According to Motive’s Physical Economy Outlook, the trucking and logistics industry loses 14% of its fleet expenses to fuel theft and fraud. These losses were even higher for businesses involving small fleet operations. Considering the growing fuel costs, this figure accounts for a big part of any fleet’s budget. This is where the importance of a fuel consumption monitoring system comes into the picture.
Escort TD-150 BLE is a time-tested and advanced fuel level sensor that has been at the heart of successful fuel monitoring systems employed across different industries. Explore the different avenues of fuel fraud and how this fuel level sensor can help overcome the challenge in a cost-effective manner.
How Does Fuel Fraud & Theft Occur in Fleet Managing Companies?
It is worth knowing that the methods of fuel theft and fraudulence keep getting more creative. However, the application of the right technology can help fleet managers to prevent such fraud.
The different types of fuel theft instances are as follows:
Siphoning
Siphoning involves physically removing fuel from a vehicle’s tank. It takes place in a covert manner and contributes to significant fuel loss to your business operations.
Internal Fraud
Most of the time, the threat of fuel fraud originates from within your organization. Employees have been known to manipulate fuel logs and cause damaging financial losses to their companies.
Fuel Skimming
Skimming is the process of stealing fuel card information when your drivers use their cards. The information can be used to make unauthorized fuel purchases, causing loss to your business.
The Use of Escort TD-150 BLE for Preventing Fuel Fraud
The Escort TD-150 BLE is a proven and updated capacitive fuel level sensor designed to monitor fuel consumption, thefts, refuels, and drains in vehicles, storage tanks, and machinery. Its use of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology is a groundbreaking development in the fuel level monitoring sector.
There are many different ways this fuel level sensor can make your fuel monitoring and management system more robust and reliable.
Some of the key advantages of using it are as follows:
- It features not just digital, analog, and frequency output signals, it also supports the latest BLE mode after being updated.
- It is rated with the latest explosion protection certificate.
- The fuel level sensor can be configured for data access through a mobile app.
- It features an advanced protective casing featuring glass-filled polyamide that offers exceptional protection against various forms of mechanical impacts.
It has a tamper-proof design that prevents any kind of unauthorized interference with its functioning.
The sensor’s measuring arm is designed to adapt to a fuel tank’s depth. Besides, the entire sensor housing provides galvanic isolation. Above all, the TD-150 BLE can be easily installed and configured. You can set it up with fuel monitoring systems from different manufacturers.
It is ideally suited for fuel monitoring applications to prevent fraud and theft. Some of the key specifications of this fuel level sensor are as follows:
- Room for error: <1%
- Operational modes: Digital, Analog &Frequency
- Power supply range& electric current: 7V – 80V & 30mA
- Digital mode: Wired RS-485 / Wireless BLE
- Analog mode: 0.2V – 9V
- Frequency mode: 300Hz – 4395Hz
- Ingress protection rating: IP69S
Why is Fuel Level Monitoring So Important?
Interestingly, the occurrence of fuel theft has continued to increase within the transport and logistics industry at a steady pace. The International Road Transport Union (IRU) reports that fuel theft also accounts for a big part of cargo thefts. These incidents occur both when the cargo is stationary and in transit.
The financial impact on the trucking industry is significant. Such incidents increased by 90% in 2022. While the rate slowed in 2023, it stood at 77%. Any fuel theft in this industry has a direct and major impact on profitability.
Fuel theft goes beyond affecting your business’ bottom line. Companies need to invest in additional administrative efforts and costs to track and investigate the discrepancies. A fuel monitoring system powered by fuel level sensors can work as a highly effective and affordable solution for addressing the problem.
A robust fuel monitoring system can help detect any incidences of fuel fraud or theft. This can not only help prevent loss but it can also help preserve your company’s reputation. You will no longer have to deal with situations involving unexpected fuel shortages. This can prevent any instances of delivery delays, thus helping you maintain customer satisfaction and loyalty.
