When managing a fleet of vehicles, regardless of the trade you’re striving in, fuel measurement systems are essential to ensure that your drivers are using the exact amount of fuel they’re permitted to use. In the fleet industry, fuel management can mean the difference between efficiency and excess spending on fuel.
In this blog, we’re going to study up a bit on the world of fuel measurement before we explore how businesses can optimise their fleet operations. From the mining sector to freight and public transport, fuel management helps businesses measure their fleet’s fuel consumption to save money and prevent theft – let’s find out how.
What is fuel measurement?
Fuel measurement is a subset of fuel management, a speciality that allows for, among many other things, attendant-free refuelling, as well as the remote monitoring of fuel usage and stock by fuel managers. With trucks, fuel measurement can be done in a number of different ways, all depending on the type, age, and equipment specs of the vehicles.
The most common method of fuel measurement is based on the vehicle manufacturer’s float for single-tank trucks. These can be used to great effect to accurately determine the amount of fuel that is supplied or missing, as well as the average fuel consumption of a vehicle.
Another way is through the use of the ‘total fuel’ parameter. Using a fuel metre, businesses can count every bit of fuel that has physically entered a vehicle’s engine, allowing them to calculate accurate averages in fuel consumption and prevent fuel theft more efficiently.
Now that we know what fuel measurement implies in the transportation industry, let’s take a look at how businesses and their fleets can benefit from an effective fuel management system.
Benefits of effective fuel measurement
Fuel management has many benefits for businesses of all sizes. Below, we highlight some of the biggest and most prevalent benefits:
More accurate data collection and storage
Data collection is a tricky thing to get right when you don’t have any digital assistance – the sheer amount of data is enough to drive anyone crazy. Fuel measurement systems allow you to automate your data collection, providing you with accurate and up-to-date data.
Effective fuel management systems always update data in real time, allowing you to quickly respond to any problems that may arise. Fuel measurement also improves the efficacy and longevity of your fleet, and is an essential aspect of decision making in the transportation industry.
Lower your fuel spend
Unless you’re migrating to electric vehicles, fuel consumption is a constant that any and every business with a fleet needs to invest in. With a productive fuel measurement system, you stand to save a lot of money on fuel spend, money that you can pump back into your business for accelerated growth.
When you measure and manage the amount of fuel your drivers are using, you can spot anything that may be out of order, for example your drivers using your fuel for unauthorised personal reasons. With a fuel management system, you can ensure that your fuel is only being used as intended.
Prevent fuel fraud
Fraud is a massive problem in the fleet industry. Thieves use a technique known as fuel skimming; in this method, they replace the card readers at fuel pumps with a skimming device that can collect the data stored on the card’s magnetic strip. Using this data, thieves can make fraudulent charges, as well as make online purchases. If they manage to acquire the pin of the cardholder, they can also make physical transactions and withdrawals at ATMs.
Using a fuel measurement system, you can use the data collected by the system to spot any security threats within your fleet and eliminate them. If you’d like to learn more about how an effective fuel management system can benefit your company, don’t be shy to get in touch with us – we’re always happy to help!
