In the cab business where I work, a short tank is when you go to get your cab from the driver who drove it the previous shift and he doesn’t fully fill the tank with gas.
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This can save him money that he saves at your expense.
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For egregious violation there are remedies within our system to collect payment for not receiving the cab fully gassed up.
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But there are some drivers who I will call short tank artists, they fill the cab up but not all the way as there are various points on the “F” = full part of the fuel gauge, and what these cheapskates do is fill the cab enough to not get in trouble with the bosses but not fill the tank up as far as it should be saving themselves about 5 dollars a shift which adds up.