With fuel being the greatest road transport cost, its use needs to be properly managed and accurately recorded.

The most common fuel management system (FMS) currently used in South Africa is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet – sometimes even when a sophisticated FMS has been installed.

This rudimentary approach to the management of fuel makes it difficult to record fuel use accurately. Manually capturing data doesn’t cater to different in-house fuel recording processes and it is very difficult to capture on-road transactions this way. Also, it makes no case for accurate driver management or provision for general fuel theft challenges.

Fuel theft

Fuel is a commodity easily exchanged for cash, which makes fuel theft very tempting. The theft of fuel is also difficult to quantify, as small amounts can easily be taken and, without proper tracking of fuel dispensing events, it is not possible to determine if fuel has actually been lost. Truck drivers tend to blame the loss of fuel on depot staff and vice versa, and the tracking of refuelling events wastes substantial time at fuelling depots.

Fuel is stolen at every point in the supply chain, be it directly from the pump, at delivery, or from the vehicle’s tanks. It is also taken in other ways that you may not yet have imagined.

A comprehensive FMS can help limit fuel theft, by allowing one to follow the fuel, from initial purchase through to storage and dispensing. There are a host of options available, some of which can track processes in real time.

Due to the complexity of FMSs, it is best to work with a fuel management expert. They will ensure that the entire operation is geared towards efficient fuel storage and usage. This includes the monitoring of tanks and dispensing equipment to ensure they aren’t vulnerable to theft, faults, and miscalculations. It is wise to develop specific fuelling policies so that everyone is on the same page.

The amount of fuel used per month will impact the decision to use an FMS or not. The cost of an FMS should be compared to the cost of lost fuel in litres. If the FMS costs R10 000 per month and the cost of fuel is R10 per litre, the system only needs to save 1 000 litres of fuel to be cost-effective.

“It’s important to take a holistic approach when it comes to managing fuel theft,” says Grant Pedler, CEO at Rigana. “Good management, proper record control, adherence to safety regulations, continual equipment maintenance and the correct use of quality measurement tools are what’s needed to ensure fuel is used correctly, leaks are identified and theft or unauthorised usage is minimised.”

Pedler points out that checking product and water levels, as well as product temperatures and densities, should be done when fuel is received and stored. This data is used with conversion charts that are set to a designated temperature of 20 degrees Celsius, to allow you to pick up any variances over time.

Pitfalls of fuel management systems

Users tend to:

• expect the impossible from an FMS
• not take complete ownership of the FMS
• not maintain the FMS properly
• view the FMS simply as an anti-theft solution
• not train staff properly on how to use the FMS
• believe the chosen FMS will work on its own
• assume the FMS will stop fuel theft entirely
• view an FMS as a luxury.

Measuring up

Measuring fuel consumption manually often means that accuracy is lost due to human error. Inaccurate reporting is likely to proliferate when it comes to recording different consumptions and rates of consumption, since there are many different methods and calculations of doing so. These include:

• kilometres/hours per litre versus litres/hours per 100 km
• GPS distance versus odometer distance
• manually recorded litres versus automatically recorded litres.

Further complexities of recording accurate consumption include missing, short, and split fillings, inaccurate odometer readings, incorrectly recorded fillings, incorrect target consumptions (which affects exception reporting), as well as the non-monitoring of consumptions.

In addition, there are many factors that affect fuel consumption, such as the type of vehicle driven; the type, shape and weight of loads carried; the amount of traffic; wind direction and resistance; truck and trailer aerodynamics; general truck and tyre condition; distance; route planning; and driver style. As one can see, it is extremely difficult to factor in all of these issues manually, especially when integrated consumption reporting is required.

Often, filling sites are unwilling to review the practices that affect management reporting, such as who fills the vehicle and when. Also, the way overrides are managed affects a site’s ability to manage fuel.

On-road transactions can be hard to control as well, due to the risk of fuel card cloning and the propensity of duplicate transactions. Fixed equipment poses its own challenges, where fuel is being moved from fixed sites, such as with generators, lawnmowers, and compressors.

When it comes to the re-ordering of fuel, the challenge is to ensure that there is always sufficient supply for operations, while obtaining the best-priced fuel. One will want to avoid late ordering, over-ordering, and short drops.

Driver behaviour can greatly affect fuel use and needs to be taken into consideration during driver training. Consider the daily impacts of harsh braking and acceleration, speeding, and improper route planning.

Automation for the people

Elements of fuel management automation include pump automation, automated tank gauging, reporting and notifications, the integration of data, and the embracing of new technology. Automating the fuel management process creates increased accuracy throughout the data chain, heightens fuel security, allows for speedier reporting, and improves data transfer. Immediate follow-up, investigation, and more effective corrective actions can then be taken.

While automation decreases the need for staff to capture data manually, it does have its limitations. For example, databases rely upon information that is provided by the site and while they can limit theft, they cannot remove all possibility of theft. Competent staff are required to manage these systems and, while automated systems give better answers, you still need skilled people to investigate, follow-up and make cost-saving decisions.

Qualities of an effective fuel management system

• Reliability
• Integration
• Effective, rapid and deep-level reporting
• Exceptions investigating
• Accountability
• Vehicle and driver information for exception parameters

The risks to a business of poor fuel management includes inaccurate data capture, poor and slow reporting, duplication of work, unnecessary time and money spent on manual capture, and mistake identification and correction.

New technologies and areas of technological improvement in FMSs include improvements to their interfaces, increasing data transfer speeds, better vehicle and driver identification and surveillance, more accurate reporting, more detailed notifications, and the formation of dedicated web portals.

Automation of fuel management is generally only cost-effective and beneficial when reliable for the intended environment. They are beneficial when they can report accurately and on time and when discipline and support is sufficient for the relevant site. Fuel management automation allows staff to follow-up on exceptions rather than capture data and is most beneficial when customised to the specific needs of companies.