Large Transport
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 274; Flight Crew Type 9300
Communication Breakdown; Training / Qualification
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Weight And Balance; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors
I was the First Officer on Reserve with a shorter than normal call out; and given short term parking and to get there as soon as possible. I made it to the airport with plenty of time but knew the clock was ticking. I met the Captain in Operations but we had to get a ride from Ops to the hanger where the aircraft was parked. Maintenance was busy and our ride was 30 minutes late. We would have made our scheduled departure time and our returning DH flight had we made it to the hanger on time but with the delay we were a bit rushed trying to get our preflight done to make our scheduled DH.During preflight; Maintenance asked the Captain if he wanted to transfer fuel from the center to the main tanks. He said no because there were 4;900 pounds of fuel in the center tank (main tanks had 6;000 pounds) and that he was sure he was allowed up to 5;000 pounds in the center tank with the main tanks less than full. I did not process the conversation I had overheard until later at cruise; as I was wrapped up my preflight duties and didn't want to hold up our departure so we could make our DH. We took off with that fuel configuration; and when things settled down at cruise; we talked about looking up the fuel issue to make sure it was correct and then realized we took off with the fuel out of limits. The flight arrived without further incident.
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Large transport flight crew departed and flew with a non-SOP fuel loading.