Inspection and calibration matters

“Next to wages, fuel consumption is the largest on-cost for all transport operators,” says Merridale sales director, Stephen Hannan. “We can all relate to the well-worn management adage – if you can’t measure it you can’t control it.”

Installing top quality refuelling equipment with all the necessary stock management tools in place is a good start. But if the fleet operator is really serious about fuel management, then it is important to ensure that the facilities are inspected and calibrated at routine intervals, to ensure continuity and total operational resilience.

In other words, the implementation of regular inspection and calibration procedures are imperative, to ensure not only 100 percent availability of fuel, but also the accuracy of the data used for cost accounting and for the management of vehicle performance.

“Next to wages, fuel consumption is the largest on-cost for all transport operators, we can all relate to the well-worn management adage – if you can’t measure it you can’t control it.”

Regular inspection supports the requirements for documentation for ISO certification and DSEAR operational risk assessments. This is important to demonstrate that the operators’ depot facilities – the storage tanks and dispensing facilities, have all been checked annually. In the event of an insurance claim, the underwriters will require some form of documentation to assure them that the installation has been inspected by a qualified third-party organisation.

Apart from the reassurance of having regular service checks, there are also more logical benefits in keeping the equipment well-tuned. Best practice will safeguard against any equipment failure and the knock-on consequences of having to make alternative arrangements for fuelling. These situations can also threaten to cost your reputation for delivering all important customer service.

Accuracy and regular calibration checks are also important to the monitoring and reporting structures. The purpose of monitoring is to understand where you stand with fuel usage. The system needs to be well tuned to be used for measuring a specific vehicle’s mpg performance. This is important for equipment trials and for providing the data needed to support driver training, as well as other statistics concerning the overall use of fuel.

A Merridale system will tell you exactly what you have put into your vehicle tank and how efficiently the fuel is being used. However, this information is meaningless if the pumps were not calibrated accurately.

General maintenance checks can also spot potential storage tank and pipeline issues such as internal (bund) leaks that can only be detected through accurate instrumentation. Some cases are more obvious such as worn hoses, failed displays or damaged nozzles. Other problems may be less obvious and are only likely to be spotted by an experienced service technician.

For more information or if you would like to arrange for your installation to be checked by a Merridale service technician, please call 01902 350 700.