Fueling company 360Fuel’s automated customer recognition fueling system, which personalizes the fueling experience by saving customer preferences, such as form of payment, type of fuel and tailored promotions, has obtained a National Type Evaluation Program (NTEP) Certificate of Conformance.
The company’s TRON, B360F and DEF-1 models can recognize customers in less than three seconds upon arriving at the fueling pump using artificial intelligence and sensor fusion.
“Something we learned in 2011 when we started to build this technology was that customers took on average about 38 seconds to go through the process of inserting their card, fuel grade selection, zip code entry, all the various steps you have to go through,” said Werlien Prosperie III, CEO of 360Fuel, Houston. “So our goal is to make that process automated.”
Customers get a tailored experience based on their history with 360Fuel, he said.
The customer recognition on the TRON Experience feature greets customers at the pump with a personalized interaction while automatically setting to the customer’s preferences, including language and fuel grade selection.
Payment is authorized using saved payment methods, eliminating the need for manual payment handling and speeding up the transaction process to split seconds.
A 32-inch touchscreen displays personalized digital advertisements and promotions, allowing customers to purchase products directly from the pump and have them delivered or pick them up in-store.
Customers also receive text communication from the fuel dispenser, providing updates or offers. They can also get digital receipts and round up their purchase for charity.
The models also dispense a range of fuels, including gasoline, ethanol, bio-diesel, kerosene and diesel exhaust fluid. They have in-dispenser security cameras, and remote maintenance capabilities.
This certification, recognized across the United States and through a mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) with Canada, validates 360Fuel's RMFDs for widespread commercial use across North America.
"We are thrilled to lead the industry into a new era of fuel dispensing technology," Prosperie said. "The NTEP Certificate of Conformance underscores our dedication to innovation, quality and adherence to North American standards. We are committed to providing customers with a secure, efficient and user-friendly fueling experience, coupled with an automated site and supply chain platform for retailers."
A fuel pump takes, on average, about 15 different systems that all have to work together, he said, so if one thing gets out of sync, or maybe the software one of them needs to be updated, it disrupts the whole system is quite costly for gas station owners.
Independent or single-site owners don’t have the opportunity to adapt technology to optimize operations or provides the customer experience that we expect as digital consumers today, said Prosperie. This includes retail automation, supply chain connectivity and renewable energy centralization.
“Today, most dispensing equipment doesn't support biofuel, and with the decarbonization goals of the United States and the world, there's going to be more ethanol content and biofuel products being added to traditional petroleum blends over the coming years,” Prosperie said. “Our mission as a company is to standardize these technologies and make it available to your mom and pop across America and beyond.”
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