It can be the chink in the shining armor, an Achilles heel, the kryptonite to your fleet card program if you don’t protect yourself from it. So what is a fleet card’s biggest loophole?
We call it the HOSE TOSS.
What is it? Typically an employee will have a family member or friend park a personal vehicle right next to the company vehicle at a gas station. Midway through filling the company vehicle, the employee will pass the hose to the other driver and fuel up the other car before hanging up the nozzle.
When you get your bill you only see one transaction occurred at that time or date.
So how can you avoid this?
Step 1) Set Gallon Transaction Limits
Figure out the fuel tank capacity for each vehicle in your fleet and set a gallon limit for each transaction. For example, if a box truck only holds 50 gallons of diesel set the transaction limit to 50 gallons or less.
Step 2) Run Monthly Transaction Reports By Driver, Vehicle Or Card
Logon to your online fleet card account and run monthly transaction reports by each driver to compare their individual monthly usage. If you notice any spikes in gallon usage you should probably look into why that driver used more fuel.
For example Tom Jones uses an average of 500 gallons per month, and one month he uses 750 gallons. Is Tom making more deliveries? Or is something else going on.
Step 3) Request Surveillance Footage
If you suspect an employee is stealing from you, contact the gas stations they filled up at and request security camera footage for the time of the transaction. Most gas station managers should help you out if they have security cameras (most do these days).
P.S. You can monitor every transaction live by signing up for automatic e-receipts.