Remote, real-time fuel management from CTS
Fuel management systems provider Centre Tank Services (CTS) has explained how increasingly sophisticated technology is making life easier for fleets when it comes to the monitoring of fuel usage.
The process of being able to monitor and report on who has taken what amount of fuel on what date, and to refill which vehicle, is functionality that has been available for the last two decades, points out Rob Terry, technical director at CTS.
“But is your system saving you the most time, hassle and money?” he asked.
“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, says Rob.
“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?”
Among the company’s product portfolio is B.Smart, 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 where Wi-Fi or mobile networks are 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,” Rob 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.
“You 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. Being able to do all of this wherever you are, saves you the time, hassle and cost of having to attend each site to obtain the information…
“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.”
Last year, Piusi also introduced two add-on modules for the B.Smart fuel management system; the first being the Tank Watchdog for remotely monitoring fuel stock and levels of any tank with a Piusi B.Smart system – which 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 was the Fuel Economy module for remotely monitoring fuel consumption, miles per gallon, and managing driver and vehicle activity.
“This module will extend your system’s power, giving you full control over your site and increasing the profitability of your fleet,” said Rob Terry.
Interested parties can contact Centre Tank Services for details on its nationwide distributor network.
