Formats & logistics
Bulk tanker delivery
Almost everything that goes wrong on a first bulk delivery is knowable in advance. Walk the route before you sign anything.
The first bulk delivery is where a methanol purchase becomes a physical operation on your site. Everything that has been a procurement conversation up to that point — grade, price, volume — now depends on whether a 44-tonne articulated vehicle can reach your fill point, connect to it safely, and discharge into a tank that is ready to receive.
Almost all of what goes wrong here is knowable in advance. The single most useful thing a buyer can do is walk the delivery route before signing anything.
Key points
- Walk the route before the first booking: access width, turning circle, gradient, overhead obstructions and hardstanding.
- Payload is limited by the 44 t gross vehicle weight, so a full load is typically around 20–28 tonnes depending on carrier tare weight.
- Agree hose and coupling specification in writing before delivery day, not on it.
- Confirm who performs the offloading and who supervises it. This is a common gap in responsibility.
- Taking bulk deliveries makes you an unloader, which may bring a DGSA requirement into scope.
What to check before the first delivery
- Vehicle access. Entrance width, internal road width, turning circle, and whether the vehicle can leave forwards. Reversing a loaded tanker across a working site is a risk assessment nobody wants to write.
- Gradient and surface. Sound hardstanding at the discharge point, and a gradient the vehicle can hold safely while connected.
- Overhead and underground services. Cables, pipe bridges and low structures on the route; drainage and services beneath the discharge area.
- Fill point location and labelling. Clearly identified, accessible from where the vehicle can stand, and unambiguously connected to the right tank.
- Weight limits. Bridges, culverts, tank covers, service ducts. A 44-tonne vehicle finds weak ground reliably.
- Emergency provision. Spill containment at the discharge point, appropriate fire-fighting media, means of raising an alarm, and a route out for the vehicle.
Methanol burns with a pale flame that is very hard to see in daylight. That changes emergency procedure: a person may not be able to tell a fire has started. Your offloading risk assessment and your responders' briefing both need to account for it.
Connections, procedure and responsibility
Hoses and couplings
Agree the coupling specification with the supplier in writing before the first delivery, and confirm whose hose is used. Check that hose and seal materials are compatible with methanol — it degrades some elastomers that are unremarkable with other liquids. Confirm inspection and test records for whichever party's equipment is used.
Earthing and bonding
Bonding between vehicle and installation before any flow, every time. Static generated during transfer is a credible ignition source for a liquid with an 11 °C flash point, and the control is simple enough that skipping it is indefensible.
Ullage and overfill
Confirm available tank capacity before the vehicle arrives, not after it connects. Overfill protection should be independent of the person watching the gauge, and the procedure should state what happens if the load will not fit.
Who does what
Write down, and have both parties agree: who connects, who opens valves, who monitors the transfer, who is authorised to stop it, and who signs off. Delivery drivers and site staff each frequently assume the other is supervising. See choosing a supplier for the questions that surface this early.
Part loads and compartments
Chemical road tankers are frequently compartmented, so part loads are available — at a premium, because the vehicle movement costs much the same whether it is full or not. If your consumption sits between IBC volumes and a full tanker, ask specifically about compartment deliveries rather than assuming bulk is unavailable to you.
Dedicated versus multi-product vehicles matters for sensitive grades. If your specification is tight, ask about previous cargo and cleaning regime, and consider requiring a dedicated compartment. That is a specification question as much as a logistics one — see reading a certificate of analysis.
This page is orientation, not engineering or safety advice. Storage and handling arrangements must be designed for your specific site by someone competent, and worked from the supplier's current safety data sheet and HSE published guidance.
Content on this page was last checked against its sources on . Report a correction if something here is out of date.