With over 400 trams and busses MPK-Łódź, the Municipal Transport Service of Poland’s third-largest city, transports countless inhabitants, commuters and visitors every day. In order to optimize the economic operation of the bus depot the public transportation company MPK-Łódź put its new petrol station into operation in late April 2020. The refuelling of the municipal busses was fully automated by Hectronic, transforming the bus depot into one of the most modern company petrol stations in Poland.

Due to its Polish subisidiary Hectronic was in close contact with the customer, allowing for comprehensive monitoring of the construction and technical equipment of the company petrol station. The company petrol station was built from scratch. It is based on the petrol station infrastructure with new fuel tanks, bus stops, access routes, bus ramps and a roof protecting the drivers from adverse weather conditions. Four powerful HecPump auto fuel pumps allow for a smooth identification and refuelling process. The combined package of fuel pump and fuel terminal ensures quick and effective refuelling. With RFID-tags the employees identify contactless and directly at the auto fuel pump to conveniently refuel their vehicles.

The use of the automatic vehicle recognition PetroPoint distinguishes the petrol station in Łódź from other company petrol stations. In this way, the authorisation takes place by vehicle identification. A transponder directly mounted at the nozzle angle communicates wirelessly with the nozzle sending unit on the petrol nozzle. The relevant vehicle and refuelling data are read out and transmitted to the fuel terminal. The authorization process is initiated, and the fuelling process is started automatically. When the driver removes the petrol nozzle from the nozzle angle the fuelling process is interrupted immediately. This function prevents the refuelling of unauthorized vehicles and the wrongful refuelling of spare cans.

All relevant vehicle and refuelling data, e.g. the date of refuelling, type, amount, price and value of the fuel, bus number and name of the driver performing the refuelling are transmitted to the back office when the fuelling process is finished. The web-based management software HecPoll conveys the data from the filling station to the office. All transactions are displayed while it is possible to manage master data and generate detailed analyses. The tank content measuring system of the company petrol station is also connected to the software. In this way, the inventories and the fuel delivery can be continuously monitored and controlled. The overall solution including state-of-the-art technologies is customized to the requirements and ensures efficient fleet management of the public transportation company petrol station in Łódź.