How To Prevent And Reduce Fuel Theft

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Fuel thieves often sneak into your yard in the middle of the night to siphon fuel. An unguarded compound is often an easy target for thieves, it gives them plenty of time to commit their crimes without being noticed. While some of the fleet managers have installed security fuel caps, it is not effective as thieves can puncture the tank or even remove the tank from the vehicle entirely. Another concern would be drilling a hole in the fuel tank can easily cause a spark that could result in an explosion. That is the worst-case scenario and the damage is unimaginable.

Vehicle Hijack

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Most drivers usually work solo and they are easily becoming a victim of hijacking. The criminals will patrol around highways to hunt for an easy victim, usually tank trucks, container lorries, and trailer trucks are vulnerable as most of them are only allowed to drive in the middle of the night. There are incidents whereby drivers leaving their vehicle unattended for a toilet break or to rest, resulting in the vehicle fuel tank being damaged or worse, hijacked by criminals. 

Misuse of Fuel Card

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Most fleet managers will be assigning fuel cards to their employees whereby they will purchase fuel with the allocated amount in the fuel card. However, some employees will misuse the fuel card for personal gain and sell fuel for a profit. It is usually very hard to identify such misconduct unless there is proof showing the discrepancies between fuel spent and fuel consumed. 

Luckily there are ways to identify fuel theft and stop it immediately. Below are a few of them:

Installing Security Devices At Your Premise

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In order to avoid fuel siphoning, consider installing security cameras at your premise. Thieves often target places with a poor security system, they often strike at night during the weekend when there is no operation as there is a lower risk of being caught. You should equip your yard, warehouse or factory with motion sensor lights in order to illuminate whoever walks past as well as security cameras with Wi-fi backup feature in order to keep a cloud record in the event of theft. 

Educate Your Drivers

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Your drivers should be aware of the consequences of fuel theft and take precautions to prevent it from happening. Firstly, you can encourage your drivers to plan for their journey, which includes strategic refueling planning. It is always safer to refuel at a familiar petrol station. Secondly, you can ask your drivers to adopt defensive parking techniques by always keeping an eye out for any potential danger during delivery; always park their vehicles at well-lit and guarded places so the risk of fuel theft is low.

Get A Fleet Management System With Fuel Sensor

One of the best ways to prevent fuel theft is to install a fleet management system that comes equipped with a fuel sensor. The platform tracks the whereabouts of your vehicle in real-time and with the aid of the fuel sensor, you can have a record of how much fuel you have spent over the span of 24 hours, 7 days a week. If there is a discrepancy in fuel spent, you will be the first to know and you can investigate further.

It is important to take preventative measures to stop or minimise potential fuel theft that could affect the profitability of your business. You can practice all the above-mentioned methods and have a peace of mind.