| Light Duty Is your fuel going missing? By David A. Kolman, Editor Control and oversight to manage fuel expenses All vehicle fl eets, regardless of fl eet size, type of vehicles and their application, seek ways to simplify processes and control costs, especially with regard to fuel. Fuel, typically, is one of the largest operating expenses for a fl eet. To help manage and reduce fuel expenses, it is necessary to accurately track fuel use and costs. Being able to see where its fuel is “seeping through the cracks” enables a fl eet to take the suitable measures to remedy any problems. Th e foundation for this is to develop and successfully implement eff ective controls and oversight for managing fuel use. Fleet fuel cards can help with this. Th ey are a way to closely monitor fuel type, time of fueling transactions, number of gallons purchased and more, say fl eet fuel card providers. Moreover, the cards can be used to put safeguards in place to keep fl eets from experiencing fuel theft and fraud. Another benefi t is that these cards are customizable on a card-by-card basis. Th is permits a fl eet to control spending limits – including the types of purchases an employee can make, how much fuel can be purchased per day, fuel limits by vehicle type and/or tank capacity, types of fuel that can be bought or whatever parameters would assist control eff orts. Th e desired level of monitoring and reporting can be set well. Some fl eet cards provide per gallon fuel discounts if purchases are made at affi liated vendors and franchises. BEST PRACTICE A best practice is to use the appropriate fl eet card program in conjunction with a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) with a fuel management component and/or a broadbased fuel management program. By doing so, a fl eet will be able that track every step of the fueling process for better fuel control and accountability. Th ese tools can provide line-by-line reporting that details specifi c criteria, like when and where each cardholder made a purchase; date, time and location of the transaction; quantity and type of fuel purchased, vehicle mileage, etc. Th ey also can do exception reporting, which eliminates the need to review countless reports to identify and address problems and issues. Th is can be a big help because the quantity of data being collected by fl eets these days is increasing exponentially. All of this helps reduce administrative tasks. Additionally, fl eet fuel card reporting can reveal other information, such as underperforming vehicles or drivers with bad habits that lead to extra vehicle maintenance and wasted fuel. Some card and fuel management systems can send automatic security alerts when a fuel transaction is made outside of established limits, such as aft er-work hours, above pre-set fi ll-up amounts or number of fi ll-ups per timeframe. Th ese could be fraudulent behavior and allows quick action to be taken. It is important that all card and management system and reporting functions be fully understood and that detailed system reports can be generated effi ciently. Red fl ag warnings In general, when monitoring fuel transactions, fl eet fuel card providers advise paying attention to the following red fl ags to make purchases are on the fueling transactions the same day. • Inconsistent mileages between fi ll-ups. • Unauthorized fuel purchases. • Use of the wrong fuel type/ grade. • Non-fuel purchases. • Abnormal fuel amounts. For example, pumping 30 gallons during one transaction when the assigned vehicle only has a 15-gal capacity fuel tank. • An employee reaches or exceeds their authorized gallon limit per month. • Fuel station location. Typically, route drivers return to the same fueling stations to purchase fuel. If different stations start to appear, verify that the purchases are valid. m ers pa following sure fuel pur up and up: • Multiple fu during the 24 FLEET MAINTENANCE ❚ AUGUST 2016 ❚ VehicleServicePros.com
FleetMaintenance_August_2016
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