Fuel Management: Key Areas To Watch

Jennifer Bagwell, CAFM^®, Mechanic Supervisor,
City of Virginia Beach Fleet Management Division

The City of Virginia Beach owns and operates 11 fueling sites that dispense gas and diesel for city-owned
assets. This allows us to have the most control over the fueling of our assets and collect the largest amount of data. In certain instances, we do allow the use of commercial credits cards but those situations are highly restricted because we relinquish quite a bit of control over the use of those cards and are at the mercy of the fueling station as to what information can be gathered.

It is imperative to stay on top of fuel expenditures to ensure we’re staying on track for budget and also to identify potential losses. We audit every invoice received from the supplier and match the dates to Oil Price Information Service prices for those dates to avoid any potential overcharging; these are then recorded on spreadsheets to help identify trends or patterns. Monthly reviews of expenditures are conducted for budgetary purposes and comparisons with historical data for similar time frames.

Our employees have badges that they must swipe to dispense fuel at the pumps. This allows us to know who is fueling. All assets have fuel keys that must be swiped, which allows us to know what is being fueled. Fuel types (gas/diesel) are restricted per asset to prevent cross fueling and capacities are also set
per asset.

We routinely run reports on all collected data.

This allows us to capture inconsistent odometer readings, irregular fueling times and/or locations, and fueling frequency. Periodic reports on MPG should be run to identify any oddities and allow comparisons to like assets in the fleet.

Fuel tank monitoring software is a must-have; in fact, in most cases, it’s the law. This provides us with real-time data on fuel levels, temperatures, and alarms such as sudden loss. This may indicate either theft or leaks of some sort and requires immediate action in either case. We have also instituted a no-idling policy that restricts idling times with the exception of emergency equipment. This policy and information on employees’ responsibilities and expectations for asset care including fueling was distributed to all current employees via email and is now included in our New Member Orientation for all new hires.

NAFAConnection welcomes your tips for improving fleet processes, solving problems, growing results, and promoting your role in your organization’s success. Submit your tips to: editorial@nafa.org.