What You Should Know About Employee Fuel Cards Fuel Fraud
4 Sep 2017
As much as you want to trust the men and women working for you, fuel card fraud happens every day to fleets just like yours. When you entrust your employees with fuel cards, you’re providing them with the means to take advantage of your organization. You need more than hope to keep them in line and avoid paying for items that aren’t fueling your fleet.
These are a few things you can do to reduce faulty fuel card charges in your organization.
What is Employee Fuel Card Fraud?
Anytime employees use their employee fuel cards to purchase fuel for personal vehicles or items unrelated to the operation of their vehicles (motor oil, coolant, etc.) it is essentially fuel fraud. In some cases, drivers use their fuel cards to pay for fuel for others in exchange for cash – at your expense.
It doesn’t matter how well you pay your employees, how long they’ve worked for you, or anything else. Some employees are always looking for opportunities to maximize their income. Fuel cards, and the relative freedom they experience, make for tempting combinations.
Preventing Fleet Fuel Card Fraud
The good news is that there are steps you can take that will help you reduce your risks when it comes to fuel card fraud from your drivers. These small steps can save your organization thousands of dollars, if not more, annually, by deterring this particular crime among your employees.
- Explain the consequences of fuel card fraud to your employees. Let them know, in no uncertain terms, what will happen to employees who are caught stealing fuel from your company.
- Require employees to have unique PIN numbers they use whenever fueling their vehicles and track spending from one employee to the next to look for signs of problems.
- Install GPS fleet tracking systems that provide daily reports about how much fuel drivers should consume. This will not only help with the collection of evidence against drivers who are stealing, but serves as an outstanding deterrent for those who are considering it.
- Set daily spending limits on the cards. With strict laws governing the number of hours trucks can spend on the road each day, it makes perfect sense to set daily limits that allow a little wiggle room for fuel and other emergencies, but little else.
Now is the perfect time to take control of fleet spending and reduce your risks of fuel card fraud by your employees. These practices will help raise awareness and improve your bottom line.
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