Equipment Providers Are Enhancing the Diesel Island Experience at Travel Centers
Article created for the digital issue聽of聽the 黑料社区Foundation鈥檚 magazine聽
The fuel island is a necessary stop for professional truck drivers, and even minor improvements can enhance their experience, speed up transactions and influence where they stop.
Speeding Transaction Times
Professional drivers and truck stop and travel center operators share a common objective on the fuel island鈥攖o get the driver in and out as quickly as possible.
鈥淭he driver wants to get it done to take advantage of other amenities at the location or get back on the road. The station owner wants the throughput,鈥� Robinson said.
High-flow dispensers are a crucial part of the diesel experience, but Robinson said the total transaction time is more than filling the vehicle and includes the amount of time it takes to authorize the transaction.
Diesel Dispensers with an Alphanumeric Keypad
鈥淎 lot of trucking transactions use fuel cards. They have other entries, and drivers traditionally had to walk inside and go to the fuel desk to authorize the transaction and go back to get a receipt,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淢ore and more, they want to do that transaction at the island. If I can do that right at the dispenser, I save those two trips inside and it saves a lot of time.鈥�
has equipped its payment terminals to handle fuel cards, but Robinson said the truck stop or travel center must have a POS that will run them. 鈥淣ot every single POS can handle that,鈥� he explained.
Diesel dispensers need to have an alphanumeric keypad to handle fuel cards. 鈥淲hen you get into trucking fuel cards, drivers have to enter trailer numbers and IDs, so they need an alpha keypad,鈥� Robinson said.
DFS has also added the alphanumeric keypad to its touchscreens. 鈥淚f there is an alphanumeric need, a keypad pops up. It is in that normal QWERTY style we鈥檙e all used to,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淚t also has a backspace key, which is a big deal. If you make a mistake, you don鈥檛 want to start over. It is the little things that do make a difference there.鈥�
While the 27-inch touchscreen is offered as part of the DFS Anthem user experience, a 12-inch screen will be part of DFS鈥檚 standard offering next year. 鈥淭he ability to do that interface at the island moves things quickly along, and that helps the transaction time. That makes a good experience for the driver and more throughput,鈥� Robinson said.
Dan Riccio, product marketing manager for , said FlexPay IV comes standard with a card reader. Contactless and alphanumeric keypads are optional. FlexPay 6, which is just launching includes a card reader, contactless reader and allows for alphanumeric functionality on the touchscreen. 鈥淲e offer the hardware that would offer anything you want to do on the backcourt or forecourt,鈥� he said, adding that pumps using FlexPay come standard with printers, but operators must ensure they鈥檙e replacing the paper often enough to meet drivers鈥� needs.
DFS pumps also have printers, allowing drivers to get their receipts right at the pump, whether paying with a credit or fuel card. 鈥淭he printer and hardware is the same, but the receipt is different because they might need different information,鈥� Robinson said.
Mobile Pay
Peter Rasmussen, CEO and founder of , said the next level in diesel payments will be mobile pay.
Caitlin Jensen, a spokesperson for , said the company is always working to make all fuel purchases as frictionless as possible to maximize drivers鈥� uptime. 鈥淭his includes dispenser fuel speeds and payment processes to get drivers back on the road as quickly as possible,鈥� she said, adding that 尝辞惫别鈥檚 has added payment options to its app.
Professional drivers can use to answer prompts and pay for fuel and receive contactless, digital receipts using their mobile phones. 尝辞惫别鈥檚 doesn鈥檛 have receipt printers on the diesel island, so getting the receipt electronically can save drivers a trip inside.
Drivers can activate diesel pumps and pay for fuel from the cab using TA鈥檚 Pumpsmart feature in its TruckSmart app. 鈥淭he feature is designed to save drivers time while fueling at TA, Petro Stopping Center or TA Express locations,鈥� said Debi Boffa, CEO of and a .
TA has also added Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology鈥攁 wireless system comprised of tags and readers鈥攐n all diesel lanes, which provides convenience at the pump. 鈥淭he tags can be placed on a truck or trailer, and readers, in the form of an antenna, are placed on our diesel canopy. This fosters a more efficient experience at the pump because the antenna continuously reads the tag during the fuel transaction, allowing the pump to turn on without a card physically being swiped at the pump,鈥� Boffa said.
Fintech Solutions Grow
Drivers are increasingly turning to financial technology (fintech) payment methods for fuel, such as and , Rasmussen said.
TA has recently started implementing fintech at the diesel pumps and the company is looking forward to expanding its capabilities in this space.
鈥淔intech cardless payment solutions include new technology that seeks to improve and automate the delivery and use of financial services, or the digital transferring of money,鈥� Boffa said.
Non-integrated payment methods are typically processed through a tablet, which Rasmussen said can be cumbersome. 鈥淭he driver has to go into get it activated and then go back in to get the receipt. That needs evolution, whether it is POS or if they connect directly with the pump,鈥� he said.
For more on travel center fintech payments, see and .
Creating Convenience with DEF
Diesel exhaust fluid has been around for a while, but some locations still don鈥檛 offer it on the fuel island, affecting the customer experience. 鈥淭ruck drivers want to be able to stop at a place with bulk DEF at the island,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 have to get DEF every time, but when they need it, they will pick a place with DEF at the island.鈥�
Robinson is seeing more locations adding high-speed dispensers with DEF. 鈥淲e have combination models that have diesel plus DEF at the same dispenser,鈥� he said, adding that drivers can authorize the diesel and DEF transaction at the same time if the location鈥檚 POS allows it, reducing the transaction time. 鈥淒rivers don鈥檛 have to do all of those manual entries for diesel and go back and do it again for DEF. They can do the DEF and diesel and get a common receipt.鈥�
To help foolproof freeze prevention, Gilbarco has a heater inside the dispenser, insulation protecting the lines and temperature sensors inside the DEF cabinet. 鈥淲e鈥檝e put a lot of emphasis on freeze protection to protect equipment and ensure when the driver pulls up, that DEF will be at that dispenser,鈥� said Joe Leonard, global product manager at Gilbarco Veeder-Root.
Enaging Drivers
The customer experience is becoming increasingly important to drivers, and Robinson said screen displays are providing new opportunities for locations to offer promotions, useful information such as the weather and highlight all the services the location offers. 鈥淲e put our first ones in this past year at a truck stop. It is picking up, and we鈥檝e had really good results. They鈥檝e increased their throughput of sales,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is proving that with this digital impact, we can change the buying experience and make it easier for the trucker as well.鈥�
The displays create a digital billboard right at the island, Robinson explained. 鈥淭hey have a way of promoting that and letting the truckers know what else they have available and promote specials,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen people thought about the technology originally, they thought of it as a consumer technology, but when you sit back and think about it, there is more marketing opportunities for the truck driver,鈥� Robinson said.
Operators can also add DX Market to their DFS pumps, allowing drivers to order food while they鈥檙e fueling. 鈥淭hey can sit there at the dispenser and place their order for food. They go inside and can pick it up. We鈥檝e moved that food-ordering kiosk into the dispenser,鈥� Robinson said.
Rasmussen said operators should consider adding mobile ordering, even if it isn鈥檛 through the pump. 鈥淚t is easy and drivers aren鈥檛 standing in lines,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 even need to have an app for it.鈥�
Operators can push their menu through a common order aggregator. 鈥淭hey can create a first-party ordering experience. They can also push to Uber, Door Dash, Grubhub, Postmates or Google,鈥� Rasmussen said.
Jensen said the 尝辞惫别鈥檚 app is helping drivers make better use of their time at the pump. 鈥淲hile fueling, drivers can check in and pay for showers to avoid standing in line at the diesel desk,鈥� she said.
Eliminating Fueling Issues
Other improvements are invisible to the customer but still improve the driver experience. Stephen Coppola, director of product management for Veeder-Root, said the Veeder-Root HydrX Fuel Conditioning System provides continuous water removal to keep fuel clean and dry at the bottom of the tank and prohibit microbial growth, which ultimately improves the driver experience.
鈥淚t goes unnoticed by the truckers,鈥� Coppola said.
Adding Alternative Fuels
The number of fuels used in trucking is expected to increase, which will affect the fueling experience at truck stops and travel centers in the future. 鈥淲e will probably move to multi-fueling facilities,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淒iesel has been one-size-fits-all, but we鈥檒l probably move to a world where equipment becomes more application-specific.鈥�
Equipment hauling heavy loads and traversing mountains will likely rely on diesel, but other applications may be better suited to electric vehicles or hydrogen, Robinson explained. 鈥淭ruck stops will have to do all of those things,鈥� he said, adding that new fuels will require new infrastructure. 鈥淚f you are doing a new build and have room, you can create a layout for it.鈥�
While many alternative fuels are still years away, biodiesel is readily available today. Coppola said Veeder-Root鈥檚 Biofuel Blending System, in partnership with Total Meter Services Inc., allows operators to blend biofuels on site with automated in-line blending, giving them more control.
// This article was created for , the magazine of the 黑料社区Foundation. The is the research, education and public outreach subsidiary of NATSO, Inc. The 黑料社区Foundation provides programs and products to strengthen travel plazas鈥� ability to meet the traveling public’s needs through improved operational performance and business planning. Visit for more information. ()
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