Thousands of transactions nobody reads
Your clients' drivers fill up every day across the country. The transaction files from each fuel card provider arrive daily or weekly. Somewhere in them is a diesel van that bought petrol, a car filled with more litres than its tank holds, a card used twice within an hour at different stations, and drivers regularly buying premium fuel their client does not allow. Nobody finds these, because nobody can read every line.
Then a client asks why their fuel bill has gone up, and your account manager has to start digging.
Why misuse and mistakes go unnoticed
The information needed to spot problems is split between the fuel card data and the vehicle data, and the rules differ by client.
- Card providers send files in their own formats, and many clients use more than one provider.
- Fuel type and tank size are on the vehicle record, not the transaction.
- Cards may be linked to a vehicle or a driver, and those links change.
- Each client has its own policy on fuel grades, extras, weekend use and shop purchases.
- Odometer readings entered at the pump are often wrong, so miles per litre looks strange for everyone.
What it costs your clients, and you
Clients pay for fuel that did not go into their vehicles, premium grades they did not approve and shop items on fuel cards. Misfuelling causes expensive repairs. And your value as a fleet manager depends on finding these things before the client does.
The exception reporting we build
- Transaction files from every card provider are imported into one format, whatever their layout.
- Each transaction is matched to a vehicle and driver using the card links in your fleet system, including changes over time.
- Checks run against the vehicle: fuel type, tank capacity, and fills unusually close together.
- Checks run against the client's policy: premium grades, non-fuel purchases, weekend or holiday fills, fills far from the driver's home or base.
- Odometer entries that are implausible are flagged separately, so they do not trigger every fuel economy check.
- Each client receives a short exception report on a schedule they choose, with each flagged transaction and the reason, and your account manager sees all clients' exceptions in one list.
| Check | Based on | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Wrong fuel type | Vehicle record | Petrol bought for a diesel van |
| Fill over tank size | Vehicle tank capacity | More litres than the tank holds |
| Policy breach | Client's rules | Premium grade or shop purchase |
| Location or timing | Driver base, client's rules | Weekend fill far from home |
Not every exception is misuse
Drivers fill jerry cans for site equipment, cover for colleagues or buy the only fuel available at a remote station. The report lists reasons for a closer look, not accusations. Each client can mark exceptions as explained, and repeat patterns for the same card stand out over time. What action to take with a driver is always the client's decision.
Fuel spend that clients can trust
A typical morning for the account manager starts with the overnight exceptions. A petrol purchase on a diesel van is at the top, marked urgent, and the driver is called before he starts the engine again. Below it are a few premium fuel purchases for one client, which go into that client's weekly report, and a fill that looks too big for the tank but turns out to be a van with an auxiliary tank that nobody had recorded. The vehicle record is corrected and the flag does not return.
Each client gets a short, readable list instead of a transaction file. Misfuels are spotted the same day and can be dealt with before the engine is damaged. Your account managers can answer the question about rising fuel costs from a report rather than a spreadsheet. The data also supports the conversation about which drivers and vehicles use the most fuel.
Is fuel card data going unread?
- Fuel card files arrive from several providers in different formats.
- Nobody checks transactions against vehicle fuel type or tank size.
- Each client's fuel policy is applied by hand, if at all.
- Clients have found fuel card problems before you did.
- Pump odometer entries are too unreliable to use.