Protect your company from fuel fraud thanks to Connected fleets

The logistics sector faces challenges that require tighter and tighter cost and time management. These challenges force Fleet Managers to leverage vehicle data beyond vehicle tracking through an on-board GPS tracking device.

One of these challenges is the inflation impacting gas prices. In that context, drivers may be tempted to use their fuel card for their personal car. This type of fraud seems to be becoming more and more widespread and increase  fleet managers needs to monitor a wide range of vehicle parameters in real time.

We interviewed a transport company based in the South of Paris, specialising in the transport of refrigerated and medical products throughout Europe. Its customers include some of the big names in subcontracted logistics, as well as French groups specialising in luxury goods. Its 180 employees include 90 LV drivers, 80 HGV drivers and around ten administrative staff.

Location and time constraints

Unlike logisticians specialising in ‘last mile’ delivery, this company only transports goods from platform to platform. Deliveries are made in Europe, from Monday to Friday, using 180 light and heavy vehicles, most of which are refrigerated and/or specialised in medical transport.

In France, flows are mainly North-South, along the A6/A7 motorways, with a lead time of generally D+1. Trucks are generally allocated to a single driver, so there is little or no planning involved. However, in its logistics business, which is strongly focused on the medical and luxury sectors, the company faces a few specific challenges:

• The high market value of certain shipments, increasing customer’s requirement to track their real-time location
• Tight delivery times that can be challenging to respect, which makes it essential to  track live progress, and produce proof in the event of a dispute. This can help avoid late delivery penalties.

“Hence the need for a real-time vehicle geolocation and tracking system”, explains the company’s fleet manager. “A few years ago, we signed up to a GPS tracking system, which we thoughed worked well”.

12,000 litres of fuel diverted each year

Unfortunately, as we mentioned in the beginning of our article, a new problem has appeared in recent years; fuel theft by unscrupulous drivers.

“We’ve already had a number of fuel embezzlements, including one involving 3,000 liters and another involving 6,000 liters”, says our contact. He estimates that between “10,000 to 12,000 liters of gas a year” iare wrongfully paid by his company. That’s a total loss of almost €20,000 including tax for the company.

That’s why he needed real-time monitoring of fuel data in addition of geolocation. “That’s something that our previous application did not offer”. By collecting real-time data natively transmitted by vehicles to the manufacturer via an on-board 4/5G chip, Echoes is able to offer monitoring of numerous parameters in its CarFleet application, including :

• The location and history of journeys
• Total mileage and distance covered on each stage
• Tank or battery level
• Detailed history of fill-ups and recharges for electric vehicles
• Fuel consumption

CarFleet, the anti-fraud solution for fleet managers

Thanks to this data, nothing could be simpler for the fleet manager than to reconcile the fill-up data available in CarFleet with that supplied by the refiner: “All you have to do is compare the extractions from our AS24 refiner with the Echoes data to quickly realize an inconsistency and take action”, explains the fleet manager.

At this company, no fraud has been reported since CarFleet was introduced. There is no doubt that internal communication about the use of CarFleet discouraged employees who might otherwise be tempted to commit fraud.

With 20 compatible brands, CarFleet is now the most comprehensive anti-fraud solution on the market, requiring no installation of a box, no intervention on the vehicle and no commitment from the customer.