Excessive Fuel Report Follow

Overview

The Excessive Fuel Report flags fuel transactions where the quantity purchased surpasses your asset's tank capacity. This can indicate potential fuel discrepancies or unauthorized use.

Report Fields:

• Asset: The name of the vehicle or equipment.
• Operator: The name of the person driving or operating the asset.
• Fuel Type: The type of fuel used (e.g., gasoline, diesel).
• Fuel Tank Capacity: The maximum amount of fuel the asset can hold.
• Transaction Date: The date and time the fuel purchase occurred.
• Location: The name, address, and city of the fueling station.
• Fuel Card: The number of the fuel card used.
• Fuel Purchased: The quantity of fuel purchased (in gallons).
• Unit Price: The cost per gallon of fuel.
• Total Cost: The total amount paid for the fuel.
• Pre-Purchase Level: The percentage of the fuel tank before the purchase.
• Purchase Level: The estimated percentage of the fuel tank at the time of the purchase.
• Post-Purchase Level: The percentage of the fuel tank after the purchase.
• Pre-Purchase Gallons: The estimated number of gallons in the tank before the purchase.
• Purchased Gallons: The estimated number of gallons in the tank at the purchase.
• Post-Purchase Gallons: The estimated number of gallons in the tank after the purchase.
• Branch: The department or location where the asset is assigned.
• Tags: Keywords or labels associated with the asset.

Perquisites For This Report

• You Must be Subscribed to IntelliShift's Fuel Management Product
• Once Subscribed, Ensure that you set up Your Fuel Accounts
• Once Your Fuel Accounts are Set Up, Add & Assign your Fuel Cards
• Lastly, Within Asset Administration ensure that all Asset's have the correct Fuel Tank Capacity. 

How to Use the Report

1. Access the Excessive Fuel Report from the IntelliShift platform "Analytics" Product or IntelliShift's "Telematics" Product and navigate to Reports 
2. Select to run the Report By Asset, Operator, or Branch, and make a section.  
3. Select the desired date range for the report.
4. Click "Next"

The report will display a list of assets with Excessive Fuel Purchases based on the selected criteria.

Understanding the Report

• IntelliShift Methodology:

  IntelliShift automatically assigns fuel transactions to assets based on the following criteria:

  1. Direct Card Assignment: If the fuel card is directly assigned to an asset, the fuel is allocated to that asset.
  2. Fuel Transaction Matching: If no direct card assignment exists, IntelliShift matches the transaction to an asset using VIN, plate number, or asset name (in that order) based on the data coming with the fuel transaction from your card provider.
  3. Excess Fuel Detection: Once assigned, IntelliShift compares the purchased fuel quantity to the asset's current tank level and tank capacity. An excess fuel purchase is triggered when the purchased fuel quantity, combined with the current tank level, exceeds the asset's tank capacity by 15% or more.
  4. Pre-Purchase Level: IntelliShift acquires the Fuel Tank Level from the ECM of the vehicle and will take the average Fuel Tank Reading leveraging 30 minutes prior to fuel transaction. The reason for this is to mitigate fuel level changes as described in "Fuel Level Fluctuations"
  5. Pre-Purchase Gallons: The estimated amount of fuel in the asset's tank before the transaction, calculated by multiplying the asset's fuel tank capacity by the pre-purchase tank level percentage.
  6. Purchase Level: The percentage of the fuel tank that is full after the transaction, calculated by dividing the total gallons of fuel in the tank (pre-purchase gallons + purchased gallons) by the asset's fuel tank capacity and multiplying by 100.
  7. Post Purchase Level: IntelliShift acquires the Fuel Tank Level from the ECM of the vehicle and will take the minimum Fuel Tank Reading up to 60 minutes after the fuel transaction. The reason for this is to mitigate fuel level changes as described in "Fuel Level Fluctuations"
  8. Post-Purchase Gallons: The estimated amount of fuel in the asset's tank after the transaction, calculated by multiplying the asset's fuel tank capacity by the pre-purchase tank level percentage.

Additional Tips

• Set a regular schedule to review the Excessive Fuel Report. This could be weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, depending on your fleet's size and needs. Don't wait for issues to arise. Proactive review allows you to address potential problems early on.
• Ensure that the tank capacities entered into the system are accurate. Inaccurate tank capacities can lead to false alarms.
• Regularly verify and update tank capacities as needed.

How IntelliShift Captures Fuel Tank Level

IntelliShift captures fuel level % from J1939 and OBDII Engine Parameters. J1939 is a standard communication protocol used in heavy-duty vehicles, while OBDII is a standard communication protocol used in most light-duty vehicles.

Fuel Level Fluctuations

Fuel level fluctuations are common in vehicles due to a number of factors, including:

• Fuel Sloshing: Fuel sloshes around in the fuel tank as the vehicle moves, which can cause the fuel level to appear to change.
• Temperature Changes: Fuel expands and contracts with changes in temperature, which can also affect the fuel level.
• Vehicle Dynamics: The way a vehicle is driven can also affect fuel level readings. For example, accelerating and braking can cause the fuel level to fluctuate.
• Fuel Sensor Faults: Are a significant factor that can cause fluctuations in fuel readings. These sensors, which measure the amount of fuel in the tank, can malfunction due to various reasons, including Physical Damage, Electrical Issues, Calibration Errors

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why Does IntelliShift's Excessive Fuel Purchase Report have a 15% variance?
  • Do to the assets's fluctuations in current fuel tank level from fuel sloshing, Temperature, Vehicle Dynamics, or Fuel Sensor issues can cause variances in the fuel reading. 
• What are some common causes for a fuel transaction to show as an excessive purchase?
  • If you are fueling your asset with its assigned card, then using that card to fuel auxiliary tanks, or equipment  it can cause that extra fuel to be over the threshold and trigger as an exception.
  • If Your vehicle's fuel tank size within IntelliShift is not set correct can as well cause fuel purchases 
  • If the Transaction Time is Incorrect from the Fuel Station. Intellishift doesnt control the transaction time, this data is provided from your fuel card provider. If the transaction time is captured after the asset had actually fueled the vehicle, it can cause the system to see the new fuel tank level at the time that the transaction had occurred causing an excessive fuel purchase. 
• What Will Happen if My Asset does not have a Defined Fuel Tank Capacity within IntelliShift?
  • If your asset does not have a Fuel Tank Capacity defined within the Assets Profile, the transactions for the asset will not trigger as an excessive fuel purchase as there is no fuel tank capacity to compare fuel transactions to. 
• How does the IntelliShift handle assets that do not report current fuel tank level? 
  • If an asset doesn't support providing current fuel tank level, Intellishift will fall back to looking at Fuel Gallons Purchased, and comparing that directly to an asset's fuel tank capacity. 
• Why Does some exceptions not have a Pre/Post Purchase Gallons or Percentage?
  • For the Pre Fueling Data, If an asset doesnt have any tracking details within 10 minutes prior to the fuel transaction there would not be a defined Pre Purchase Tank % / Gallons
  • For the Post Fueling Data, If an asset doesnt have any tracking details within 20 minutes after the fuel transaction there would not be a defined Post Purchase Tank % / Gallons
  • If your Vehicle Does not Support Fuel Tank Level from the ECM of the vehicle.