What is Fuel Card?
Fuel cards replace cash and receipts. Cards can be limited to a fuel type, a spending cap or a time window, and the statement lists the date, location, volume and price of every purchase. The weak point is the link between a card and a vehicle: a card can fill a different vehicle, a container or a driver's personal car. Matching card transactions to GPS location, fuel level and engine data shows whether the purchase happened where and when the vehicle was there, and whether the tank gained the volume that was paid for. Mismatches are what fuel fraud looks like in the data.
How it works
- The fleet issues cards and sets limits by card or vehicle.
- The driver fills up and the card records date, place, volume and price.
- The statement lists every transaction.
- Transactions are matched to the vehicle's GPS location and fuel level.
- Mismatches are investigated.
Key facts
- Replaces receipts with itemized purchase data
- Limits by fuel type, amount and time reduce misuse
- Matching transactions to GPS location exposes mismatches
- Per-vehicle fuel cost reports come from statements
