Comm Data cards fuel etc

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by LucianTHX, Nov 21, 2008.

  1. telcobilly

    telcobilly Medium Load Member

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    I just got my Comdata card for Swift on Friday last week. I'm new to driving and this card. How do you do the checks? I would only want to use them for tolls/scales and other reimbursable expenses, will I be racking up fees that I have to pay for? Also, I heard you can do advances on the card, is that true? I'm trying to get my DD set up on Swift's site, but there is a broken link. I'll call the student DM tomorrow if I can't get it working..
     
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  3. Lost Dutchman

    Lost Dutchman Bobtail Member

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    Was your CDL a B or A.And if an A why do you have to go to school?
     
  4. ironpony

    ironpony Road Train Member

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    Keep in mind that companies can treat how they deal with COMDATA products on an individual basis. I work for Prime, so these answers are based on how they do business.

    There's an advance ballance your company puts on the "company side" of the card. You can access this at places where you fuel (cash back), or via a COMDATA check. Say you have to pay a lumper to unload your trailer. Using your cellphone (you do have one, right?) you check the ballance on your card, enter the amount for the check and the draft number on the check. The check is now authorized, and you use it just like a check for the amount entered. Once authorized, these things have to be cashed.

    If you don't have enough to cover the expense loaded on your card, we just send a QC to dispatch, and the amount needed is loaded within a couple of minutes. I have run across drivers for other companies who have a difficult time at this point... getting the company to fork over the necessary bread.

    Ahh... no you don't. First off, toll roads don't accept checks, you hold up traffic while you're authorizing, writing and trying to convince the toll collector to take it - I guarantee you that road rage will take you to an untimely conclusion! And (depending on the company) there's a fee associated with the check. It's usually small, but if you're footing the bill for that, using a COMDATA check for anything under $50 doesn't make sense. Put some cash in your pocket every week, and use that to run the small expenses on your truck. Keep the receipts, and turn them in with your trip reports to get reimbursed. Scales are $9 at a CAT location now; I've pulled into truckwashes for a trailer washout that only take cash - if you're at the only one within 100 miles and you have a load appointment in half an hour, you're up the creek if you can't pay for it. So if you have something like $100 in your pocket, you have some money for yourself and enough to cover the small stuff.

    If you're a company driver you shouldn't. Everything should be authorized on a PO, unless you're talking about small stuff that is more easily handled via cash/reimbursement. The only thing I pay for is Rainex on the tractor because it makes my machine look better. Trust me... that's coming off of the taxes.

    The advance ballance has to be there - you may have to ask your dispatcher for an advance, and if you're not running they usually don't want to. Prime loads a percentage of the linehaul for every load I do each week - it get's reset on payroll cutoff day. That being said, the only thing I use it for are lumpers fees at recievers. You start taking advances to deal with life on the road, and soon you have pennies for a paycheck. Plus, most drivers don't have a clue about what they spent it on. Good advice: 1) Don't take advances unless you're going to starve if you don't. 2) Don't buy anything at a truckstop unless you absolutely have to... it's way overpriced. 3) Get a fridge or a cooler, and buy food at WalMart - it's cheaper and healthier.

    Good plan. I have my company load $100 on the "personal" side of my COMDATA card... it works like a regular ATM/debit card. That way if something happens to my DD - the rest goes there - I'm not up the creek. For example... being a holiday, my DD won't get loaded Thursday as usual - banks aren't open. I get to wait till the first of next week, but I do get access to the COMDATA debit account as soon as it's loaded Friday night. I use that as my "running the truck fund" - every few months I take any excess and put it in a savings account. Don't get me wrong here... my company reimburses me for everything I pay for in cash. Doing it that way is just more convenient - time is money!

    And... someone at payroll can screw up the tape that goes out to the banks for DD. It's happened to me in the past. It's not so bad if you're at home in a regular life, but on the road it can be a complete disaster - another good reason to have something extra available.
     
    Lurchgs Thanks this.
  5. Lurchgs

    Lurchgs Road Train Member

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    very similar to how I operated... I rarely touched the company side of the card other than for fuel and comchecks. A couple times I had to get oil and anti-freeze was it.

    When I got paid (Thursday night) I'd immediately transfer all but $200 to my "DD" account - my wife's checking account. That $200 was my 'everything' money - tolls, food, ice... whatever. Usually, come the next week, I still had about $100 in the account from the week before, so it sounds worse than it was.

    Word of warning: running the I-80/90 corridor from Chicago to Boston costs about $180 just in tolls. If I was heading that way, I tried to make sure I had access to that extra $200 (in each direction - total $400)

    Always got reimbursed, but any way you slice it, occasionally running the toll roads up there is a tremendous PITA. If you run that section of highway a lot, the I-pass/EZ-Pass is an absolute necessity )IMHO(. If company won't spring for it, it's probably worth dipping into your own pocket for it.
     
  6. Bigray

    Bigray Road Train Member

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    Lurch, have you landed on your feet yet ?
     
  7. Lurchgs

    Lurchgs Road Train Member

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    BigRay,

    Thanks. Not quite yet - but I can see the ground coming up. I may be in orientation come Monday - but there's a hurdle or two to deal with first. This being a heavy holiday week is not helping.
     
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