Fuel is expensive. In fact, fuel is probably one of your fleet’s biggest expenses. Making a mistake while managing your fleet cards can be extremely costly. So NO PRESSURE! Here are three of the most common mistakes we see managers make when it comes to managing their fleet cards;
Storing Your Fleet Card with Your Pin Number
I know this sounds obvious, but people do it all the time. If your fleet card gets lost or stolen with the pin number, someone can steal fuel until the card is canceled. Treat your fleet card like your personal debit card and never leave the pin with your card. If your fleet card does get stolen, immediately contact your fleet card provider to cancel the card immediately. FYI, there’s usually an 800 phone number on the back of your fleet card.
Forget to Cancel Former Employees Fleet Cards
Unfortunately, this happens all too often. A former employee quits, gets fired, etc. and leaves with their fleet card. Six months down the line a manager is looking over the fuel invoice and notices that the ex-employee has been using their fleet card every day for the past six months and they have gradually stolen $10,000 of fuel. I know this sounds dramatic, but a company that spends $25k a month on fuel isn’t going to notice an extra $1,000 here or there. The best way to prevent this is to have an employee termination checklist so you don’t forget to cancel their fleet card when you take their vehicle keys.
Don’t Utilize Your Fleet Card Account
If all you are doing is using your fleet cards and paying the bill at the end of the period, you could be missing employee theft or misuse. It is important to utilize your fleet card account by setting up automated exemption reports and e-receipts. Exemption reports will let you know when a card is used outside of your set parameters that indicate odd purchasing habits, low mpg’s on a truck, etc. For example, if you know someone should be fueling up twice a week and now they are fueling up four times per week, there maybe some theft involved. E-receipts will send you an automatic fuel receipt to your email every time one of your fleet cards is swiped. This will help you identify any odd activity as soon as a card is swiped.
So there you go, some of the biggest fleet card management mistakes. If you have any questions or need help managing your fleet card account, you know where to find us.