Politics & Government

Computerized Fuel Management System Installed for Town Vehicles

Cranford can now better track fuel use.

This past week the Township of Cranford installed a computerized fuel management system for the fuel pumps that service all Township and Board of Education vehicles.

Prior to the computerized system, the Township had the fuel stations padlocked and employees were given keys for the lock. After fueling up, employees were supposed to enter the amount of fuel used on a clipboard. 

“It used to be on the honor system,” Township Administrator Joe Hartnett said.

With the new computerized system, each Township employee who has access to the fuel is given a key FOB and a pin number. This way, each vehicle is tracked as well as each employee using the fuel.

“Not only is this system cost effective for the Township, but it provides useful information for the maintenance of vehicles,” Harnett explained.

The price of the new system was $12,998,20 and it was distributed and installed by Slack Environmental Services located in Kenilworth. The Township spent $245,500 on fuel in 2012, according to Harnett, and he said this new system will help track such a the large expenditure in Cranford. 

The Fuel Master 2500 Plus feeds all the data to a computer in the Fire Headquarters, as well as the Township Administrators office and the Public Works department.

Public Safety Commissioner, Kevin Campbell, said that Hartnett has done a great job with this project.

“This is the kind of thing he’s been doing since he got here,” Campbell said of the project. “The results are showing.”

According to Hartnett, Cranford was appropriated the money for this project in 2000. He said, unfortunately, there are few instances like this within the Township, but he is working to get a lot done this year.

"I'm pleased to have the support of the commissioner (Campbell) and the committee," Hartnett said.

The fuel station is located behind the Cranford Fire Department.


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