System and method for managing and monitoring the dispensing of fuels

• US 8,267,317 B1
• Filed: 12/17/2008
• Issued: 09/18/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Paul Gulli
• Original Assignee: Paul Gulli
• Inventors: Gulli, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Michael G
• Assistant Examiner(s): ELLIS, SUEZU Y
• Application Number:
  US12/316,885
• Time in Patent Office: 1,371 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375, 235/385, 235/381, 235/382, 235/383, 235/384, 705 28- 30, 705/14.24, 705 1436- 1438
• US Class Current: 235/385
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/387 Payment using discounts or coupons relating to marketing G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0185 Product, service or business identity fraud
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply

Abstract

A fuel management system for use by operators of temporary and/or permanent inventories of vehicles such as vehicle dealerships. Fuel vouchers are issued by authorized issuing personnel to authorized recipients if a validation procedure is passed using a database incorporating employee and vehicle inventory information. At the time of delivery, the fueling station will verify the vehicle and individual presenting the voucher. If verification occurs, the authorized quantity of fuel is dispensed. The voucher and sales receipt are returned to the dealership for future auditing and report generation. The system stores information to enable reports to be generated concerning fuel voucher issuance, actual fuel usage and to detect fraud or misuse, allowing more effective fuel expense management. In the event a report generates a fraud alert, appropriate management personnel are immediately notified by email, text messaging or other means.

Claims

1. A method for managing a dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in a vehicle fleet comprising:

(a) providing a computer database containing the stock vehicles'"'"' identifying information, individuals authorized to issue fuel purchase vouchers, and individuals authorized to receive fuel purchase vouchers;

(b) entering a request by an issuer on a computer to initiate the fuel voucher generation process to a voucher recipient;

(c) using the database to validate that the issuer is authorized to issue a fuel voucher;

(d) entering the identification of the vehicle, the identification of the intended voucher recipient, and the amount of fuel to authorize for purchase;

(e) validating the vehicle and recipient using the database;

(f) issuing a fuel voucher to the voucher recipient setting forth the authorized purchase, and the identification of the recipient, and the stock vehicle'"'"'s identifying information;

(g) presenting the fuel voucher to a fueling location attendant;

(h) confirming the identification of the vehicle and the voucher recipient at the fueling station prior to fuel delivery;

(i) dispensing the fuel; and

(j) recovering at least one voucher and at least one receipt for auditing subsequent to fuel delivery.

2. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 1 wherein the request includes the dollar amount of fuel and current mileage of the vehicle.

3. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 1 wherein validation confirms the vehicle is in inventory, the voucher recipient is a currently authorized voucher recipient and the voucher amount does not exceed established limits that are defined for each authorized user, and include a number of vouchers per day and a dollar limit per voucher.

4. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 1 wherein the voucher is tamper-resistant having an adhesive backing and wherein the voucher is attached to a fuel receipt.

5. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 1 wherein the database is derived from a computerized management system.

6. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 1 wherein the database contains information periodically updated by a manual process.

7. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 1 wherein the auditing confirms the voucher number, and includes recording a fuel charge and gallons of fuel from the fuel station receipt.

8. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 1 wherein the fuel voucher is bar coded and the confirmation of the voucher recipient and vehicle is obtained by scanning the bar code using a scanning appliance.

9. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 8 wherein the scanned information is transmitted for validation.

10. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 1 wherein information obtained and stored during fuel voucher generation process and subsequent auditing is used to provide an automated alert.

11. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 1 wherein the fuel station attendant confirms the identity of the fuel voucher recipient using a photo identification presented by the voucher recipient to visually confirm the identification of the vehicle fueled by utilizing information printed on the voucher.

12. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 1 further comprising:

setting a threshold of maximum legitimate fuelings;

generating an exception when the threshold of maximum legitimate fuelings is exceeded; and

displaying the exception as a scheduled automated periodic report, on-demand report, or a report immediately delivered automatically to designated management personnel via electronic transmission.

13. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 12 in which electronic transmission is an SMS text message.

14. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 12 in which electronic transmission is an e-mail.

15. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 1 wherein a vehicle requiring fuel that has not yet entered the system'"'"'s inventory may have fuel dispensed and where that vehicle'"'"'s identifying information is automatically compared to the system'"'"'s inventory for a period of time subsequent to fuel delivery and where an exception is generated if the fueled vehicle does not enter the system'"'"'s inventory within the set period of time and where this exception can be displayed as a scheduled automated periodic report, on-demand report, or a report immediately delivered automatically to designated management personnel via electronic transmission.

16. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 15 in which electronic transmission is an SMS text message.

17. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 15 in which electronic transmission is an e-mail.

18. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 1 wherein a record of a given stock vehicle'"'"'s mileage is recorded upon fuel purchase authorization and where an exception is generated if subsequent fuel purchase authorization records do not show sequential mileage increases and where this exception can be displayed as a scheduled automated periodic report, on-demand report, or a report immediately delivered automatically to designated management personnel via electronic transmission.

19. The method of managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 1, where a threshold of maximum dollars of fuel per inventoried vehicle can be set and wherein a total of recorded fuel purchases for an inventoried vehicle exceeding this threshold generates an exception that can be displayed as a scheduled'"'"'automated periodic report, on-demand report, or a report immediately delivered automatically to designated management personnel via electronic transmission.

20. The method of managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 1 further comprising reconciliation where fuel receipts from a gas station are reconciled against records of fuel purchase vouchers issued by the system and where an exception is generated if the receipted amount is more than the amount authorized in the fuel purchase voucher and where this exception can be displayed by automated periodic report, on-demand report, or a report immediately delivered automatically to designated management personnel via electronic transmission.

21. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 1, wherein the request includes the amount of fuel requested and a current mileage of the vehicle.

22. The method for managing the dispensing of fuel to inventoried stock vehicles in the vehicle fleet of claim 1 wherein the database contains information periodically updated by an automated process.