What Is Pump-Off in Fuel Delivery?
Pump-off is unloading a tank truck into the receiving tank with the truck’s own pump, rather than letting the product drain by gravity. The word is trade usage, not a regulatory term, and it names two things: the way of unloading, and the extra charge some carriers or suppliers bill for it.
A pump is needed where gravity will not do the work, typically because the tank’s fill point sits higher than the truck’s outlet.
How a pump-off works
The driver connects the delivery hose from the truck to the tank’s fill, starts the truck’s pump, and watches the transfer until the ordered quantity is in or the tank reaches its safe fill level. The quantity unloaded goes on the delivery ticket signed at the drop.
Because the pump pushes product into the tank, the driver has to know how much room the tank has before starting. Overfill prevention at the delivery tank covers the checks a driver runs before and during the unload.
Attendance during unloading
Federal hazardous materials rules set who has to stay with the truck. Under 49 CFR 177.834(i), a motor carrier that transports hazardous materials by cargo tank must ensure the cargo tank is attended by a qualified person at all times during unloading. That obligation ends only once the carrier’s transport obligation is fulfilled, the cargo tank has been placed on the consignee’s premises, and the motive power has been removed from the cargo tank and from the premises.
To attend, the qualified person must, throughout the unload, either stay within 25 feet of the cargo tank, alert and with an unobstructed view of the cargo tank and delivery hose to the maximum extent practicable, or rely on remote monitoring or hose shut-off equipment that meets the rule’s requirements. A qualified person is one who has been made aware of the nature of the hazardous material, has been instructed in emergency procedures and, with some exceptions, is authorized to move the cargo tank and has the means to do so.
The pump-off charge
Some carriers and suppliers list pump-off as a separate charge on a delivery quote, next to charges such as wait time and after-hours delivery. Each quote sets whether it applies and how it is priced. When you compare quotes, ask which of these charges apply only sometimes; how to buy bulk fuel: comparing quotes lists the questions to ask.
Sources
- 49 CFR 177.834: paragraph (i), the attendance requirements for loading and unloading a cargo tank, the 25-foot rule, and who counts as a qualified person