India: BPCL Employs Vehicle Tracking System

                                                                                  The system will help the company track the trucks for better logistic efficiency. It will also prevent pilferage and fuel adulteration.  BPCL will be able to track the trucks as it ferries fuel between its 89 depots and 8,300 retail outlets. The company has spent Rs 1.5 crore for setting up the system. It will also incur a monthly expenditure of Rs 185 a truck for running the system.

All the trucks would be fitted with a GPS device, which will be integrated with a digital map at the backend server. This feature will allow the company officials to view the location of the trucks in real-time, 24 hours a day. Each vehicle is represented on the map and in a vehicle list showing vehicle status, location and details.

Large scale fuel adulteration takes place across the country, especially when petrol or diesel is being transported from depots to retails outlets. The system addresses the problems by setting up alarms, when the drivers take unscheduled halts or deviate from predetermined routes.

Sanjay Krishnamurthy, Executive Director Retail, said if a truck deviates from the fixed route frequently and if the company suspects that the driver is indulging in adulteration it will carry out raid with the help of the police, he said.

S. Radhakrishnan, Director (Marketing), said the data generated from the tracking systems will help in a more effective and efficient management of the logistics business.

PetrolWorld 201008