Fuel delivery check

Diesel expands when it's warm. If your contract pays for litres at 15 °C but the invoice bills the warm litres, you're paying for heat. This works out how much, using ASTM D1250 Table 54B.

Rules checked 25 Sept 2026 against ASTM D1250-80 Table 54B (volume correction for diesel). Official pages are watched weekly for changes.

The delivery

From the delivery docket or invoice.

Litres on the invoice

Fuel temperature at delivery

°C

-545

Density at 15 °C

kg/m³

820860

Price per litre

$/L

You were billed for warm fuel

$838.20

That's 508.0 L of expansion from heat. If your contract pays for litres at 15 °C, you can claim it back.

Invoiced: 40,000 L
Worth at 15 °C: 39,492.0 L
Correction factor: 0.9873

Claim it back

These details go on the claim letter and in your ledger.

Supplier

Docket number

Delivery date

Site or tank

How this was worked out (ASTM D1250-80 Table 54B)

1. Fuel-oil band (838.5–1075 kg/m³): α₁₅ = 186.9696 / ρ² + 0.4862 / ρ
α₁₅ = 8.437891e-4 /°C at ρ₁₅ = 840 kg/m³
2. Δt = T_obs − 15 = 30.0 − 15 = 15.0 °C
3. VCF = exp(−α₁₅·Δt·(1 + 0.8·α₁₅·Δt)) = 0.987296 → table value 0.9873
4. V₁₅ = 40,000 × 0.9873 = 39,492.0 L
5. Loss = 40,000 − 39,492.0 = 508.0 L; × $1.650/L = $838.20

A claim is only valid where your contract prices net litres at 15 °C but the invoice bills gross (ambient) litres. If the contract prices gross litres, there is no overcharge — the fuel simply expanded.

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