When it comes to forecourt technology, wet stock management consoles tend to run quietly in the background, doing their job without much thought from anyone beyond the site manager. But that quiet reliability can be deceptive, says Jason Grant, global project manager at Veeder-Root. “As forecourts become more connected, data-driven, and central to how operators run their businesses, the automatic tank gauge (ATG) has become one of the most important pieces of equipment on site.”
He says many consoles still in service today were installed well before mobile alerts, cloud-based dashboards and remote connectivity became standard parts of daily operations. “These older consoles were built for accuracy and durability, but longevity comes with a cost. As components age, spare parts become hard – or impossible – to source, service call-outs take longer to resolve and the system falls further behind what modern wet stock management requires.”
Grant says this means reconciling inventory takes more manual effort. Diagnosing an issue often means a technician on-site rather than a quick remote check. If left exposed, inventory data can be viewed or altered, configuration settings changed without an operator’s knowledge and, in more serious cases, tank monitoring or dispensing disrupted altogether.
“When a legacy console fails, the disruption rarely stays contained to a single piece of equipment. A fault in tank monitoring can delay a delivery, interrupt dispensing or trigger a compliance concern. As parts for older platforms become scarcer, a secondary market for third-party manufactured, rebuilt or remanufactured parts has emerged. Using parts sourced outside a manufacturer’s approved network is never advised. They can compromise certification, void warranty cover and undermine the very reliability the original equipment was built to provide.”
Running smoothly
Grant also points out that ransomware and intrusion attempts against energy, utilities and industrial operators across Europe have climbed steadily over the past couple of years. “An incident affecting a fuel retailer’s ATG may not expose credit card or personal data, but it can still affect customers. A tank monitoring fault or blocked delivery can mean a site running dry, a forecourt taken offline for diagnostics, or a compliance flag that takes time to resolve.
“In a market where drivers have little patience for a forecourt that isn’t running smoothly, unplanned downtime is rarely just an inconvenience. It’s money lost.”
Grant’s advice is therefore to upgrade to a modern platform which will offer remote visibility. This means inventory, alarms and diagnostics accessible from a computer or mobile device, without needing someone on-site to check a screen.
He says this will give forecourt operators:
• Faster, more accurate wet stock management. Automated data logging and reporting reduce manual reconciliation and support audit and compliance requirements with less effort.
• Strengthened cyber security. The gap between legacy tank gauge technology and today’s security expectations only widens with time. Modern ATGs meet today’s standard with data encryption, password protection and regular software updates to combat new threats.
• Reduced downtime. Remote troubleshooting and configuration mean many issues can be resolved without needing to dispatch someone to the site.
• Ongoing improvement. Regular software updates may be done remotely to keep the platform current.
• A stronger foundation for what’s next. As forecourts add more connected systems – from EV charging to loyalty platforms – a modern ATG is built to integrate with them, where an older console can’t.
Grant continues: “None of this requires an overnight overhaul of every site. But it does call for operators to take a clear-eyed look at which consoles are still fit for how the business runs today, and which ones are approaching the point where the cost of keeping them going outweighs the cost of replacing them. Waiting for a legacy system to fail on its own timeline rarely works out cheaper or easier than planning the upgrade proactively.”
Data overload
Modern forecourts generate more operational data than ever before. Tank gauges, pos systems, maintenance records, environmental monitoring, contractor reports and inventory systems all provide valuable information.
“The challenge isn’t collecting more data. It’s knowing which information requires attention and acting on it before small issues become expensive problems,” says Adi Raz, VP of product and data science at Titan Cloud.
“Most operators don’t need another dashboard full of numbers, they need the handful of alerts that genuinely require attention, whether that’s unusual fuel consumption, unexpected inventory movement or equipment behaviour that signals a developing issue.
“AI is helping take this a step further. The real opportunity for AI isn’t generating more data or replacing operational teams, it’s helping operators interpret complex information faster, identify patterns that might otherwise be missed and prioritise the actions that will have the greatest operational impact. Instead of spending time searching for problems, teams can focus on solving them.”
Analytics also need to connect to action, explains Raz. “If a dashboard flags a problem but doesn’t automatically trigger the next step – creating a work order, routing it to the right technician or providing troubleshooting context – it isn’t solving the problem. Done well, analytics reduce alert fatigue, speed up response times and help teams stay ahead of downtime and fuel loss.”
Fuel loss has always been a concern, but Raz says today’s retailers need visibility into much more than inventory variance alone.
“Knowing fuel is missing is only the first step. The more important question is why. Is it a leak? Theft? Meter drift? A delivery issue? A process gap? Or simply bad data? Without understanding the root cause, operators are left reacting instead of preventing the next issue.”
And Raz believes that maintenance should no longer operate separately from operational data. “When analytics and maintenance work together, technicians arrive on site with context, investigations are completed faster, first-time fix rates improve and critical assets spend more time in service.
“By connecting operational insight with maintenance, workflow automation and local expertise, retailers can move from reacting to problems toward preventing them. That means less downtime, fewer avoidable costs, stronger asset performance and a more reliable experience for customers.”
Integration is the answer
DFS senior key accounts and business development manager, Tim Firkins, is another expert who believes the fuel retail industry is data rich, but insight poor.
“Although the industry has significantly invested in technology over the years, data collection and understanding are fragmented,” he explains.
“A typical fuel station generates data continuously eg fuel transactions, shop purchases, tank readings, loyalty interactions etc. The volume of information is enormous, but the challenge is context. A pos system will be able to tell a retailer what was sold and a wet stock management system can indicate what was dispensed through a nozzle on the forecourt, but if those systems aren’t connected, the retailer never gets the complete picture and important commercial decision points remain based on guesswork rather than facts.”
Firkins says to avoid increasingly fragmented technology environments, retailers should start to think about three key points:
• Embracing open integration: APIs (application programming interfaces) allow systems to exchange data more effectively and in real time – and enable retailers to connect platforms that historically operated independently. Firkins says they are increasingly becoming more important within the industry. APIs also create flexibility and reduce dependency on closed environments, allowing retailers to evolve their technology strategy over time.
• Utilising industry standards: Alongside APIs, industry standards also play a major role. In the fuel retail industry, there are two collaborative standards organisations: IFSF and Connexus,. “Industry standards make integration significantly easier for retailers and systems’ suppliers and help create consistency. They allow retailers to choose systems and solutions that they know can be integrated easily.”
• Taking holistic technology decisions: Technology investments should not be made in isolation to solve a singular challenge. Investment decisions should be evaluated and made based on a connected, long-term data strategy. Making this shift will help retailers drive tangible commercial outcomes that can directly support smarter fuel pricing, identification of underperforming sites, improved fuel-to-shop conversion, better loyalty targeting, reduced operational inefficiencies, reduced fuel losses, improved responsiveness and better customer experiences.
“Shifting towards unified data will drive actionable insight for fuel retailers. Actionable insight will result in tangible commercial impact. Connected data enables faster action, and faster action creates measurable outcomes,” says Firkins.
