Six patterns that reveal fuel theft

Filling without movement, off-route fills, fuel-to-distance gaps — the signals that never show up on an invoice.

Why the invoice does not show theft

A fuel invoice or fuel-card statement tells you how much was paid for, not what went into the tank or what was used for work. Tampering usually shows when three sources are compared: fuel-card data, the tank level from a fuel sensor, and distance and route from the tracker. These are six patterns that appear in that comparison.

1. Refuelling without movement

A refuel is recorded while the vehicle has not moved for hours. This usually means the fuel went into another tank or another vehicle.

2. Refuelling off route

A refuel at a station that is not on the vehicle’s route that day, or at a time when the tracking history shows the vehicle was somewhere else.

3. A gap between fuel and distance

The fuel added does not match the distance driven since the previous refuel, compared with the vehicle’s normal consumption.

4. A sudden drop in tank level

The fuel-level sensor sees the tank fall quickly while the engine is off or the vehicle is parked, which is the typical pattern of fuel being drained.

5. Less fuel than was paid for

The amount the tank sensor records after refuelling is lower than the amount on the invoice or the card.

6. Higher consumption than usual

A vehicle or driver consistently uses more than similar vehicles on similar routes. The cause can be tampering, long idling, or a fault that needs maintenance.

What you need to catch these patterns

A tracker that records route, distance and ignition, a fuel-level sensor in the tank, fuel cards linked to vehicles, and a platform that compares the data and alerts you when a pattern appears, instead of reconciling invoices by hand at the end of the month.

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