Smart fuel controller for trucks

Fuel consumption abuse represents one of the biggest challenges in the transportation industry. Owners of the transportation companies are facing limitations when it comes to real-time monitoring of the fuel consumption and are rarely in a position to identify potential frauds as they occur. Unofficial estimates indicate potential abuse up to 15-20% of the total fuel amount spent. A Macedonian Hardware as a Service (HaaS) company has developed a smart fuel cap that measures and registers the fuel amount poured into the truck’s tank and controls whether the actual amount matches the one presented in the fuel card bill. Most of the solutions existing on the market require rather expensive installation involving fuel tank modifications or connection to the truck cabin in order to have power supply or for ensuring communication. At the same time these different modifications prove to make these solutions vulnerable in terms of easiness for disabling and/or bypassing. The proposed smart fuel cap is installed in less than one minute by a simple plug-and-play method and requires no tank modifications or connection to the vehicle’s power or use of OBD (on-board diagnosis) port. Powered by a battery it is a completely standalone product. Once installed, the product can only be removed with a security key and if unauthorized removal occurs, the system will immediately alert the headquarters. The product measures the amount of fuel added into the tank providing real-time information on whether the purchased fuel really entered the fuel tank. The two layered anti-siphoning protection made of high resistant aluminium prevents any fuel invasion. The information collected from the smart fuel cap is send as regular reports to the tracking company by email and is also accessible at any time via smart phone on a dedicated web platform. The transmission of these real-time data is done via 3G modem that is embedded in the product. The technical characteristics of the product are: • All-in-one integrated software and hardware solution • Battery powered product – 2 years lifetime • 99% measurement precision • Operating temperature -40C/-40F to 85C/122F • Protection of company data by encrypted communication protocol • True virtual computing environment enabled by cloud based technology • Unauthorized removal alarm sensor The solution enables following features and benefits for the users: • Completely standalone product • No need for connection to the vehicle’s power or computer system • No installation costs – installation is done in less than 1 minute • Alerting via email or SMS • Reporting via scheduled and auto reports • Data plan and analytics included The domestic market offers very limited possibilities for exploiting this innovative product. Therefore, the company is dedicated to exploring the possibilities offered by the international market. In particular, the company is interested in establishing cooperation with foreign partner(s) that would introduce the smart fuel cap into their existing portfolio of products and services aimed for the transportation industry. The Macedonian partner is expected to benefit from increased revenue sales, whereas the international partner(s) would benefit from introduction of a new and innovative product, increased market share, improved customer satisfaction and higher financial gains.