Construction sites need a lot of fuel and their size and location often makes it difficult to make them totally secure. Which helps explain why construction sites are hotbeds for fuel theft. And it’s a situation that is getting worse. Fuel prices are rising on average, and there’s more construction going on than ever.
Not every site has the budget for robust 24 hour security. Plus, late-night intruders are by no means solely responsible for disappearing fuel. Sad to say, but employees are often a factor in what can be a significant issue.
Perhaps the scariest consideration is that builders, developers and contractors may not even realise they are being robbed.
Securing Your Fleet with Telematics
Fuel theft on construction sites is often an inside job. This is an uncomfortable reality. However, creating a culture of mistrust can be more costly than the fuel itself. Telematics sits quietly in the background, tracking fuel purchases and usage. Issues are flagged, but only if there is an issue. Without telematics, managers are forced to carry-out trust-disrupting checks and investigations, or simply put up with the problem.
Of course, fuel theft can also be down to break-ins, which is a cause that telematics can also identify.
Ultimately, telematics provides an impersonal means of monitoring fuel usage, reducing the need for suspicion whilst pinpointing the cause. By tracking fuel consumption and vehicle activity, anomalies can be detected early, preventing significant losses and maintaining a positive workplace culture.
Cross-Referencing Fuel Purchases
Any large construction site must delegate responsibility for purchasing fuel. It’s inevitable that you’ll get the odd bad-egg that takes advantage of this trust. Data from telematics can be compared to fuel transaction records using construction vehicle management software to flag these issues as they happen. In this way, managers can see what the state of the vehicle was at the time of purchase, including location and fuel tank levels. Any discrepancies, such as fuel purchases made at locations where no company vehicles were present, can be flagged for further investigation, ensuring fuel is only used for legitimate purposes.
This sounds like a lot of work, but it can be as easy as receiving an email notification or clicking a button.
Addressing Fuel Waste from Idling
Idling is another source of fuel waste on construction sites that’s closely linked with theft. It’s not stealing, but sitting around with the engine running needlessly certainly shows a lack of concern for costs. And anyone who’s ever managed a site will tell you that this attitude can be very costly indeed! Monitoring idling times with sophisticated telematics is a passive process. The relevant people will get a simple alert when specific thresholds are exceeded giving them the information they need to crack down on wastage, improve driver efficiency, and ensure compliance with company policies.
More Than a Burglar Alarm
Many construction leaders would see telematics as a no-brainer based on fuel security benefits alone. But telematics tracks all sorts of vehicle data, including state-of-repair, driver-behaviour, fuel consumption, idling time, speed and compliance. For construction companies, this means having the insight needed to be solution-focussed and proactive across multiple areas of the operation..
Building a Comprehensive Fuel Theft Prevention Strategy
Telematics might not be the first technology you think of when you think ‘fuel theft,’ but it’s among the most effective. For many of our clients, telematics is absolutely the reason they’ve seen massive improvements in fuel wastage and efficiency across the board.
Through collecting and processing detailed telematics data, training workers and integrating fuel card information, construction companies can protect their assets and improve their bottom lines.
