Coencorp Blog

Imagine a site with multiple fuel tanks and dispensing stations. Imagine the logistics of daily stick and totalizer readings and the readings required when fuel is delivered from the supplier.

A bummer, to be sure, especially if it's the way you are currently set up.

Now imagine the tanks are monitored with electronic-level probes. Combine this with the convenience of the pump dispenser totalizers automatically recorded along with recordings of the fuel dispensed at each pump. What would life be like when all of these measurements are sent to a platform in the cloud, and your inventory reconciliation is automatically calculated? Imagine pouring a cup of coffee and printing out your inventory reconciliation report as you relax and enjoy your morning cup of java.

You can’t manage what you don’t measure, and what you don’t manage eventually comes back to bite you—and eat away at profits. Fleet managers know that you can’t save what you don’t measure. Accounting for every drop of fuel spent is essential for profitability and accurate reporting. It doesn’t matter how much or where the fuel is being dispensed––whether it’s to a truck at a local tank or jerrycans at remote sites, every drop matters.

In the first of this three-part blog series, we looked at the issues that arise with the manual reconciliation of primary storage tanks. This second part examines neglected assets further down the operations line and smaller assets.

Fuel is the blood coursing through the veins of industrial fleets. It's what puts the "moving" in your moving assets. As a fleet manager, fuel is a major area of focus of yours and an omnipresent preoccupation. The often unpredictable rise in fuel costs further complicates your already difficult job.

If jerrycans are a fact of your fleet life, you know how hard it is to keep track of the fuel they consume. You’ve probably resigned yourself to accepting the lack of accountability that comes with jerrycan use as a necessary evil. 

We’re here to tell you it doesn’t have to be this way. The fuel dispensed via jerrycans can be tracked and managed accurately and cost-effectively. Read on to learn how. 

"Workaholics aren't heroes. They don't save the day, they use it up. The real hero is already home... Because she figured out a faster way to get things done."

— Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Fleet managers with business acumen know the importance of not just working hard, but also working smart. And yet, when it comes to fuel management, many fail to reap the full promise of automated fuel management systems.

Still, automation done wrong will decidedly do more harm than good to your fuel management efforts. In this edition of Fleeting Thought, we make the case for fully automated fueling but, just as important, we address some of the pitfalls you may face in deploying this rewarding technology.

"If the shoe fits, wear it", the saying goes.

But fleet managers of the public transit industry often learn to their chagrin, that the shoe doesn't fit all that well with the generic fleet fuel management systems available in today's market.

Managers have expressed the desire for systems that recognize and address the unique challenges of public transit organizations. In a previous blog about fuel management systems, we briefly touch upon those challenges, but there is much more to say.

So what are these challenges? Read on to find out as we break them down in detail and present elegant, field-tested solutions to them.

What if we told you that you could, on occasion, have your cake and eat it too?

In today's article, we discuss vehicle data collection, the critical role it plays in your fleet's efficiency, and how to get it done automatically and without paying recurrent, per-vehicle fees.

In the mining industry, fuel consumption is high volumes, high stakes, and most definitely not a game.

Mining companies need to continuously reinvent themselves and look to improve their operating efficiencies in the area of fuel consumption to stay profitable. There are many options available for mine operators to implement to improve fuel efficiencies and reduce overall fuel consumption. The challenge is to accurately track and monitor the fuel used at the overall mining site and reconcile fuel consumption by an asset. You can’t manage what you can’t measure.

We apologize in advance for delivering bad news. If your company is in the construction industry, you likely aren't managing one of your top expenditures optimally.

Let's start by stating the obvious. After labor, fuel is the most expensive part of operating a fleet. You'll need a fuel management system if you have your own storage tanks and dispensers. The level of sophistication and control necessary depends on a number of factors: your fleet’s size, fuel consumption, and the industry in which you operate, to name a few. But the requirement for some level of distribution management is unquestionable. Fuel is costly, and buying it without knowing who takes it, how much of it is taken, and where it goes is as intolerable as not having the same type of control over your bank account.

As a fleet manager, you either use an automatic vehicle location (AVL) system as a tool in your fleet management utility belt, or if you don’t, you are at least generally aware of what such systems are about.

Regardless, it would benefit all to go over how an AVL system can help optimize your fleet’s operation. Even if you already use one, the odds are you may not be using it to its full potential. And if you’re pondering whether such a system makes sense for your company, then you have come to the right place.