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Why Your Fuel Invoice Doesn't Match What You Ordered
You are billed for what was delivered, not for what was ordered — and those two numbers almost never match exactly.
An order is a request. A delivery is a physical event measured at a meter. Fuel expands and contracts with temperature, trucks hold what their compartments hold, and a receiving tank only has the room it has on the day. A small difference between the two figures is the normal condition of this business, not an error.
The four reasons the number moves
Nearly every difference between an ordered quantity and an invoiced one comes from one of these.
- Temperature. Petroleum products take up more space when warm. The same quantity of product measures differently at 40°F than at 85°F, so a load can leave the terminal and arrive measuring slightly less without a drop being lost. This is the gross versus net distinction.
- Truck and compartment capacity. A trailer compartment holds what it holds. Loads are filled to the compartment, not rounded to the order, so an order for a round number rarely produces one.
- Room in your tank. The driver cannot deliver more than the receiving tank can take, and often finds out on arrival. If your tank had more fuel left than expected, the delivered quantity drops accordingly.
- Price moved between order and lift. On index- or rack-priced contracts, the rate is set when the product is lifted, not when the order is placed. The quantity can be exactly right and the total still differ.
Which differences are normal, and which to query
The useful question is not whether the numbers differ — they will — but whether the difference has an explanation attached to it.
| What you see | Usually means | Worth querying? |
|---|---|---|
| Delivered slightly under the order | Temperature, compartment fill, or tank room | No, if the delivery ticket shows the measured quantity |
| Delivered well under, no note | Short tank room, or a split load where your stop came last | Yes — ask which, and whether the balance is still coming |
| Quantity matches, total is higher | Price set at lift on an index or rack contract | No, if your contract is index-priced — check the pricing date |
| Invoice quantity is a round number | Billed from the order rather than the delivery | Yes. A real delivery rarely lands on a round figure |
| Gross and net both shown, billed on gross | Normal for many end-customer deliveries | No — but confirm which basis your contract is written on |
The fourth row is the one worth internalising. A quantity that exactly matches the order is more suspicious than one that does not, because it suggests the invoice was built from the paperwork rather than from the delivery.
What to check before you pay
- The delivery ticket, against the invoice. The quantity on the invoice should be the quantity on the ticket signed at your site. See how to read a delivery ticket.
- Which basis you were billed on. Gross or net — and whether that matches your contract. Both are legitimate; being billed on one while contracted on the other is not.
- The pricing date on an index or rack contract, which is normally the lift date rather than the order date.
- Whether it was a split load. If your delivery was one stop of several, your share is allocated from the loaded quantity, and being the last stop is where discrepancies usually surface.
How Energy Connect handles it
Invoices are built from the quantity actually recorded at delivery rather than from the ordered quantity, and both the gross and net figures are kept on the line rather than one being derived from the other. The ordered, loaded and delivered quantities stay visible next to each other on the order, so the difference between them is something you can see and ask about instead of a variance discovered at the end of the month.