Electronic seals and fleet data: protecting fuel from terminal to station

An electronic seal on a tank-truck compartment records every opening and closing with its time and location, and matches each event to the route and destination of the delivery, so an opening outside an allowed place shows up at once.

A seal is a device that shows whether a compartment has been opened since it was closed. A mechanical seal shows it once, to the person who looks at it at the end of the trip. An electronic seal reports it as it happens. This guide explains how electronic seals and fleet data work together between a terminal and a station. It covers what each data stream adds and what to check when the system is installed on a truck that carries flammable fuel.

Between the terminal gate and the station tank, the load is out of sight of everyone who knows what it should contain.

In that stretch fuel can be diverted, a compartment can be opened and refilled with something else, or product flow can be manipulated. Citia's technical bulletin on smart locks notes that product tank distribution is prone to theft, illegal access and misuse, and that manual locks leave no clear audit trail.

A seal and fleet data do not stop a determined person. They make the act visible and attributable, which is usually what deters it and what allows an investigation. They also help honest operations: evidence that a compartment stayed sealed removes one explanation for a loss and focuses the search on the others, such as measurement differences or unloading errors.

A mechanical seal proves that a compartment was not opened. An electronic seal also tells you when it was.

ISO 17712:2013 is the best-known reference for mechanical seals on freight containers, with classes for indicative, security and high-security seals. It is not written for electronic seals or tank-truck hatches, so use it as a comparison for the ideas of strength and tamper evidence, not as a requirement for a fleet seal.

Neither type wins everywhere. A mechanical seal needs no power or signal. An electronic seal gives evidence while the truck is still on the road. Many fleets use both, with the mechanical seal as the visible deterrent and the electronic record as the evidence.

The path of a seal event runs from the compartment to a dispatcher's screen.

After loading, a seal is set on each compartment and its identity is tied to the compartment and the trip. On the road the vehicle gateway collects the seal state with position and speed and sends them to the fleet application. INTEGRA Fleet shows trips live, applies route geofences and raises alarms for events on the road, and it can show digital seal status beside the trip.

The trip links to distribution data in the TAS, which holds the order and the filled quantity per compartment (see what a terminal automation system is). At the station, an authorised opening at the destination matches the trip and closes it. An opening anywhere else is an event that someone must explain.

The gateway carries data over a cellular or similar link, which brings the usual questions of coverage and buffering. The guide on industrial IoT gateways and telemetry covers them.

A seal event means more when it is read next to other data from the truck.

Fuel distributors in Indonesia have been adding connected devices to tank trucks for years. Kontan reported in September 2019 that Pertamina Patra Niaga and Telkomsel were applying IoT, including GPS tracking, to tank trucks.

A fleet platform can bring several streams into one dashboard. Citia's fleet monitoring bulletin lists GPS tracking, geofencing, driver monitoring (DMS) with driver scoring, driver assistance (ADAS), cameras, tyre pressure sensors and drum temperature. Its cargo security features detect theft, temperature changes and unauthorised door opening.

The CATALYST Fleet Gateway is the in-vehicle unit that collects data from the truck's devices and sensors and sends it to the fleet application. Sensors, connectivity and data format are chosen for each vehicle, so list the truck models and their electrical interfaces early. The seal itself is the CATALYST Digital Seal.

An alert is only useful if someone knows what to do with it.

Agree the response in advance with the carrier and the terminal. The steps below are a starting point. The real procedure belongs to the operator and the distributor, and it should name who calls the driver, who decides and how a decision is recorded.

Watch for alert fatigue. If dispatchers see dozens of false alerts a day, they stop reading them, and the one real event is lost among the rest. Tune geofences around stations and rest stops, and review the alert list weekly in the first months so that every alert that remains deserves an answer.

A device on a fuel tanker has to be safe first and clever second.

The Smart Seal Lock project at Pertamina Pulau Baai in Bengkulu (2025) aimed to secure fuel distribution from the terminal to the destination station, so that delivery is safe, monitored and follows the set procedures. Its record says the layout of components, including the router and the Main Control Unit (MCU), had to be planned so the system works, is easy to maintain and meets safety standards.

Because the vehicle carries flammable fuel, all installation work followed the applicable safety procedures, and the position of each device must not disrupt operations or raise a safety risk. Talking with the tank truck technicians and supervisors helped choose the mounting positions, and joint evaluation found the best solution. A related Citia job in 2024 fitted ergonomic tablet stands for 79 SMART MT units for Indosat and Pertamina, and its project record stresses mounting strength against vibration, tidy cable routing and a test before handover.

Ask the carrier early whether its own safety rules require an approval, a drawing or an inspection before devices go on a truck. Label every cable and keep a wiring record per vehicle, so a technician at a depot can service the unit without guessing.

A seal that has gone silent looks the same on the dashboard as a seal that is working, unless someone checks.

Build a short monthly routine. Look at which devices have not reported recently, because a quiet device may be a dead one. Check the clock, since event times only mean something when every device agrees on the time. Review the geofence list against the current delivery routes and stations. Review the user accounts and remove people who have left. Finally, trigger a test event on a spare compartment and confirm it reaches the dashboard and the alert list.

Treat a silent seal as an alert in its own right. In the contract with the provider, state who watches device health and how fast a failed unit is replaced, as the LTSA guide describes for control systems.

A small pilot teaches more than a full fleet rollout planned on paper.

Pick one route and a handful of trucks that are easy to reach for adjustments. Define what success looks like before installing: events arrive on the dashboard, alerts are answered within the agreed time, and the seal record matches the delivery note on every trip. Review the data every week with the dispatchers and drivers who use it, and note false alerts, because geofences and thresholds almost always need tuning.

Extend to more routes only when the pilot closes its own findings. The rollout then carries the tuned geofences and the agreed response procedure with it.