As a decision maker who deals with employees who require your money to do their job, you need to find ways to ensure that when your financial resources are in an employee’s hands, you maintain control over how those resources are used.
When you have drivers and other employees who need fuel, you have several choices. You can let the employees’ expense those costs out of their own pockets and then reimburse them later upon receipt. Or you can hand over a credit card or a fuel card and trust that employees won’t take advantage by spending your money on unapproved items. Another choice is to enroll your business in a trusted, reputable company that issues fleet cards.
Let’s take a look at that first option - asking employees to expense items out of their own pocket and get reimbursed later. In some cases, this option is feasible, especially if the costs are not what some might consider extravagant. In the case of a driver who needs to fuel up a big rig however, it might - and possibly is for most – be an amount of money that they just don’t have.
In the second option, you run the risk of giving a fuel or credit card to someone who you might not know very well. Unfortunately, this option leaves you open to the risk of being scammed to a tune of thousands of dollars. Sure, you might be able to recoup some of that, but it’s going to be a hassle and a waste of your valuable time.
Most companies that employ long distance - or even short distance - drivers choose to use a fleet card system. Why? Well, using a fleet card system provides benefits and safety that the other two options cannot provide. Let’s take a look at three of those benefits.
With fleet cards, your company is in the driver’s seat when it comes to who can use the card, when they can use it and how much they spend. Your wholesale fuel provider can change or adjust limits at any time. Many fleet cards, including the CFN FleetWide card we offer at Bear Oil Company, provide the ability to gas up in many different locations across the country.
Let’s take a worst-case scenario. You’ve hired a new driver who takes your truck to some destination and then abruptly quits the job. With a fleet card, you can cancel that card immediately with internet access. You won’t have to go through the time and explanation of calling up your card issuer to ask for cancellation. The fleet card simply stops working.
Since we’ve talked about putting you in the driver’s seat with the ability to manage your fleet cards immediately through the internet, let’s explore this technology-based management a little further. Once you’ve logged into your CFN FleetWide account (which is available 24/7), you can direct many fleet card activities remotely, including tracking where and when the card is being used, examine transactions, and activate and deactivate cards.
Through your fuel provider, like Bear Oil Company, each card can be set up with customized permissions and limits - or you can apply the same limits across the board. Your wholesale fuel provider can help you manage your fleet applications in the manner best suited to your operations. An example of some of the limits you can employ include:
With most fleet cards, you and/or your management team will be able to access clear reports 24/7 on hourly, daily, weekly and monthly activity. That’s a great tool when decisions and plans need to be made concerning your company’s bottom line and budget. Invoices are detailed so you know exactly where your money is going and can plan accordingly. It can also reduce administrative time, boosting productivity and efficiency.
Since you can track your spending in real time, you are always on the forefront of important information that can drive decisions.
There are a variety of options when you need to be a decision maker in charge of the fueling, repair and maintenance of a fleet - whether your industry is construction, trucking or a variety of others. Choosing to employ a fleet card system comes with several advantages and, in many cases, is the best option.
Contact the professionals at Bear Oil Company for more information on choosing a fleet card system for your business.
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