Fuel Card Management

Fuel card management is the process of issuing, configuring and monitoring the payment cards that drivers use to buy fuel or electric charging. It covers who gets a card, what it can be used for, how transactions are checked and how they are reconciled with vehicle data, so that fuel spending stays under control and misuse is spotted early.

What it involves

• Allocation: one fuel card per vehicle or per driver, recorded in the vehicle file, with a clear process for loss, theft and departures.
• Spending rules: allowed products (fuel type, charging, car wash), days and hours, amount or volume per transaction, and authorised areas.
• Transaction checks: regular review of statements to detect unusual purchases.
• Reconciliation: matching each transaction with the vehicle it belongs to and with its mileage.
• Cost allocation: charging fuel to the right vehicle, site or cost centre.

How reconciliation detects misuse

A card statement alone shows what was paid, not whether it was justified. Comparing transactions with vehicle data reveals inconsistencies:

• Wrong product: diesel bought for a petrol car, or fuel bought for an electric vehicle.
• Volume: more fuel bought than the tank can hold.
• Location: a purchase made far from where the vehicle was at that time, when trip data is available.
• Consumption: fuel bought rising while mileage stays flat, a sign of fuel used for another vehicle.

Each alert is a question to clear with the driver, not proof of fraud: shared vehicles, data entry errors or a card swap often explain the gap.

Why it matters for a company fleet

Fuel or energy is one of the main variable costs of a fleet, and the one drivers influence most. Well-managed cards limit misuse, give reliable consumption data per vehicle, and feed cost optimization work such as eco-driving or electrification.

How Dadycar helps

Dadycar is a French fleet management software covering fleet management, telematics and car sharing. Fuel cards can be connected so that transactions are brought back to each vehicle and feed fuel consumption tracking. With telematics, purchases can be compared with trips and mileage, and alerts flag the anomalies to check. Costs can then be allocated by site or cost centre. A free account covers up to 50 vehicles, and data is hosted in France, with OVHcloud.

FAQ

Should fuel cards be linked to the vehicle or the driver?
Linking to the vehicle makes consumption analysis easier; linking to the driver suits pool vehicles. Either way, the link must be recorded and kept up to date.

How often should transactions be checked?
At least monthly, and continuously when an automatic alert system is in place.

Can fuel cards be used for electric charging?
Many cards now cover public charging, which lets mixed fleets follow fuel and electricity costs in the same way.