A totalizer counts every litre a nozzle has ever delivered and never resets. A shift's or day's sale on a nozzle is its closing reading less its opening reading. Take off any test fuel poured back into the tank, because the meter counted it but nobody bought it.
Two meters on a dispenser
- The sale display shows the current sale and goes back to zero before each customer.
- The totalizer counts every litre the nozzle has delivered, for its whole life. It is the figure for your registers.
Working out the sale
litres sold on a nozzle = closing totalizer − opening totalizer − test fuel returnedAdd the nozzles of a product together for the product’s sale. This is line E, sales as per meter, in the stock variation check.
Common mistakes
- Mixing up nozzles. Machines that print several pump IDs repeat nozzle numbers. Write each reading against the nozzle’s full name.
- Copying a digit wrong. One wrong digit in the thousands is a thousand litres in the stock.
- Forgetting test fuel. The daily 5 litre test on each nozzle is counted by the meter and poured back.
The seals
Weights and Measures seal the metering unit and the totalizer with a sealing wire and an embossed lead seal. MDG 2024 asks the dealer to check them every day (clause 1.4.2 a). Seals are treated as tampered if they allow the totalizer reading to be changed, if the totalizer is deliberately stopped, or if a non-working totalizer is not reported (clause 5.1.3).
Figures here are for reference. Your oil company’s certified calibration chart, approved instruments and the Marketing Discipline Guidelines always prevail.
Questions
Can I divide the totalizer by the number of days to get average sales?
No. It is a lifetime count. Only the difference between two readings means anything.
What if a totalizer seal is broken?
Stop sales through that dispenser at once and report it to your oil company. Sales stay stopped until the seals are replaced (MDG 2024 clause 1.4.2 a).