How Fuel Management Software Overcomes 4 Key Challenges?

4 challenges that fuel management software can help you overcome are lack of visibility, excess fuel consumption, detecting fuel pilferage, and more.  

Fuel is an expense equal to liquid gold for fleet and business. But it is also the biggest pain point for logistic companies.

32% of logistics businesses consider fuel to be the largest expense.

Companies are struggling to contain their fuel consumption and avoid wastage. What they need is fuel management system. That will allow them to curb their fuel use, expenses, wastage and pilferage.

Read this article to learn how to monitor fuel consumption and curb your fuel-related expenses expertly.

What is Fuel Management System and Fuel Economy?

For logistics companies, fuel is of great value as it affects operational costs. This drives the need to adopt fuel management.

Now you ask, what is fuel management? Let us help you understand.

Fuel management is about monitoring and controlling fuel consumption through various systems and solutions that will help you optimise it. To do so easily, it’s best to use fuel management software which is a part of fleet management software.

Industries across are widely using the software. It uses telematics-based tools and analytics to capture fuel consumption data. Using the information, managers can improve their fuel economy.

Now you might be wondering – what is this fuel economy?

Fuel economy or fuel efficiency indicates how long a vehicle can run on a unit of gas. Routine maintenance, proper driving practices, and tire care are some ways to improve it. That is essential for improving the fuel efficiency of the trucks. It can easily be managed through fleet management software.

How Does Fuel Management System Work?

The fuel management system leverages GPS trackers technology and IT to generate a variant of comparison graphs depicting the distance travelled by the fleet from point A to point B. These reports and graphs are key to gaining operational insights for managers. Through them, they can identify vehicle usage and anomalies faced during trips.

Using a fuel management system will provide precise fuel consumption data, helping you identify reasons for excessive fuel usage. The reason could be incorrect tire pressure, idling, or harsh driving practices. But most importantly, it will alert you whenever there is unusual fuel draining, fuel fraud, or fuel overconsumption.

What Problems Do Fuel Monitoring Systems Resolve?

The fuel management system is not just for curbing and monitoring fuel consumption but also for solving other problems that come along with fuel mismanagement.

Problem 1: Lack of Visibility

Without a fuel monitoring system in place, managers feel blindsided. This is because they don’t have access to accurate and real-time information on fuel consumption, trip status, and fleet conditions. The only way for them to gain updates is by connecting with the drivers or when they are handed over the fuel bills.

Solution 1: Real-time Fuel Monitoring

But with the fuel management system, being blindsided is out of the question. That is because fleet managers can monitor fuel consumption or fuel per mile through the software’s dashboard. Managers have complete transparency in fleet operations as they get insight-rich reports in real-time, which helps them stay in sync with the on-ground activities of the fleet.

Problem 2: Latency in Reaction

Building upon the previous point, managers are bound to react and not respond when suddenly bombarded with news. This unawareness of the fleet consuming an abnormal amount of fuel causes a delay in reaction from the manager’s side. And the decisions taken during this time might not be the best.

Solution 2: Real-time Fuel Insights

But with the fuel management system, fleet managers are well aware of the amount of fuel being consumed and the reason behind the abnormal fuel usage. The system is constantly providing real-time updates and insights through fuel charts.

Also, with the vehicle health status in front of them, managers are able to detect poor engine performance, which is causing excess fuel use. This can be fixed before commencing the trip to avoid sudden breakdowns.

Problem 3: Fuel Theft and Pilferage

Fuel theft or pilferage is common during trips. They have a negative effect on the operational cost as fuel expenses increase, leaving very little for other aspects or resources. This fraudulent practice becomes even more frequent when drivers know that no monitoring is done.

Solution 3: Notifications and Alerts

But fuel monitoring proves this wrong. The system sends notifications and alerts when it detects unusual speeds of fuel filling or ejection levels. The system analyses the minute-by-minute fuel usage of each vehicle in the fleet. Such data will enable managers to assess the amount of stolen fuel with the exact location, time and other facts supporting the claim.

This will further improve the operations by eliminating malpractices during the trips.

Problem 4: Unable to Detect Fuel Wastage

Managers only get to know about fuel wastage when it comes to reimbursing or paying fuel bills. This is generally at the end of the trips. By that time, the damage had been done. Neither are they able to detect excess fuel use, nor are they able to detect harmful driving practices like

• Idling
• Route deviation
• Harsh cornering
• Unnecessary acceleration.

Solution 4: Precise Fuel Reports

The combination of fuel management and fleet tracking is able to predict fuel wastage which is key to improving a vehicle’s fuel efficiency. The fuel management system provides analytical reports that contain precise and real-time data and metrics.

Data like initial fuel level, final fuel level, engine hours, idling time, fuel consumed in motion, and much more. This helps detect hard acceleration, deceleration, and idling, preventing substantial fuel costs.

Summing Up!

An efficient fuel monitoring software is the need of the hour, seeing the ever-rising fuel prices. With its help, logistics companies can devise fuel-optimisation strategies, minimise consumption, and maximise the fleet’s fuel economy.

TrackoBit offers fuel management software that provides access to crucial metrics that can be key to solving some of the major hindrances in optimising fleet trips.

Schedule a demo now!