TransCube Fuel Tank Review

The business where I work needed to purchase as well as rent several fuel tanks of about 250 to 1000 gallons (or 1000 to 4500 liters). That seems simple enough. There are plenty of fuel tank manufacturers building many styles of fuel tanks. Unfortunately our requirements were very stringent and with a long list of "must haves" the list of acceptable tanks quickly dwindled; the TransCube line of fuel tanks, and specifically models 10TCG, 20TCG, 30TCG, and 50TCG were the only ones to fully meet our needs.

Our main activity is pipeline construction. In short, this means that we are always on the move following the progress of the pipelines in Alberta, Canada. It's a rough and tumble environment to say the least, and equipment that is not "overbuilt" is quickly flushed out.

The short list of requirements for portable fuel tanks was as follows. (1) double walled (2) legal to be transported full (3) ability to mount an electric pump (4) fuel theft deterrence (5) moveable with crane and forklift.

In my search I learned that some single walled fuel tanks are indeed legable transportable when full. We would have considered that as an option as they are obviously less expensive, but our client has a green initiative that required dual walled tanks. Fortunately the Transcubes are dual walled and Transport Canada Approved and although I did not research what the importance of it is, it also carries UL certification.

The TransCubes that we rented to be mobile were outfitted with 12 volt DC pumps that would allow the battery of a pickup truck to power the pump with auto shutoff nozzle. We purchased some 10TCG tanks to plumb directly into our portable light towers in our camp areas, and we also bought some 20TCG, 30TCG, and 50TCG tanks to both supply our camp generators with fuel and also power a 120 volt pump built into the TransCube fuel tanks to fuel trucks and other equipment in our yard.

Although we have not encountered any fuel theft issues recently, it has been a problem in the past on our sites with unsupervised tanks. To combat fuel theft, TransCube tanks have a lid that is about 2 feet square. Underneath the lid is where the fuel pump and hose / nozzle, fuel level gauge, filling port, and all of the various drop tubes are located. When brought down into the closed position, there is a spot just big enough for a standard padlock, but tight enough not to allow bolt cutters access.

Finally, the Transcubes have fork pockets on all 4 sides as well as 4 crane lifting points which can be used when full of fuel. The added bonus is the lifting points are constructed to allow a second tank to sit on top of it for transport or if storage space is limited.