Fuel Card

I am not sure that they can charge an added fee unless it is in your lease agreement. Any charges should be listed in your agreement. You also have the option of getting your own fuel card or paying cash rather than using their fuel card. If you are getting fuel discounts that may offset the 10% your company is charging to use their fuel card. Regardless, if the company wants to charge a fee for anything, it should be listed and agreed to by both parties. You could check with your lawyer or call OOIDA and speak with them about it. Their people are very knowlegeable.

 

Tough when you have to cover that additional cost, have you thought about or tried to just pay cash and get a discount? It would be good to check out fuel supply companies, many are far less costly than truck stop fuel.

I found a grocery store on Minnesota selling highway diesel for 3.35, truck stop was 3.71 and 3.80 credit.

 

That extra 10% doesn't make sense to me. It looks like their financial problems are not nearly over. If they need to make this money back by slapping 10% on top of the already expensive fuel, it looks like it is time to seriously consider leaving. If you decide you are getting your own card or paying cash, that will take that revenue away from your carrier. When you do this you also run the risk of if they close up shop, you may not get paid for a bunch of work, and you have eaten the fuel cost now too.

 

are u a company driver, o/o or l/p? if ur a company driver, that's THEIR fuel bill, not yours

 

Not true. Many companies dont use "open fuel cards" Im assuming when he says "prepaid" he means the $ has to be on there or loaded on there before he fuels.

 

Cut that stupid Comdata card up and throw it in the trash. You'd be better off paying cash or using a credit card. If you avoid the big chains, most of the smaller fuel stops are the same price cash or credit...and usually 5-10 cents per gallon cheaper than the big chain's cash price. Pay cash for your showers if necessary...it'll be FAR cheaper than the $6 Comdata fee + the 10% to your carrier. Hell, even the credit price at the big chains will be cheaper than that Comdata fee plus what your carrier is tacking on.

If you use a credit card, you SHOULD get paid for the loads you've hauled before the bill shows up...so you should have the money to pay it off in full. Depending upon your credit limit, you might have to keep track of your spending and pay it off every week or two until they bump up your limit enough to pay it monthly.

 

Most of these fuel card companies require the bill to be paid in full each week, so you don't have much leeway when it coms to paying the bill. If you can put the money back you might be better off to get a PDCA card from Transportation Alliance Bank. You can get the cash price at most fuel stops and an extra $0.02/gallon at Flying J and Pilot. It is also easy to fund the account with a comcheck or any of the other card company checks. Most of the time the money will be in your account within 10 minutes or less. They cater to the trucking industry. And there is NO transaction fee with their card. You can also use it like any credit or debit card.

 

That's a horrible deal. Throw the ComData card away in the trash, I have no idea why O/O's use these cards, pay the fees & then have it deducted from their settlement.


Stay away from the major chain truck stops & pay cash for all of your fuel. I save a ton of money paying the cash price & fueling at the smaller "Mom & Pop" truck stops. The large chain truck stops are always $0.10 - $0.20 higher than the small independent truck stops.