Efficient Operating at Argos Direct

Monitoring the fuel efficiency of delivery vehicles is a simple matter of measuring how much fuel is put into the tank and then recording the distance travelled between fill-ups. Most motorists will have done the calculations to compare the mpg figures achieved against the figures provided by the vehicle manufacturers.

Nowadays many vehicles are fitted with on-board computers, which will provide the information instantly, during the journey. Drivers can see how their economy performance will vary according to their technique as well as traffic conditions, on motorways and stop-start urban environments. More meaningful information however, such as trends and the overall performance of a vehicle or its driver, requires further analysis using historic information.

For large commercial fleet operators, such as Argos, this process involves recording fuel usage, tank-to-tank and then calculating vehicle miles per gallon (mpg) performance on a weekly basis. Next to wages, fuel accounts for the largest share of the operating costs and good governance requires that it is managed carefully.

The Argos group uses its significant purchasing power to obtain bulk supplies of diesel fuel, which is then held at fuelling points at key distribution centres. Each of these is controlled by Merridale Auditor unit, supplied by MIS Fuel Monitoring of Wolverhampton.

Covering the north of England and Scotland, the Argos Direct distribution centre at Acton Gate, Stafford has a fuelling point and garage facilities, supporting a fleet of over 70 vehicles. The fleet comprises local delivery vans and larger trucks with trailers and a number of artics for inter-city trunking.

Drivers access the fuel pump by inserting a coded key into the Auditor unit and entering vehicle mileage reading and driver ID number onto the keypad. Details of the transactions are then downloaded periodically by the traffic management office for processing.

As well as recording fuel usage, the Merridale software also keeps watch on stock levels and re-ordering requirements. Overall usage of diesel at Stafford is around 30 thousand litres per week across the year. The site has two 30 thousand litres storage tanks, with pumps for both gas-oil and diesel.

Argos transport is managed in partnership with Exel Logistics. The use of the Merridale FuelFX software dates back to 1997 when the distribution centre was first opened. Since then the equipment has operated reliably, the only major issue being the need for installing lightening protection after an electrical storm caused the system to crash.

According to Exel's Brian Smallman, this experience highlighted the effectiveness of using the Merridale system: "Without it we were back to a manual process, recording the fuel use and trying to work mpgs out from there. It was time consuming and very difficult because we were not used to doing it that way anymore."

"The information is very important because if we find anomalies they will show up quickly on the mpg returns, and a poor performing vehicle can be costly to the business. The system is very efficient for monitoring mpg performance feedback on both vehicles and drivers."

On using Merridale, Brian Smallman says, "The software is very user-friendly. It is well put together and it ensures that users stay on track and guides you on what you are doing and prevents you from making any errors in entering data."

"We have to take a general view because this site operates a mixed fleet of Volvo's DAFS and Scanias. We know from our Merridale records which vehicles are good on economy. Stafford drivers are often assigned to different vehicles, so we do have to take into account the mpg performance that relates to the vehicles that the driver has used."

By recording mileage each time a vehicle is refuelled, the Merridale system helps to ensure that service intervals are scheduled correctly. Additionally it also facilitates the deployment of vehicles around the business, to ensure balanced utilisation of the fleet.