Variations: If the Fuel Report stays with the power unit, instead of with the driver, there will probably be a space for the driver's name on each line too. If the report is kept by the month, instead of by the trip, either there will be no space for Trip Number at the top of the form or that space will be left blank.
As we mentioned above, the main reason for using the Fuel Report is to provide the trucking company bookkeepers with the information they need to fill out the various states' fuel use tax forms. However, these reports can also give a trucking company other helpful information. They can draw a dispatcher's attention to a power unit that is eating fuel or burning oil.
DO: The following is some raw data for M. Boyle, a driver for Triple T Interstate Trucking of Rawlins, Wyoming. Triple T has no pumps of its own, so all fuel is purchased from commercial vendors. It uses the fuel report because the gal who fills out the fuel use tax reports wants all the information together. She says she isn't going to hunt through a few hundred log sheets for information she could get from 13 fuel reports and 13 mileage reports. (Some companies have their drivers record fuel purchases, miles traveled in each state, and routes used on the bottom of their log sheets.) Triple T has the fuel report stay with the driver instead of the vehicle because their drivers are each assigned a single tractor which is considered theirs. Boyle drives Truck No. 12.
Take the raw information which is provided below and transfer it onto the Fuel Report which you snapped out of Part IV. We've given you the number of gallons which M. Boyle purchased each time she stopped for fuel and the price per gallon. We've also given you the number of quarts of oil and price per quart. You will have to figure the total charge for fuel and oil at each stop. Be sure you fill in the total charge column for each fuel stop.
Finally, add up all the fuel and oil charges for the month and record that amount in the box for TOTAL FUEL AND OIL CHARGES FOR MONTH. (This isn't "busy work." Many trucking companies will give you a pre-employment test like this to see if you can do simple arithmetic. It's not a bad idea to prepare for that now.)
January 5 - Boyle bought 140 gallons of fuel at $1.199/gallon at Two Boys. She also bought 2 quarts of oil at $2.00 each and paid with a credit card.
January 6 - Boyle bought 100 gallons of fuel at $1.19/gallon at Ace High. They would not take any credit cards, so Boyle had to pay cash.
January 8 - Boyle bought 125 gallons of fuel and one gallon of oil at a Union 76 Truckstop. She paid with a credit card. The diesel fuel was $1.186/gallon and the gallon of oil was $8.00.
January 12 - 140 gallons of fuel at $1.13 a gallon and 2 quarts of oil at $1.56 each at Phillips. Boyle paid with a credit card.
January 16 - Boyle stopped at Two Boys again. This time, she paid $1.189/gallon for 95 gallons. She needed two more quarts of oil. Their price on oil hadn't changed. She paid with a credit card.
January 23 - 160 gallons of diesel fuel and 5 quarts of oil. The diesel fuel cost 1.179/gallon. The oil was $2.12/quart. Boyle paid Willeys with a check (#116).
January 27 - Back at Union 76, Boyle put in 190 gallons of fuel and a gallon and a half of oil. Their prices hadn't changed. She paid with a credit card.
January 30 - Boyle stopped at a different Phillips. She paid with a credit card for 110 gallons of fuel and a gallon of oil. The fuel was $1.15 a gallon, and the oil was $1.88 per quart.
January 31 - Boyle stopped at Willeys and again paid with a check. She put in 80 gallons of fuel at $1.189/gallon. She also added a half gallon of oil at $2.12/quart.
