Eliminate Guesswork from Oil Collections: How Can I Reduce Ghost Gallons?

This blog entry is the fourth in a series that will briefly address key questions asked by those in the waste oil collection industry.  It will provide insight into how implementing a tank monitoring solution allows collectors to deliver best -in-class customer service, plan logistics more efficiently, secure their supply of waste oil, and reduce ghost gallons.

How Can I Reduce Ghost Gallons?

The term ghost gallons might be a relatively new term in the waste oil collection market, but they’ve existed forever, causing collectors to overpay for oil.  Ghost gallons refer to those gallons of oil “lost” somewhere between payment to a customer and offloading.  For example, a driver might make three stops, paying customers for 1,000 gallons at each stop, but when they get to the offloading station there’s only 2,900 gallons on the truck.  Where did that extra one hundred gallons disappear to?

Well, the truth is they didn’t exist in the first place.  Using antiquated measurement techniques, like sticking the truck, causes wide variances in the measurement of gallons collected, ultimately resulting in paying for oil you didn’t actually collect.  Using a remote tank level monitoring system not only provides far more accurate measurements (accurate to 0.3”), but it also eliminates the need to stick the truck before and after a collection.  Tank level measurements can be taken remotely, from the comfort of an office, allowing the driver to focus on making more stops and collecting more oil.

With a tank monitoring solution there’s no more time-consuming manual measurements and no more guesswork, reducing ghost gallons and ensuring that you’re only paying for the oil you collect.

Aaron Wold

Product Manager - TankScan, ATEK Access Technologies, LLC