With a fleet of around 1,400 vehicles to cater for, Clancy Plant found that the capacity of its fuel controller units wasn’t sufficient to contain the data it needed for a thorough fuel usage monitoring system. Fortunately, Merridale was on hand to provide a solution.
The Clancy Group is a multi-utility business, renowned for its expertise in civil engineering for nationwide water distribution pipelines and infrastructure.
Clancy Plant, the equipment arm of the company, is responsible for some 1,400 vehicles, deployed throughout the country in support of the group’s operations, delivered by Clancy Docwra. Clancy Plant found that its existing fuel controller unit was wanting. “It wasn’t giving us the data we needed,” says Head of Sales and Corporate Accounts, David Janes.
“For operational reasons, we wanted to allocate fuelling keys to the entire inventory,” continues David. “But as the fleet expanded, we simply ran out of capacity on the database of previous fuel controller units. We were having to remove line items in order to make room for new entries. Then, of course, we had problems that some vehicles were unable to fill up because they were not on the system.
“It was a case of enough is enough and time to look for a new system. From online research we created an initial shortlist, which then led to a subsequent recommendation for Merridale from another user.”
The refuelling point at the company’s Harefield depot is based on four 15,000 litre tanks.
These are configured as a balanced storage facility, split equally between road diesel for vehicles and gas
oil for the off-road plant. In addition to a replacement for the fuel controller unit, the upgrade included
the provision of tank management systems to enable the real-time status monitoring of current wet stock levels.
The other main hardware element is a Merridale Auditor GX refuelling control unit, covering the dispensing of AdBlue (engine exhaust fluid), as well as diesel and gas oil. Set up for use with vehicle ID proximity datatags, this unit authorises and records details of all fuelling transactions.
The data stored by the Auditor unit is polled daily by Merridale using a GPRS communications link. Having secured the data, this is then processed and collated by the Merridale FuelWorks service to deliver customised management reports and an online dashboard presentation, which can be accessed from any internet browser.
Best practice is a top priority for the Clancy Group, since most of its operations are associated with the quality of the natural environment.
All Clancy Group commercial vehicles are speed restricted and fuel usage is closely measured, in order to fully understand and manage the group’s carbon footprint. A fulltime data analyst is also employed to ensure fleet audit compliance. Crucial tools, such as vehicle tracking telematics and monitoring plant and vehicle refuelling, assist in this process.
“The new setup has been operational for 10 months and is meeting all of our operational requirements,” concludes David. “There were a couple of queries in the early days, just testing the Merridale aftersales support, which worked very well. Fuel usage monitoring has now settled in as part of the group’s routine procedures. It is there and forgotten about now. So as far as I am concerned, it is working perfectly. If I don’t hear of anything, it has got to be right!”
MX-P DEF PUMP FOR DIESEL EXHAUST FLUID
As a result of ever more stringent emissions regulations, another wet stock product, the Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) additive (more commonly known as AdBlue), has become a standard requirement for commercial vehicle depot fuelling facilities.
“From initial installations, involving a separate storage and dispensing package, we are now seeing leading fleet operators wishing to access AdBlue adjacent to the diesel/gas oil fuelling points,” says Sales Director, Stephen Hannan.
Merridale has introduced the MX-P DEF for higher volume throughput installations. Designed to be visually compatible with other systems from the Merridale MX range, the unit can be located either on an island forecourt layout, or as part of a self-contained multi-product tank package.
Since the design is a common element within the MX range, the unit can also be configured within a twin cabinet, coupled with either diesel or gas-oil fuel pumps for simultaneous operation.
For ‘pump’ applications, the unit delivers the product at approximately 35LPM with an accuracy of +/-0.5%. Merridale can also supply dispenser versions for installations where the product is pushed out from the storage tank, under pressure from a remote or submersible pump.
All Merridale units are supplied with integral filters, specialist delivery hoses and stainless-steel automatic cut off nozzles as standard. The fully stainless-steel construction, with features such as an illuminated display of the delivery values and a totaliser function, makes the unit an ideal product for specification, says the company.
Another distinguishing feature is the ability to interface the unit with a separate Merridale fuel management system. Alternatively, the unit can also be supplied with a built in Merridale fuel management system, where the need dictates.
