Tank Monitoring Can Be the Right Solution
By Ed Burke, Dennis K. Burke Inc.
IT’S KIND OF AMAZING WHEN WE LOOK BACK
at some of the technology-driven changes
our industry has made over the past 10 or
15 years. Without a doubt, thanks to these
innovations, we all do our jobs faster, safer
and more efficiently.
One of the neat technologies that is avail-
able for fuel dealers to add to their toolbox
is wireless remote tank level monitoring.
Fuel level data from your customer’s tank is
sent remotely and monitored by your staff
to ensure that their tank has ample fuel to
operate without interruption.
Remote tank monitoring systems allow
the fuel dealer to accurately monitor how
much fuel the customer has in their tank to
help avoid those late night emergency fuel
deliveries, costly runouts, and inefficient
partial fills.
HOW THEY WORK
Wireless remote tank monitoring has
been around for a while, and there is a wide
range of products available on the market
made to fit just about any tank application.
Typically, you have a battery-powered or
solar-powered wireless transmitter that sits
on top of the tank, attached to a measure-
ment probe that goes into the tank. The
installation is fairly easy to do, but some
systems seem to require more maintenance
and adjustments than others.
Tank data is usually sent once or twice
a day to a secure, password-protected
website that can be accessed from virtu-
ally anywhere. Dispatchers can view data
that would include tank level information,
product usage, fill history, as well as alarm
status, battery life, signal strength, etc.
There are plenty of different systems
with a myriad of options available for the
fuel dealer to choose from. Youmight decide
to look at systems that can push product
volume data more frequently, or you might
want the ability to have email alerts sent
to your cell phone or mobile devices. The
options seem endless.
BETTER FUEL MANAGEMENT
With tank monitoring, dispatchers can
use accurate tank levels and details to better
schedule and optimize your deliveries to the
site. Your delivery vehicle brings the right
amount of product at the right time.
With time-based deliveries, we would
typically be filling the tank about 50 percent
of capacity. Using remote tank monitoring,
we would probably average closer to 75
percent fills with fewer deliveries. That can
translate into reduced overall delivery costs.
There’s also less paperwork, fewer phone
calls and faxes for the back-office too.
Although our dispatchers would love
tank monitoring on all of our customers’
tanks, the reality is that some sites don’t do
the volume to justify the monthly fee and
equipment expense.
JUST DON’T LET ME RUN OUT
There are a lot of situations that could
makeremotemonitoringanidealtoolforyour
business. So how do you determine which
sites to set up with tank monitoring? First,
you would take a look at your customer’s
tank size, usage, and delivery requirements.
Consider how often you would like the tank
to transmit volume data to the website.
Talk with your customers about tank
monitoring. Many will tell you flat out
“just don’t let me run out.” Convince the
guy who calls too often for same-day loads
saying, “I forgot to check the tanks again.”
You might have customers with
irregular fueling patterns. A good example
is a marina that typically does low volume
during the week and heavy volume on
the weekend. You might want to consider
looking at systems that send data at more
frequent intervals to get a more accurate
view of volume levels during peak periods.
It’s worth noting that during power
outages, the tank will continue to transmit
information to the website. In some cir-
cumstances, you might want to consider
monitoring tanks on equipment like standby
power systems or emergency generators.
HARD LESSON LEARNED
Investing the time to determine which
system best fits your requirements is time
well spent. You’re making an investment.
Ask the vendors for references that you
can talk to with similar businesses as your
own. Try to visit a site and see a system in
operation.
I say this because we experienced
problems with a system that we used a few
years back. The units would fail in extreme
cold weather, causing runouts at the worst
possible time. With the investment we had
already made in hardware, it was a tough
decision to change vendors, but a good one.
We took a loss on all of the hardware that
we had and started over again - a little wiser.
I guess the lesson learned here is that it’s a
good idea to test before you invest.
In the end, it’s all about improving our
service, and keeping our customers happy.
It’s easy to see how innovations like wire-
less remote tank monitoring will be the
tools necessary to staying competitive while
providing better and more reliable service
in the years ahead.
Remote Monitoring
August 2013 • 21
