As a fleet manager, two of the biggest challenges are ensuring that your employees are following your fueling policies and not wasting time throughout their workday. While a fuel card provides added layers of security over cash, credit cards, or reimbursement, there are still ways that employees can fuel their own vehicle using company funds. We recommend launching a GPS fuel monitoring system in all your company vehicles to prevent employee misuse and monitor their workday.
GPS fuel monitoring system minimizes employee misuse.
As your fleet grows, it becomes difficult to track all company vehicles and monitor where every dollar of your fuel budget is going. By combining a company fuel card with GPS tracking, you eliminate both problems by creating a seamless map of where your vehicles have traveled. This tracking becomes essential if you ever notice a discrepancy in your fueling, or if your fuel card reports show that one driver is spending more than the rest. A GPS fuel monitoring system will alert managers if the vehicle wasn’t present when the fuel transaction occurred, allowing you to immediately follow up with drivers about the suspicious charge. You will also be able to view the complete route history for each vehicle in your fleet to compare the number of miles traveled with the number of gallons purchased, spotting irregularities early and allowing you to confer with your drivers about your fueling policies.
GPS tracking integrates with a company fuel card.
If you are already working with a GPS company, you should follow up with them to see if they provide a card that can seamlessly pair with your existing program. This will allow you to get real-time notifications if a card is used without a vehicle in the area, indicating misuse. However, some companies do not offer their own payment solution, so you may need to work with a third-party provider to track your purchases. In this case, the card provider can send transaction data to the GPS company for verification and tracking, allowing you to enjoy the benefits of both programs.
Additional benefits of GPS tracking
In addition to providing an extra layer of security, GPS tracking also helps to streamline your business and hold your employees accountable. You have the ability to monitor routes and idle time to ensure employees are on the job and follow up with employees if you notice large amounts of downtime. Additionally, you have the ability to track vehicle speeds and encourage better behavior from your drivers. You can also use the vehicle location to provide accurate ETAs for customers waiting for service and verify job completion, creating an automatic log of company activity.
Conclusion
Fuel cards provide an extra layer of security for your team, but there are still ways for employees to work around these protections. By implementing a GPS fuel monitoring system, you can ensure that the drivers are only fueling when they are next to a company vehicle, streamlining your management. The additional benefits of driver monitoring and historical records make it an essential feature to organize your business, regardless of your industry.
