A BE02 FLC DEPARTS ARPT WITH LESS FUEL THAN REQUIRED. AIRLINE FUELING PROC ALLOWS HAND SIGNALS FROM CAPT TO FUELER FOR AMOUNT OF FUEL TO BE PLACED ON BOARD. FLT RETURNS TO DEP ARPT.

Narrative

FUELER MISCOM WITH CAPT ON FUEL AMOUNT. CAPT GAVE FUEL ORDER USING SIGN (3 FINGERS SIDEWAYS) WHICH FUELER UNDERSTOOD AS 30 GALLONS INSTEAD OF STANDARD 80 GALLONS. CAPT CHKED THE FUEL GAUGES WHICH READ 2000 LBS. AFTER TKOF; CAPT NOTICED FUEL READ LESS THAN NORMAL. FLT RETURNED TO THE ARPT. BOTH THE CAPT AND MYSELF (FO) FOLLOWED STANDARD PROCS. BEFORE START CHKLIST; WHICH IS A CAPT ONLY CHKLIST; INCLUDES A FUEL CHK WHICH WAS PERFORMED BY THE CAPT. BY READING THE FUEL QUANTITY GAUGES TOO SOON AFTER FUELING; THE READING WAS INCORRECT BECAUSE THE GAUGES DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO SETTLE. ALSO; THE FUELER SHOULD HAVE BEEN FAMILIAR WITH THE SIGNS AND THE CAPT SHOULD HAVE VERIFIED THE FUELER UNDERSTOOD CORRECTLY. I SUGGEST THAT A FUEL CHK ITEM BE INCLUDED IN THE CHKLIST BEFORE TKOF OR BEFORE TAXI. OFTEN; IN COMMUTER OPS; THE TIME LIMITATIONS ARE TOO SHORT SO THE FUEL IS ADDED AT THE LAST MIN. A SECOND FUEL CHK WOULD HELP AVOID SUCH INCIDENTS. ORDERS IN WRITING OR ORAL SHOULD BE GIVEN TO THE FUELERS TO AVOID CONFUSION. EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS SUFFICIENT FUEL TO COMPLETE THE FLT; I AGREED WITH THE CAPT TO RETURN TO THE ARPT AND REFUEL. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 403648: MY EXPECTATION THAT FUEL LOAD WOULD BE CORRECT; IE; I HAD SEEN THE FUEL LOADED AND ASSUMED THAT IT WOULD BE CORRECT SO I WOULD BE LESS LIKELY TO QUESTION THE AMOUNT INDICATED.