What Is a Fuel Jobber?

A fuel jobber is a company that buys fuel in bulk from a refiner or fuel terminal and sells it to gas stations, convenience stores, and businesses that use a lot of fuel. The jobber sits in the middle of the fuel supply chain. They move fuel from the big suppliers down to the places that pump it or burn it.

What a fuel jobber does

A jobber handles the steps between the terminal and the customer. The main jobs are:

• Buy fuel in bulk at the terminal, often many thousands of gallons at a time.
• Arrange the haul, with their own trucks or a hired carrier.
• Sell and deliver to gas stations, fleets, farms, and other businesses.
• Handle the money side: invoices, credit terms, and collections.
• Track and pay the fuel taxes on every load they move.
• Keep the paperwork straight, from the bill of lading to the final invoice.

Where a jobber sits in the supply chain

Fuel takes a set path from the refinery to your tank:

• The refiner makes the fuel.
• A pipeline or barge moves it to a terminal.
• At the terminal, the fuel sits in big tanks. The loading point there is called the rack.
• The jobber buys at the rack and loads trucks.
• The jobber delivers to stations and businesses.
• The station sells it to drivers.

The jobber is the link between the terminal and the retail station. To see why that loading point matters so much, read above the rack vs below the rack.

How a fuel jobber makes money

A jobber makes money on the margin, which is the gap between what they pay at the rack and what they charge the customer. They add a markup per gallon and a freight charge to cover the haul. Margins per gallon are thin, so the business runs on volume. Moving more gallons, keeping trucks full, and holding down costs is how a jobber stays in the black. Small pricing and tax errors add up fast, which is why clean records matter so much.

Jobber, distributor, marketer, retailer: what is the difference

These words overlap, and people in the trade use them loosely. Here is the plain version:

• Jobber. A wholesaler who buys fuel at the terminal and sells it down the chain. The classic term for the middle link.
• Distributor. Usually means the same thing as a jobber.
• Petroleum marketer. A broader term for any company that sells fuel, which often includes jobbers.
• Retailer. The gas station or convenience store that sells fuel to drivers.

One company can wear more than one hat. Many jobbers also own stations, so they act as a wholesaler and a retailer at the same time.

Branded vs unbranded jobbers

A branded jobber carries a major brand like Shell or BP and follows that brand's rules on supply, signage, and image. An unbranded jobber sells fuel under no major brand and competes mostly on price. Each path shapes the supply deals you can get and the work your back office has to do.

What runs in a jobber's back office

The daily work of a jobber lives in the back office. The core pieces are:

• BOL to invoice. Turning each bill of lading into a customer invoice without typing it twice.
• Fuel tax. Tracking and filing the per-gallon taxes on every load. See motor fuel excise tax explained.
• Allocation. Rationing supply when the terminal limits how much you can buy. See what is fuel allocation.
• Settlements. Checking that what the supplier billed matches what you got.
• Inventory. Knowing how much fuel is in each tank.

Most jobbers start on spreadsheets and QuickBooks, then move to fuel software as the volume grows. For where that line sits, read jobber software vs QuickBooks and spreadsheets.

Common questions

A fuel jobber runs a high-volume, thin-margin business with a lot of moving paperwork. PUP is back office software built for jobbers, wholesalers, and station owners who want their tools shaped around how they actually work.

See what Pup Jobber does →