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Business fuel theft is a serious problem for companies that operate fleets of vehicles. Many business owners don’t realize they are being affected by this common problem. Others know that it is happening but aren’t sure what to do about it. Don’t let yourself be a victim of your employees’ crime. Make sure you understand business fuel theft so you can put an end to it.
Business fuel theft, as the name suggests, is the stealing of fuel from a company. There are two major ways that business fuel theft typically occurs. First, a driver may use a company vehicle to drive somewhere that is unrelated to the business. The company is paying for the fuel that is used to make the trip even though it’s not a business trip. This is a subtle method of stealing gas from the company but it can end up costing the business a lot of money over time.
The second method of fuel theft is for a driver with a company gas credit card to use the card to fuel up his or her own personal vehicle. Another version of this is for the company to reimburse gas purchases and the driver submits a purchase that was actually for filling up a personal vehicle. This is outright business fuel theft and can also cost the business a lot of money over time.
Business fuel theft happens for a number of reasons. Drivers may simply not think that it’s a big deal because it may be an issue that has never been addressed in the company before. Another reason is that when fuel prices go up employees may feel they simply can’t afford gas anymore and may decide that it’s worth the risk to steal it.
Business owners can address all of these issues using a combination of fuel theft oversight methods. The first and most important thing you can do is to address the issue of business fuel theft in your company. Hold a meeting. Send out a memo. Let people know this is happening in your business and that it won’t be tolerated. Let them clearly know how it is affecting your bottom line (and how, in turn, that can affect their wages and job security). Bringing the issue to light just may resolve most of the problem.
Another thing you can do is to set up an incentive or rewards program for employees that actively reduce their business fuel costs. This serves the purpose of increasing loyalty to the company. Employees who feel like they are a part of the team and will be rewarded when they do right thing, are going to be less likely to commit theft. They will also be more likely to notice when they are inadvertently committing theft, such as when they are using a business vehicle for personal driving because it’s more convenient.
Finally, you can institute a monitoring system to actively monitor business fuel theft. A fleet card system is one common way of doing this. It sets every driver up on a gas card that is actively monitored and reported on by the fleet card company. This allows you as the business owner to notice when fuel seems to be wasted by a particular driver. You can put controls on the card to limit the problem as well as addressing the problem outright with the problem employee. Nip the problem in the bud so you don’t lose any more money to business fuel theft.
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