales at 866.919.6053.

TMW’s FuelTMS suite of applications allows your company to manage the delivery of products to the stores it services. Key to this management is the recording of a store’s tank readings.

Readings can be entered into the system electronically by a store’s automated gauge system. They can also be sent by phone, fax, or e-mail, which requires that someone at your company enter them into the system manually.

Accurate readings are critical, particularly when a store is set up to be monitored by the Forecaster module. Readings should be reviewed to ensure that the Forecaster does not incorrectly create orders too soon or too late.

Fuel Dispatch provides multiple windows for accessing tank readings.

  • The Quick Reading Entry window
    The Quick Reading Entry window lets you retrieve, update, and save tank readings for a single store. Alternatively, you can retrieve multiple stores, update tank readings for all of them, and then save each store’s readings individually.

  • The Forecast Order Site Review window
    The Forecast Order Review window lets you retrieve a specific store to review and edit its tank readings.

  • The Forecast Order Review window
    The Forecast Order Review window lets you retrieve all the stores linked to a specific terminal. You can select a specific store to review and edit its tank readings.

As of Version 17.20, in each of these windows, the volume must be equal to or less than the maximum tank volume. Entering a quantity larger than the tank capacity makes the Reading Entry Error message appear. The message states the value entered is greater than the tank’s size. It instructs you to correct the reading. Click OK to close the message. The field value is reset to 0 (zero).

Observing the rules for editing tank readings

→ FUEL TMS ONLY

When a store is set up to be forecasted in the Inventory Services module, rules, called tank audit rules, are identified that help the system determine whether tank readings fall within expected parameters. If the difference between a tank’s actual and expected readings exceeds the amount permitted by the tank audit rule, the tank reading is considered questionable.

A tank reading can be questionable because:

  • The reading was incorrectly reported by a store, or incorrectly entered in Inventory Services.

  • The reading was correctly reported and entered in Inventory Services, but fluctuations in sales result in more than the expected difference between the actual and expected readings.

  • There was no reading for the past 24 hours.

You must determine whether a questionable reading is correct or should be modified. Typically, this involves checking your company’s records concerning the questionable tank reading, or contacting the store to verify the reading.

Questionable readings must be resolved because they affect the volume of product in a store’s future deliveries. In a smoothly running Inventory Services/Fuel Dispatch environment, however, you should not ordinarily need to modify tank readings.

The date and time of a store’s tank readings are recorded when the tank volume is entered. Only one reading date is recorded with a set of tank readings, regardless of the number of tanks shown for a store. To maintain accurate forecaster operation, observe the following rules when you update a questionable reading:

  • If a corrected tank reading is for the original reading date and time, enter the new reading, but do not change the date and time.

    For example: You call a store about a questionable tank reading of 200 gallons at 16:30, and find it should have been 2200 gallons at 16:30. Update the reading, but keep 16:30 as the reading time.

  • If a corrected reading is for a date and time other than what is shown as the reading date, get readings for all of the store’s tanks at that time, and record them.

    For example: The 8:30 reading for one of a store’s three tanks is questionable, but the other two readings are acceptable. You call and receive a new reading for the questionable tank as of 11:30. You should also get readings for the store’s other tanks at 11:30, and update all of them.