Fleet fuel management system
A fleet fueling system may be implemented with controllers electronically interfacing with fuel dispensers at dispensing stations and communicating via a wide area network with one or more computing device implementing multiple subsystems. Hardware components and subsystems may be configured to avoid operating errors and provide end-to-end functionality, including one or more of: avoiding damage to movable readers that can collect information about assets positioned at fuel dispensing stations, selectively authorizing fuel to be dispensed based on the types and amount of fuel those assets are authorized to receive, quickly and reliably entering information about assets, providing analytics relating to fuel usage per asset, predicting future fuel needs at each of multiple fuel dispensing sites and scheduling fuel deliveries based on predicted needs, and detecting or correcting operating errors in the system.
1. A fuel dispensing station configured to dispense fuel to a vehicle at the fuel dispensing station for fueling, the station comprising:
a fuel dispensing nozzle;
a controller configured to control the flow through the fuel dispensing nozzle; and
a movable reader comprising a cable coupling the movable reader to the controller, wherein
the movable reader is configured to read information about the vehicle when moved to a position proximate the fuel dispensing station;
a dock configured to hold the movable reader; and
a sensor configured to indicate when the movable reader is in the dock,
wherein the controller is configured to:
selectively enable fuel to flow through the dispensing nozzle based at least in part on information about the vehicle read with the movable reader and the output of the sensor indicating the movable reader is in the dock; and
preventing damage to the movable reader by selectively disabling fuel from flowing through the dispensing nozzle based on the sensor indicating the movable reader is not in the dock.
2. The fuel dispensing station of claim 1 , wherein:
the controller is further configured to:
access information indicating a type of fuel for the vehicle based on the information about the vehicle read with the sensor;
selectively enable fuel to flow is based further in part on the type of fuel for the vehicle and a type of fuel the station is configured to dispense.
3. The fuel dispensing station of claim 1 , wherein:
the controller is further configured to:
access information indicating a size of fuel tank for the vehicle based on the information about the vehicle read with the sensor;
selectively disable fuel to flow is based further in part on the amount of fuel dispensed in relation to the size of the fuel tank.