CASE STUDY

Secure, Scalable Fueling System for a Top-5 U.S. Metro Fleet

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A fleet of truck vehicles for a business fleet, lined up in a parking lot.

Overview

We developed and deployed a high-performance, security-hardened fueling management platform for one of the five largest U.S. metropolitan fleets. The solution ensures uninterrupted fueling operations and centralized oversight across:

21,000+ fleet equipment units

130,000+ fuelings per quarterunits

65 fueling sites across

50+ city departments units

All municipal vehicles, including first responders, sanitation, transportation, and public works

Engineered for mission-critical uptime, the platform delivers real-time control, ruggedized hardware integration, and fully encrypted communications—while significantly reducing data costs, eliminating operational errors, and generating measurable business value.

The Challenge

The city’s legacy fueling system had become increasingly unreliable as fleet size and data volumes grew. It struggled to meet operational demands and introduced critical inefficiencies. Major issues included:

Severe slowdowns due to accumulating unindexed historical data, causing sluggish response times and daily operational delays

Frequent software crashes that disrupted fueling and increased IT workload

Inaccurate transaction logging, often failing to reflect actual fuel dispensed—leading to billing discrepancies and audit concerns

No centralized dashboard for monitoring site activity, tank levels, or system health


Manual retrieval of Veeder Root tank data, with no real-time integration across sites


Excessively high cellular data costs, driven by unoptimized communication protocols that retransmitted full unencrypted vehicle whitelists and site data with every change—including vehicle updates, site edits, or fuel allowance modifications. This resulted in repetitive, redundant, and insecure sync activity across all sites

The city required a robust, always-on solution that could operate independently at remote fueling stations while delivering secure, centralized control—without ballooning operational overhead.

The Solution

We engineered a custom-built fueling ecosystem using .NET Core, combining secure APIs, ruggedized embedded hardware, and a centralized architecture designed for scale, resilience, and real-time performance.

A fleet of truck vehicles for a business fleet, lined up in a parking lot.

Embedded Hardware Integration

Our custom fueling controller included:

RFID vehicle identification for fast, secure, hands-free authentication

Manual scan keys as a backup authentication method for authorized personnel
Coil ring sensors to verify nozzle engagement before dispensing
Rugged, weather-resistant design for uninterrupted 24/7 outdoor use

Secure APIs & Encrypted Communication

Designed RESTful APIs for fueling transactions, authentication, user access control, and audit logging
Enabled encrypted TCP socket communication between site terminals and the central server

Enabled encrypted TCP socket communication between site terminals and the central server

Developed a proprietary dual-layer encryption and compression protocol that reduced payload sizes by 50–60% prior to transmission. Unlike conventional encryption methods that increase data size, our approach preserved security while optimizing bandwidth—contributing directly to an 80% reduction in cellular data usage

Synchronization & Real-Time Oversight

Our custom fueling controller included:

Implemented role-based access control by department, user, vehicle, and site
Enabled standalone localized mode at each site to maintain operations during network interruptions
Introduced offline queuing with automatic sync to ensure all transactions were securely captured and transmitted
Delivered real-time dashboards providing system health, tank status, and fueling activity visibility citywide

Performance Engineering

Improved transaction speed by 300% through optimized data flow and high-efficiency SQL queries

Replaced the legacy full-whitelist sync model with compressed, delta-based synchronization, powered by our custom encryption/compression layer
Reduced redundant traffic and improved communication efficiency—resulting in an 80% drop in cellular data transmission

Delivered a modular, scalable backend designed for low maintenance and seamless future expansion

Results & Impact

The platform now powers one of the largest and most complex municipal fueling operations in the United States—with unmatched speed, visibility, and control.

    • 99.5% system uptime, ensuring continuous fueling access for all city departments and emergency responders
    • 300% faster fueling terminal response and transaction speed
    • 80% reduction in data transmission load and cellular communication costs
    • Real-time, end-to-end encrypted data handling across 65 fueling locations and 50+ departments
    • Centralized audit, live monitoring, and full Veeder Root tank level integration
These outcomes were enabled by our custom-engineered compression-encryption protocol—delivering full data security without the transmission bloat typical of standard AES encryption systems.

Financial & Operational Benefits

Fuel Theft Prevention & Cost Recovery

Real-time auditing, encrypted user validation, and fuel usage limits eliminated theft and misuse—saving the city hundreds of thousands annually.

Accurate Departmental Billing

Every transaction is now linked to the correct department and vehicle, enabling precise usage-based billing and improved interdepartmental cost forecasting.

Fleet Efficiency & Performance Insights

Fuel consumption data revealed underperforming or inefficient vehicles, enabling proactive maintenance, replacement planning, and optimized lifecycle management.

Key Innovations

Our custom fueling controller included:

Full integration of rugged hardware with .NET Core backend
Real-time, encrypted TCP socket communication
Site-localized operations with automatic offline queuing and resynchronization
Role-based access control and unified citywide reporting
Custom compression-encryption protocol reducing payload size by up to 60% while maintaining full data integrit
Delta-based sync that eliminated redundant full-whitelist transmissions

Technology Stack

COMPONENTTECHNOLOGY
FrontendASP.NET Razor, Bootstrap
Backend.NET Core 6, Entity Framework, LINQ
APIsRESTful JSON APIs, JWT auth, HTTPS
SecurityAES-256 encryption, client certificates, RBAC
NetworkingEncrypted TCP socket services
DatabaseSQL Server with partitioning, replication, indexing
HardwareRFID boards, manual scan keys, coil sensors
HostingOn-premise Windows Server cluster with redundancy