The accuracy of petrol pump readings depends partly on the efforts of weights and measures officials

Lloyd David, Public Relations Officer at the Guyana National Bureau of Standards has prepared a paper which should interest all persons who use motor fuel.  It is entitled ‘The impact of weights and measures on the petroleum industry’ which will be presented in two parts. Here comes Part I:

“Each day thousands of Guyanese purchase one commodity that has become absolutely essential in our mobile society – motor fuel.  Several times a month, most of us drive into the neighbourhood service station and say, ‘fill her up,’ or ‘two thousand dollars of regular.’ In many instances we pay be cash or on a credit system at the ‘pump’ without seeking clarification from the station personnel on the accuracy of the pumps.

“We may grumble about having to pay so much for a litre of gas and most of us shop around the best prices and look forward gleefully to the occasional ‘gas war.’ But, as dependent as we have become on motor fuels for our livelihood and pleasure, and despite the thousands of dollars we each pour into our tanks every year, few of us feel any real concern that we may not be getting what we are paying for.

“Perhaps because we take it for granted that we are getting what we pay for, few of us realize that we owe our peace of mind, in this regard at least, to two things: the precision instrument that we think of – if we think of it at all – as the ‘gas pump,’ and the efforts of the weights and measures officials who periodically inspect and test these devices to ensure that they are operating at the high levels of accuracy and reliability for which they are designed.

“With responsibility for Weights and Measures in Guyana, the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) serves both the purchasing public and the members of the commercial community who sell to the public, by assuring equity in the marketplace, discouraging unfair competition, and promoting consumer confidence.

“It is a service that is important to many people but they may not realize that fact. It is also challenging work for the Weights and Measures Inspectors, requiring special knowledge, skills, and judgment to master the complexities of the exacting technical specifications, tolerances, and procedures that have been established for the execution of such verification activities. Inspectors have to use precision test equipment expertly.

“This expertise is necessary for them to perform their tasks judiciously and in such a way as to ensure the protection of the public.  At the same time, it minimizes the burden of inspection and tests for the use of weighing and measuring devices.  GNBS realizes that any cost incurred by users as a result of such activities will ultimately be passed on to their customers.

“Additionally, the GNBS and petrol dealers must keep up-to-date with a constantly changing and evolving technology.  As most  consumers will know, the ‘high-tech’ electronic revolution, which in recent years has extended to every sector of our economy and has entered our schools and homes as well, has passed on to the retail motor-fuel dispensers industry.  So we need to be prepared to deal with frequent changes in an already complex global economy.”