COMPLEX FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR FUEL TRANSPORTATION

摘要

The paper describes the structure of a fleet management system for road transportation companies with special regard to the transportation of fuel. The article outlines the schematic structure (central server and on-board computers) of the system. Therefore the details of the system elements and communication techniques are given. The system is based on two on-board computers with built-in GPS and communication module. The main unit measures the operation characteristics, the geographical position of the truck and logs the activity of the driver. The main unit and the antennas are built into the tractor. The secondary unit is built into the tank-wagon. It identifies the wagon and receives information from the fuel metering system. It forwards the data to the main unit via CAN bus. This unit must be explosion proof with ATEX licence. The collected data is sent to a central database server via GSM network. The communication channel is redundant; it uses both the GPRS (IP) and the SMS channels. The incoming data are evaluated and stored in a database. If necessary the central server can send an alarm to a given e-mail address or even a mobile phone. In this structure communication from the server towards the truck is plausible as well. Aided by this the incoming data packages can be confirmed, a written message can be sent to the driver and the parameters of the on-board units can be set. Trucks are detectable and observable almost constantly (online) and the operating parameters (running performance of vehicles, energy consumption, activities and work time of drivers, delivery performance) can be followed by a later evaluation of data stored in the centre (offline). The bottlenecks and threats of such a system are outlined with special regard to transportation of dangerous goods, testing through a real-world application of the largest Hungarian fuel transportation company. The possibilities of application of the incoming data are described also. The processing and using of data are explained in detail, corresponding to the maintenance, safety and accounts. Finally the advantages of the system, the experiences and further development possibilities are summarized.