Fuel Card

A delivery driver fills a van and uses a company fuel card rather than personal cash, and the business receives transaction records that can be assigned to vehicles and checked against travel. BP describes alerts, PIN controls and card blocking for its fleet cards, and Shell documents limit and restriction settings for its mobility cards.

These are provider features, not a guarantee that all cards offer the same settings. Choose the card structure, since a card can be assigned to a vehicle, a driver or a pool, and each choice changes how the business reconciles a transaction to the trip and user.

Define permitted purchases, because some programmes can cover diesel, petrol, electricity, tolls or maintenance-related services while others cover a narrower set, so check the contract and configure restrictions accordingly. Review network coverage as well, since a low price or rebate has limited value if drivers must detour to use a participating station.

Understand price terms, as a card may charge pump price, a negotiated discount or a periodically set price, and fees, rebates and invoicing schedules affect total cost. Assess fees such as monthly card, replacement, transaction and cross-border charges, which can offset discounts, and review the provider's current schedule.

Set sensible limits on spending, volume, time of day and product to flag unusual behaviour, though a rigid limit can also strand a legitimate driver, so define an exception path. Protect the credential: drivers should not share a PIN or leave a card in an unsecured vehicle, and a lost card should be reported promptly through the provider's blocking process.

Check receipts and logs, because card data may show date, location, amount and product but odometer readings or driver IDs may be missing or wrong, and a receipt and trip record can add context. Reconcile transactions by matching purchase date and place with the vehicle assignment, route and fuel capacity, since a fill far beyond tank size or two distant fills close together deserves review, not an automatic accusation.

An illustrative fuel spend per kilometre is total relevant fuel-card charges divided by kilometres driven during the same period, so charges of $4,000 over 20,000 kilometres give $0.20 per kilometre. That measure depends on timing, because fuel purchased at the end of one month may be consumed in the next, and mileage and stock in the tank can distort a short period.

Separate card spend from total vehicle cost too, since insurance, maintenance, lease, driver wages and tolls may not be in the fuel transactions, so do not use card expense alone to price a route, and compare energy types carefully because electric charging can be billed by time, energy or session on a different network and needs consistent units. Control tax records, as invoices can simplify documentation but deductibility or VAT recovery follows local rules and qualifying use, and a card statement is not universal proof of entitlement.

Monitor exceptions such as an unexpected premium fuel purchase, which may be an error, a vehicle requirement or misuse, so ask the driver and check records before deciding, and plan off-network purchases by defining how a permitted expense is approved and reimbursed while avoiding duplicate reimbursement when a card transaction later posts. Limit data access because transaction locations can reveal driver movements and retention should follow the business's policy and privacy obligations, and for owners a fuel card centralises selected vehicle spending and creates usable data, with the benefit coming from appropriate controls, reconciliation and a network that fits the routes.