New Zealand Refueling Company Tanks Up With RFID

Aug 30, 2007Mini-Tankers, a diesel refueling service based in Auckland, New Zealand, is using high-frequency (HF) passive tags and interrogators, combined with Global Positioning System (GPS) and cell-phone technology, to track its customers' fuel consumption, improve billing and simplify administrative tasks. This enables Mini-Tankers' customers—which include airports, as well as logging, mining, construction and civil engineering companies—to receive detailed fuel-consumption analyses designed to help them make smarter business decisions.

Mini-Tankers contracted Tracient Technologies, a wireless and RFID technology provider in Christchurch, New Zealand, to deploy an RFID- and GPS-based in-vehicle system for metering fuel dispensed in the field by Mini-Tankers' franchisees. The system employs passive 13.56 MHz RFID tags supporting the ISO 15693 and ISO 18000 standards and designed for mounting on metal. It also includes Tracient's handheld Bluetooth-enabled Padl-R HF RFID interrogators, Psion Teklogix's WorkAbout Pro handheld PDA and a GPS unit from Navman.

A small RFID tag, measuring 30 millimeters in diameter, is affixed near the fuel cap of a construction machine or vehicle using super-strength adhesive backing. The tag's unique ID number is linked to a record containing the customer's information, in a database housed at Mini-Tankers' offices. When the time comes to refuel, the driver holds the Padl-R reader near the fuel cap to automatically record its tag number, as well as the date and time of refueling. Prior to the RFID deployment, the driver manually scrolled through a long list of asset names on a handheld computer to choose the correct one.

When the driver returns to the cab, the Padl-R uploads tag data wirelessly (via a Bluetooth connection) to the WorkAbout Pro handheld, which collects fuel measurements from the vehicle's fuel meter via a serial communications cable. All data is then transferred to Mini-Tankers' database via a cellular radio, which is part of the Navman GPS unit. Such automated collection makes it easier to produce an accurate record and invoice showing the date, time and location of delivery, as well as the exact amount of fuel delivered.

Mini-Tankers is offering the RFID-enabled system as an additional service, for which it charges setup and monthly fees based on the number of tags used. "The benefits of the RFID system to our customers are more accurate and efficient billing, and fast, accurate analysis of fuel consumption for specific vehicles," says Neil Edmond, Mini-Tankers' sales and marketing manager, "resulting in customers spending less time reviewing fuel usage, and being able to make better decisions about what equipment to use where, based on fuel consumption, and reduced back-office administration associated with fuel management."

Prior to adopting the RFID system, Mini-Tankers had considered using bar-coding but ultimately decided against that technology because refueling occurs outdoors, often in harsh environments, and bar codes can become unreadable when covered in dirt and dust. Moreover, the company opted not to embed an interrogator in the WorkAbout Pro because its franchisees preferred to keep thePDA in the cab as much as possible, reducing wear and tear and the possibility of damage.

The Northern Gateway Alliance—a public and private organization established by Transit New Zealand to design and build a roadway that winds through ecologically significant and environmentally sensitive areas—tested Mini-Tankers' RFID system for one month in early 2007.

During the pilot, Mini-Tankers reports, the automated data collection allowed fuel-truck operators using the system to save 30 minutes from each 12-hour shift. Since then, the company has RFID-enabled 46 tankers that provide fuel to the Northern Gateway Alliance, and placed RFID tags on Northern Gateway's construction machinery. According to Mini-Tankers, more customers are signing up for the service as well.