Receiving or making a fuel delivery seems pretty straightforward – a petroleum trailer or tank truck pulls up to the loading rack or storage tank and loads or unloads the required amount of fuel. In reality, there are numerous pieces of critical data during each fuel delivery that must be recorded, collected and reviewed if the delivery routine is to achieve its ultimate level of competence and cost-effectiveness.
The problem lies in the actual collection and analysis of all of that data; there is not a delivery-truck driver alive who wants to log every piece of data from a delivery, nor a back-office staff that wants to manually enter that logged information into a computer spreadsheet – especially if the delivery company has a fleet that numbers in the dozens. That’s why there is resistance to comprehensively tracking delivery data, which then results in an incomplete view of the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire fuel-delivery operation.
To the rescue comes Civacon with the CivaCommand Smart Tank System and CivaConnect fleet analysis tool. CivaCommand is a highly engineered but easy to use system that consolidates access to the many different control systems on the trailer – including overfill control, on-board monitoring, pneumatic (air pressure) control, crossover prevention, security, electronic product-grade indicators (PGI), troubleshooting and usage history. The system operates through the use of an easy-to-read graphic touchscreen that communicates wirelessly with all of the delivery vehicle’s operations and components.
Working hand-in-hand with the CivaCommand system, CivaConnect has been designed to be a tool that communicates the visibility and efficiency of fuel-delivery operations, which takes on added importance when staff may be limited. With many dispatchers working remotely, CivaConnect also enables fleet managers to keep track of their shipments with no need to check in with, or track down, a dispatcher.
Speaking specifically of usage history, the CivaConnect interface can track, store and create a usage report for the following fuel-delivery actions:
- Whether or not a fuel-retain situation has occurred, and how many times fuel retain has happened over a selected period of time.
- The number of retain faults that may have occurred if the CivaCommand Smart Elbow becomes dislodged during a delivery.
- If the vehicle is outfitted with a crossover prevention system (COPS), the number of times a potential fuel-crossover incident was thwarted or actually occurred.
- Various forms of historical usage data that can be reviewed and used to identify inefficiencies and improve performance, including:
- A probe’s serial number, installation date and last time it was wetted.
- A green-red-yellow indicator that will let the driver know if the probe is in good operating condition, needs to be replaced, or may be due to be serviced or replaced.
- Flow-time average.
- Non-flow-time average.
- Total delivery-time average.
Additionally, any exception-based notifications that are communicated to CivaConnect by the CivaCommand system will provide fleet managers with only the most necessary alerts and not flood them with performance minutiae, though in-depth data is certainly available.
As the industry’s most advanced tank trailer fuel delivery system, the CivaCommand Smart Tank System and its CivaConnect cohort promise to be indispensable tools for fuel delivery companies and their drivers who strive to optimize the accuracy, efficiency and safety of their delivery operations.
For more information on Civacon and its complete lines of products and systems that have been designed to advance the safety and reliability of high-volume loading and unloading of petroleum products and other liquid or dry bulk commodities, please visit civacon.com.