Fleet management, cost per kilometre and transport plan before the rainy season

Total cost = 5,520 + (litres × 1.80) + maintenance.

Anomalies: V3 consumes 24.9 L/100 km although it is recent and lightly used: excess consumption of 1,020 − (4,100 × 0.17) = 323 L, i.e. USD 581, consistent with the suspicious fuel vouchers in document 4. V5 consumes 26.5 L/100 km (219 L, i.e. USD 394 above the calculation value), but with a different profile: a vehicle with 412,000 km, maintenance of USD 4,800 and availability of 56.5%, which points to wear rather than fraud, to be confirmed by a mechanical inspection. V1, V2 and V4 are within the norm.

Hire for 6,000 km per quarter: 3 × 4,200 + 6,000 × 0.17 × 1.80 = 12,600 + 1,836 = USD 14,436, i.e. USD 2.41/km. Recent owned vehicle at the same use (V1 basis): 5,520 + 1,836 + 900 = USD 8,256, i.e. USD 1.38/km. V5: USD 4.96/km over 2,300 km; even if it drove 6,000 km, its fixed and maintenance costs would put it at around USD 2.0 to 2.2/km (5,520 + 4,800 maintenance + fuel, divided by 6,000), barely less than hire, but with 56.5% availability it cannot reach that level of use, and its breakdowns cost mainly in cancelled activities.

Conclusion: hire is more expensive per kilometre than a recent owned vehicle, but much cheaper than V5 for the service actually provided, and it guarantees availability (replacement within 24 hours) during the critical season. Recommendation: (1) take V5 out of service after a mechanical inspection and dispose of it according to the asset disposal procedure (committee, valuation, auction or documented donation); the 2017 agreement allows this without the donor's approval, but the disposal must be documented and the proceeds recorded; (2) hire a vehicle for 3 months to cover the rainy season; (3) include the replacement of V5 in the next funding proposal; (4) not touch V1 and V2 without the donor's approval.

Rotations (10 t per truck): Leer 140 / 10 = 14 rotations × 4 days = 56 truck-days; Mayendit 100 / 10 = 10 × 5 = 50 truck-days; Koch 120 / 10 = 12 × 3 = 36 truck-days. Total: 142 truck-days.

Duration: with 4 trucks, 142 / 4 = 35.5 days, i.e. beyond the 30-day window. With 5 trucks: 28.4 days, with no margin for breakdowns, early rain or checkpoints. With 6 trucks: 23.7 days, i.e. about 6 days of margin. The additional trucks require 5 days' notice: they must be ordered immediately. Recommendation: 6 trucks (2 additional), since the cost is per tonne and therefore unchanged.

Order: priority to the destinations that close at 30 days, starting with Mayendit (longest rotation, 5 days) and Leer; Koch, accessible for 15 more days, can be delivered at the end of the period or with the trucks that become free. For example, 3 trucks can be assigned to Leer, 2 to Mayendit and 1 to Koch at the start, then reassigned.

Cost: 140 × 85 + 100 × 110 + 120 × 70 = 11,900 + 11,000 + 8,400 = USD 31,300.

Points of attention: storage capacity and security of the destination warehouses, signed delivery notes at each rotation, daily truck tracking, fallback plan if a road closes earlier.

Analysis: four 90 L fill-ups while the vehicle is in the garage, excess consumption of 323 L, approval by a single person and an undeclared conflict of interest: these are serious indications of fraud, not yet proof.

Immediate actions: retain the documents (fuel vouchers, logbook, garage invoice, V3 GPS data); report without delay to the anti-fraud focal point or the country director according to the organisation's policy; as a precautionary measure and without accusation, remove the fleet officer's sole approval of vouchers by introducing a double signature for everyone; thank the fleet assistant and protect him against any retaliation, preserving the confidentiality of his report.

What I do not do: I do not question the fleet officer or the station myself, I do not impose sanctions before the investigation, I do not talk about it with the team.

Controls: annual declaration of conflicts of interest; monthly reconciliation of fuel vouchers, odometer readings, logbook and GPS; automatic alert threshold above 18 L/100 km; named fuel card per vehicle or a tank under double lock; competitive selection of stations; unannounced spot checks of fuel levels.

"Subject: Bentiu fleet and prepositioning. (1) Prepositioning: 360 t to deliver in 30 days represent 142 truck-days; with 4 trucks, 35.5 days are needed. I request approval for 2 additional trucks (cost unchanged: USD 31,300 in total); order before tomorrow, 5 days' notice. (2) Fleet: average cost of USD 1.80/km; V5 costs USD 4.96/km and was available only 57% of the time. I request approval to dispose of it according to the procedure and to hire a vehicle for 3 months (USD 12,600 excluding fuel). (3) A fuel anomaly on V3 (323 L, about USD 580) has been reported to the anti-fraud focal point; double approval of vouchers is in place."