Category Archives for Fleet Fuel Management
Problems With Fuel Management
Fuel fleet managers have a lot on their plate when it comes to tracking their company’s activities. Unbeknownst to them, they may also be victims of problems that affect their fuel company’s performance. As such, fuel management is a necessary solution for fuel fleets to ensure that they eliminate risks to maximize profits.
Unfortunately, when fuel management is not conducted in a proper manner, issues may begin to arise. Here are some problems that can result from a poorly managed fuel management system.
Fuel Theft
Fraud Magazine, an association of certified fraud examiners, states that thieves steal around $133 billion worth of fuel from gas and oil companies. Fuel thieves steal gas and oil by puncturing fuel tanks and then siphoning the oil from them during transport.
Fuel thieves resell the stolen fuel when they successfully take oil and gasoline from a truck, thus causing massive losses to the fuel company. A fuel company’s fuel tankers are at risk of fuel theft because of the lack of monitoring solutions to ensure safe fuel transportation.
Wireless fuel management is a potential solution to mitigate and avoid fuel theft. At SCI, we offer FuelShield to wirelessly track refueling times, locations, and dates. With our wireless tracking solution, a fuel organization can effectively stop fraud and errors when refueling from pump stations.
FuelShield operates with cloud-based online software, meaning fuel managers can utilize automated wireless systems. These automatic processes reduce manual maintenance costs by utilizing predictive maintenance procedures.
Fuel Fraud
Common kinds of fuel fraud include swindling by type and by card. Fuel type fraud is when a driver purchases a different kind of fuel from what has been authorized. Purchasing the wrong type of fuel means that the driver pumped fuel for an unauthorized vehicle.
Meanwhile, fuel card fraud may involve inflated fuel card transactions, such as when a driver pumps additional amounts of fuel after swiping for only a certain amount. Other forms of fuel card fraud include unauthorized multiple oil pump purchases and sharing of fuel cards.
The fuel management solution to avoid fuel fraud is to have automatic tracking methods that can effectively report and account for every fuel transaction. SCI offers the Mobile Shield as a Wireless Fuel Management System to help manage fuel reports and track fuel consumption, ensuring that only authorized purchases occur.
Fuel Costs
Research states that 60% of a fuel fleet’s operating budget goes to fuel costs. The fuel that company vehicles burn when transporting fuel between locations impacts a company’s profit. Besides distance, road quality and faulty oxygen sensors can affect a company vehicle’s fuel consumption.
Some simple strategies that companies practice include routine tire checks to make sure vehicles can handle different roads. Companies also conduct oxygen sensor maintenance to identify which vehicles may need repair. A company would need a way to keep track of these fuel-efficiency initiatives to see how well they are working.
An effective solution that fuel companies can adopt to reduce fuel costs is to implement a virtual fleet manager to track expenses and refine their budget. SCI’s team of dedicated professionals monitors a fuel company’s fuel tanks, trucks, and equipment through our Fleet NOC (Network Operating Center).
Companies can keep their budget lean with our wireless fuel management solutions. The Fleet NOC uses the latest monitoring software to analyze current fuel costs and trends to help managers create a budget plan. As a virtual fleet manager, the Fleet NOC can use a company’s existing data to help managers compare against current company practices to identify where they can cut costs.
Conclusion
Properly managed fuel management systems are necessary to curb problems such as fuel theft, fuel fraud, and fuel costs. These problems greatly affect a fuel company’s profits, but can easily be mitigated by implementing wireless tracking solutions.
SCI offers wireless fuel tracking solutions to effectively monitor fuel transactions and trends without having to be physically present at headquarters. As a wireless management solution provider, we ensure that fuel fleets maximize their profit.
References:
- https://sciww.com/
- https://www.wilmarinc.com/blog/what-is-fuel-theft-and-how-can-it-be-prevented
- https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/16101-reduce-fuel-costs.html
- https://www.fleetfinancials.com/300823/how-fuel-fraud-affects-the-fleet-industry
- https://www.chevinfleet.com/learning-zone/fuel-fraud/#:~:text=An%20increasingly%20common%20form%20of,made%20for%20an%20unauthorised%20vehicle.
Who Can You Trust With Your Company Fuel Monitoring?
Companies can become victim to theft if they give full control to vendors over their fuel management.
Tracking your own fuel levels for mobile, stand alone, and underground tanks give companies and governments complete control of fuel inventory.
Companies not in control are allowing themselves to be susceptible to theft, security breaches, tampered with fuel tanks, and hidden costs.
It was reported in 2008 that fuel theft in the U.S. reached “8 million for commercial and local businesses.” Why put your company in the hands of a vendor when you can control your own destiny?
Cutting Out Middlemen
There are two specific issues that can arise if you use a third party to track your fuel inventory rather than doing it yourself.
You lock yourself into using one vendor for all your fuel supply needs This may be a convenient option for customers, however if another vendor offers a better price you won’t be able to use them because you gave control to one particular vendor. The vendor then determines who delivers your fuel, when it’s delivered and sets the price. This gives all freedom to the vendor instead of the customer.
Customer is at the mercy of the vendor The vendor controls the delivery of the fuel, so the customer needs to be aware that what they ordered may not always be what’s delivered. Vendor’s could be reporting inaccurate amounts, but you are still paying full price.
Now, there are ways to avoid these issues. Companies can keep their vendor but have a system in place to verify their work, or companies could control their own fuel management. Regardless of which option companies choose, a fuel management system should be in place.
Wireless Fuel System Management and Level Monitoring
Benefits companies see when they manage their own fuel include security, accounting, and accuracy for tanks. They can also make sure their fuel prices are fair, accurate, and delivered properly.
SCI allows clients to control their own fuel management through the latest hardware and proprietary online cloud-based software. Workers can track and report all fuel activity on pumps wirelessly, view fuel and tank levels, temperate, and tampering.
This puts the customer’s mind and money at ease because as SCI states, every drop counts. To learn more about wireless tank level monitoring, click below.
How does your company monitor its fuel levels? Can you trust that your vendor’s employees are delivering the correct amount of fuel? Do you want to reduce the risk of fuel delivery contamination? What about increase the safety of your employees by avoiding having the climb on top of fuel tanks?
