Smarter fuelling with CTS
Fuelling equipment specialist Centre Tank Services has recently added the B.Smart cloud-based fuel management system from Italian manufacturer Piusi to its range.
“The process of being able to monitor and report on who has taken what amount of fuel on what date to refill which vehicle is something that you have been able to do for the last two decades,” said CTS.
“But is your system saving you the most time, hassle and money? Fuel management systems were traditionally a method of security to lock out unauthorised users from being able to dispense fuel, and to spot any ‘refuelling anomalies’ from authorised users.
“However, advancements in technology mean that it’s becoming easier for you to record, access and report on the transactional information. Such features have meant that the data is now not only of interest to you as the transport manager, but also your company’s finance manager for forecasting and budgeting fuel costs and allocating them to different sites/cost centres.”
As the market matures, sophisticated systems are becoming more and more affordable for even the smaller fleet operator, CTS contends.
“Certain ‘wish list’ fuel management features were previously only on systems within the budget of large companies, so smaller fleets made do without them.
“For example, do you currently have to actively remember to go and download the data from your fuel management systems? Are you having to compile reports from different pumps or sites to get a full picture of your fuel use? Or maybe your drivers are still manually logging what fuel they take?”
B.Smart is the first cloud based fuel management system from Piusi, providing users with the ability to monitor fuel and AdBlue use remotely and in real time wherever a Wi-Fi or mobile network is available.
“From a single pump on a single site right up to multiple dispensers across unlimited geographical sites, the data on your vehicle refuelling is accessible from a single online portal, allowing the smallest and largest of fleets to track, view and compare all subsidiary sites’ fuel use,” the company continued.
“By using the app on your drivers’ mobile phone to enable dispensing and its network to send the data to the cloud, you can view all of the latest data and reports via the online portal on your PC, tablet or smartphone.”
Managers are also able to remotely enable driver access to the pump to control who can dispense fuel, preventing unauthorised users from being able to pull up and fill their vehicle.
In addition to the time, effort and cost savings achieved through remote management, says CTS, the B.Smart system is not subject to annual hosting fees for data storage or use of the portal.
“As you have probably come across in the past, when a system is required to hold data on a server somewhere, there is usually an ongoing subscription fee to cover this. However, as Piusi have made the conscious decision to absorb these costs, you simply buy the system and your driver app licences and it’s yours,” said CTS.
New for 2021 are two add-on modules for the B.Smart fuel management system. The first is the Tank Watchdog for remotely monitoring fuel stock and levels of any tank with a Piusi B.Smart system. It is said to be ideal for monitoring the fluid levels in real-time, identifying the value of fuel inventory and managing fuel suppliers by recording delivery date, price, invoice number, and litres received.
The second add-on is the Fuel Economy module for remotely monitoring fuel consumption, miles per gallon, and managing driver and vehicle activity. This module will extend the system’s power, providing users with full control over sites and increasing fleet profitability, says CTS.
