Wet-stock management is the behind-the-scenes work that keeps your forecourts running smoothly and customers coming back. Get it wrong, and operators risk sleepless nights over fuel loss, financial deficits, and reputational damage that is hard to undo.
From hidden water contamination, to undetected theft and low-performing nozzles, today’s challenges require more than basic alerts and local monitoring. Fuel retailers need precise, proactive control, argues Dan Gibson, wet-stock manager at Titan Cloud UK.
1. Let experienced eyes monitor your data
Your in-store staff are focused on customer service, managing stock, and daily operations, which means that often even when operators have a wetstock data system in place it is underutilised. Yet within that data are the early warning signs that can prevent small issues from becoming costly losses.
Wet-stock management problems are very common, they occur every single day. They range from low nozzle flow, water ingress and alarms going off that may or may not be real, to short deliveries, tank overfills and sudden loss of alarms.
Data will help to indicate the severity of the problem. For example, a site manager may see an alarm and assume it is critical, but by analysing the data patterns from the site, experts can determine whether it is a genuine issue or something less urgent that doesn’t require escalation.
The key is speed and accuracy: being able to quickly identify which issues matter, escalate them when necessary, and resolve them before they become a bigger problem for the company or the customer.
The biggest underlying problem to wet-stock management is poor data quality. Most issues can be traced back to inaccurate or incomplete data coming from automatic tank gauges or point-of-sale systems. When the data is unreliable, it creates false alarms, hides real problems, and slows down response times.
2. Spot and stop water in the tank or fuel theft early
Once issues are flagged, they must be addressed quickly. Whether it is water in the tank or suspected fuel theft, how promptly you respond can make or break the customer experience and impact your bottom line.
Water in the tank
Water is one of the most harmful contaminants in fuel systems, capable of causing pump shutdowns, damaging vehicles, and leading to long-term reputational harm. With the rise of ethanol-blended fuels, detecting water has become even more challenging, as ethanol attracts and absorbs water, sometimes rendering traditional sensors ineffective. This can also lead to operational issues such as reduced flow rates.
Centralised monitoring and analytics tools make it easier to detect even subtle signs of contamination. Integrated platforms know how to differentiate between actual water ingress and sensor anomalies, generating recommended actions such as tank cleaning to ensure resolution before customers are affected
Bulk fuel theft
Fuel theft remains a persistent threat, particularly overnight. Early detection can limit damage and improve the chances of successful investigation.
A customer received a sudden loss alarm around 1am for a 650-litre discrepancy. With the site closed and no staff on-site overnight, Titan Cloud’s team flagged the issue and immediately escalated it. Security footage at the site later revealed that a truck had been parked near the diesel tank during that time. The incident was reported to the police.
Another customer experienced two thefts days apart, with fuel losses of 390 and 341 litres, also taking place at night. The alarm system alerted the operator to check security footage, which showed the same car returning both times and siphoning fuel from dip points.
While we cannot prevent fuel theft from happening, early detection and fast action can help prevent further losses and enable timely police reports.
3. Monitor nozzle downtime and site performance remotely
A silent nozzle issue is often a missed sale, or, more likely, many missed sales. If a fuel dispenser’s nozzle is not actively dispensing fuel, it is also a potential sign of a larger problem.
There are several potential causes, such as maintenance issues or miscommunications regarding repairs, nozzles intentionally turned off during off-hours, or payment systems not working properly.
Data shows that 20 to 30% of petrol stations have at least one nozzle down for two days or more each month. Often it takes time for a customer to come into the store and actively report an issue, if they do at all.
Alerting systems can be used to trigger notifications when a nozzle has had no sales within a specific amount of time. And the alerts can be set to run only during trading hours to avoid overnight noise.
From our experience, retailers with real-time access to nozzle performance data raise issues with their sites and service providers faster, often cutting downtime by days.
4. Keep fuel flowing at the right rate
Low flow doesn’t just mean slow service; it can ultimately lead to inaccurate metering and lost revenue. Because dispensers are calibrated to measure fuel accurately only within a certain flow range, any drop can cause over- or under-dispensing, skewing wetstock data and affecting profitability. But proactive data analytics can circumvent potential fallout from low-flow issues, which can be caused by clogged fuel dispenser filters, tank contamination, or pump mechanical issues.
By using a data-driven approach, we were able to help one customer reduce their low-flow sites by 75%. In another case, customer complaints began on a single forecourt island and slowly spread across other pumps. A six-week data review quickly identified an issue in the related tank. After a targeted tank clean, performance normalised, and the complaints stopped.
5. Don’t get caught running out
Runouts don’t just cost fuel sales, they risk losing customer trust and valuable shop revenue. UK forecourt shoppers spend an average of £11.83 per visit on non-fuel purchases, with a profit margin of around 35% according to the ACS Forecourt Report 2024. When customers drive off during a runout, that lost profit adds up.
One retailer uses Titan Cloud to avoid this all together, managing tank inventory through automated low-level alerts that trigger when stock drops below set thresholds. This ensures timely delivery scheduling across its company-owned sites and prevents supply disruptions.
Centralised stock visibility ensures that operators maintain continuity without over-ordering or running dry.
Protect your wet-stock, and your peace of mind
Rather than relying on routine maintenance schedules alone, wetstock management data helps operators know when and where to act. By monitoring flow rates, forecourt operators can proactively identify any issues and decide if tank cleaning or testing is truly needed. The result is smarter use of maintenance budgets, faster problem detection, and reduced costs and downtime.
Wet-stock nightmares don’t have to keep you up at night. With centralised monitoring, expert oversight, and real-time analytics and alerts, you can stay ahead of problems and make smarter decisions for your forecourt network.
- Dan Gibson is wetstock manager at Titan Cloud UK, a wetstock management and analytics platform that connects fuel analytics, logistics, maintenance and environmental compliance, backed by a specialist team that monitors performance every day. Gibson will be able to talk more about this at the Forecourt Trader Awards in London, on Thursday, October 9.
