Tailschwing:
It’s just this bad management of the fuel cards.
There’s only one reason why a fuel card would be declined and that’s because the company hasn’t paid the bill. That is a huge red flag to me. I’ve worked for a few firms which have gone bust and having the fuel card declined on an increasingly regular basis is normally an early warning sign.
If the card is declined, just phone the firm and tell them, then the boss can pay it over the phone with his own credit card. If he has to be woken up at four o’ clock in the morning to do that, well you’re awake so why shouldn’t he be?
It’s because the cards have a limit which needs to be raised (and supposedly is going to be).
I do love working for the end client though. Easily the best driving job I’ve had. Perfect mix of not driving too far but also not too much physical graft.
Also can’t fault the lads at the plant. We had a snakey driver working for my employer for a few months. He bent the steps and when he got back from holiday tried to say they hadn’t been like that when he left - I’d been stupid enough to believe they’d already been reported and didn’t defect them (learned my lesson there!).
Boss told me that the guy had sent him a photo of the truck ‘as he’d left it’, which was clearly an old photo, probably from after he washed the truck previously as he loved brown nosing to the boss.
The lads at the plant weren’t having it and spoke to the yard manager. The absolute diamond of a bloke trawled through weeks of cctv footage to find the exact day nobhead dented the steps and sent zoomed in photos to my boss showing the truck leaving yard intact and returning with steps bent. Nobhead was instantly sacked by my boss for his dishonesty.
That’s the sort of culture money can’t buy. Most places I’ve subbed for wouldn’t give a ■■■■ and certainly wouldn’t spend much of their time helping out a subbie driver.
I own and run a fleet of 18, we have occasionally had an issue with a fuel card, and mostly it has been that the magnetic strip would not read the card properly, each time it has been easily resolved by me calling the fuel card company who have contacted the filling station and given approval and guarantee of payment so that they can process the fuel drawing. They then send out a replacement card.
In my view, the drivers should never have to use their own money to fill the tank as its easily resolved if the company talk to the fuel card company
tc trans:
I own and run a fleet of 18, we have occasionally had an issue with a fuel card, and mostly it has been that the magnetic strip would not read the card properly, each time it has been easily resolved by me calling the fuel card company who have contacted the filling station and given approval and guarantee of payment so that they can process the fuel drawing. They then send out a replacement card.
In my view, the drivers should never have to use their own money to fill the tank as its easily resolved if the company talk to the fuel card company
This is exactly how it is. Any company asking you to put hundreds of pounds of your own money in the tank isn’t a place I’d want to work
On principle not a chance.
But I’ve been thinking about this, a firm I once worked for who were great people who looked after me, and treated me like an adult…I quite often went the extra mile for,.and was more than willing to do so.
If there was a hiccup or something of this nature, and I rang him.and he assured me it was a genuine thing …and could I please help him out…(.ok maybe not 400 quid btw,.I didn’t like them THAT much. ) I more than likely would have.
If he’d have told me the money would be straight back in my bank,.I’d believe him, because I trusted him , he was more like a mate (and drinking partner btw ) than a boss.
I’m also confident in same situation that I’d get money back off my present firm in that event, …but because of past incidents I’m on a strict work to rule (albeit 100% effort) but no favours over and above policy.
As I often say on here…Firms and bosses reap what they sow.
To be fair though from an organisational point of view this is a very basic issue for a company to deal with and if they can’t deal with something so minor would make me wonder how they’d deal with things when the manure really hits the fan, like when you phone boss to tell him his truck is on its side in a ditch.
) I more than likely would have.
, he was more like a mate (and drinking partner btw 
) than a boss.