Proper fuel management leads to a variety of benefits. From preventing fraud to saving on your monthly diesel bill – here are 5 ways fuel managers and business owners can benefit from proper fuel management.
1. Identify and prevent fraud
The reality is that your business can lose thousands of rands to fraudulent transactions if the fuel manager doesn’t know where to look and identify theft in the early stages.
However, fraudulent transactions can easily identify when the fuel manager has access to the necessary figures and reports.
a. Tank Capacity Exceeded Report
If your vehicle only has a tank size of 55 litres, why is there a transaction for 65 litres?
Fuel managers should always compare the actual volume filled at the site against the tank size of the vehicle and focus on the transactions exceeding the tank capacity.
Keep in mind; it is necessary to account for minor exceptions or variances.
If a fuel attendant fills the vehicle to the brim, the transaction might show a filling of 56 litres on a 55-litre tank. As the fill amount is larger than the tank capacity, the transaction is considered an exception.
For this reason, Keyfleet allows for a slight variance of up to 5%.
b. Refill Times Exceeded Report
Transportation vehicles do not often fill up more than three times a day. If the vehicle is filling four or five times a day, the fuel manager should query the transactions.
When truck drivers fill with a bank card, nothing prevents them from filling up other vehicles, thereby doing multiple transactions a day. There is no way to catch this fraud if you are not actively trying to find it.
c. Non-fuel Transaction Report
Did you know, in most instances, when a driver purchases a cooldrink and pays with a fleet card, it is put through as an oil purchase? Fuel managers must manage these expenses.
Fuel managers must allocate miscellaneous purchases such as overnight costs or washes to the correct general ledger to ensure proper fuel management.
d. Fuel Consumption Exceeded Report
Siphoning of diesel will automatically make diesel consumption higher. Therefore, it is important to go through all the previous reports to rule out other types of fraud before working out your fuel consumption.
Original Equipment Manufacturers typically provide an estimated fuel consumption that is considered the industry norm for each vehicle.
However, in reality, the vehicle’s actual fuel consumption will be influenced by load weight, weather conditions and driving patterns. We suggest that you work out the consumption for your vehicle and use that number as the starting point.
If the vehicle’s fuel consumption is still too high, the fuel manager will be able to identify the driver and investigate the suspicious transactions.
2. Spend less money on fuel every month
The most tangible benefit of proper fuel management – paying less each month!
Having proper policies and procedures in place helps fuel managers to:
- Identify the siphoning of diesel
- Pinpoint fillings of private vehicles
- Lower your fleet’s fuel consumption
- Prevent constant emergency breakdowns of vehicles
These aspects lead to less diesel being needed each month and directly translate to saving on your monthly diesel bill!
Want to know how our comprehensive fleet management system works? Watch the short video here.
3. Have accurate fuel odometer readings
Human error slips in from time to time.
For example, the garage attendant can enter the incorrect odometer reading while capturing the transaction. This false reading will have to be fixed before working with the specific transaction.
The two most common odometer reading errors happen when:
- two digits are swapped around
- extra digits have been added or forgotten
By using a proper fuel management system, fuel managers will identify and correct any odometer reading errors before calculating reports mentioned in point 1.
Within the Keyfleet Management System, we provide clients with a tailor-made Odometer Reading Editing Screen. This tool allows fuel managers to retrieve odometer readings and edit them for further management.
4. Never miss another routine maintenance service
Routine maintenance is cheaper than emergency repair.
On average, the suggested range to receive basic service is every 20 000 to 30 000 kilometres. Without having up-to-date odometer readings on all your vehicles, it isn’t easy to keep track of routine services – especially with a larger fleet.
Keyfleet Management Systems sends a reminder to clients when their following routine maintenance services are due based on the vehicles’ latest odometer readings.
5. Save time
Depending on the size of your company, the fuel manager might have to manage 1000’s of transactions every month. Going through every transaction manually means that you create room for human error and waste valuable time.
The solution? Only look at suspicious, flagged transactions.
This process is called managing transactions by exception. It is the most efficient way to manage your fuel but is challenging to implement if you do not have a specialised program for this purpose.
The Keyfleet Management System allows fuel managers to pull specific reports highlighting transactions that fall outside of the norm with the push of a button. These comprehensive reports make it easy to identify suspicious transactions quickly and address fraud or theft before it becomes a repeated offense.
Want to find out more about fuel management? Download our free 26-page ebook, “The Ultimate Guide to Fuel Management”.
Share this article online:
