On-site refueling fleet automates billing

U.S. Fleet Services, founded in 1997, is one of the nation’s largest providers of fleet fuel outsourcing, with customers ranging from FedEx and Coca-Cola to Home Depot. It refuels customer’s fleet vehicles during the customer's off-hours, reducing fleet downtime to save money, improve driver productivity, eliminate environmental liabilities, reduce administrative costs and more.

By using Intermec's mobile computers and barcode systems in its trucks, U.S. Fleet Services hopes to extend its record-keeping capabilities at the driver level. Drivers scan a barcode on the outside of a customer's truck, using a laser scanner built into the on-board computer. The driver then uses the device's integrated 802.11b radio to communicate wirelessly with the company's own truck's electronic fuel meter, specifying the exact type and quantity of fuel, to the tenth of a gallon, consumed by the vehicle.

Intermec, based in Everett, WA, said the system lets U.S. Fleet Services provide detailed fuel management reports to its customers every 24 hours via a secure FleetTrack web site and improve delivery service with greater accuracy than a paper-based, manual system. After fueling a customer's entire fleet of vehicles, drivers are able to provide a receipt using the onboard printer, the company added.