F U E L D E L I V E RY
the fuel oil truck re-enters coverage, at which point it transmits the stored messages. For fuel oil companies with multiple offices, the system can help
drive out costs, Redmond noted, by allowing centralized dispatch. When a deliveryman is finished with a delivery, the onboard
system prints an invoice for the customer. The invoice can display useful information such as whether the tank was full after deliv- ery, price, taxes, customer balance, any discounts that may apply for prompt payment, miscellaneous charges and customer pay- ments. This advances the billing cycle by at least a couple of days, Redmond noted, no small consideration when fuel wholesalers are expecting payment in 10 days. Delivery forecasting capability and a routing program, as well
as turn-by-turn navigation, combine to push delivery orders out to the handheld units. Redmond said the system also features “geocoding”—in which the GPS unit records the longitude and latitude each time a delivery is made for the first time to a new fuel oil account. Thereafter, if the GPS shows the truck at a location that matches none of the geocoded locations, the system will issue a notice that the truck might be in the wrong place.
AUTOMATED WIRELESS ENVIRONMENT Automated Wireless Environment’s system enables fuel oil dealers
to control the complete supply chain, from the desktop, in real time, said Damon Boyer, sales and marketing manager for the company, based in Lake Hopatcong, N.J. For example, Automated Wireless integrates with all tank monitors, Boyer said. “We can compare and contrast real-time with our degree day
projections, along with knowing how much is in the tank, so it’s a profitable delivery,” Boyer said. The system includes a feature enabling an office manager to
remotely shut down the pump on the truck without talking to the driver. This feature might be used in cases when a customer is inside, on the phone with the office and the delivery man is outside. The person in the office would shut down the pump on the
truck at a gallon or dollar amount specified over the phone by the customer. Since the customer has given the green light for the delivery, knowing what it would cost, and presumably can afford it, the account is less likely to end up in collections, Boyer pointed out. The way that Standard Oil in Bridgeport, Conn., uses the
Automated Wireless system seems to illustrate Boyer’s point about controlling the supply chain from the desktop in real time. Standard Oil’s service vehicles have computers bolted into
the space between the front seats. When a technician starts the vehicle and signs on to the computer, he is in effect clocking in
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