Need some advice- Fuel Card

[soberups]

My center has gas pumps. Only us satellite drivers are issued fuel cards. If automotive would inform us when they were swapping package cars I might leave the card in the truck. Too many times I have come to work in the morning to an empty vehicle. No handcart, fuel card, dog treats, COD turn in, etc. Now everything comes out each night.
Leave the fuel card for my vacation coverage driver when I'm off, but not in the package car!

The satellite routes in our center refuel at a commercial gas station that UPS has an account with. No cards needed.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

When I had my country run, I was told that the fuel guage was off and to add 10 miles to the odometer. This is when I started writing down the ending odometer on the DVIR. If the starting odometer the following day did not match what I had written down I knew I would have to stop for fuel during the day. I still write down the ending odometer even though I am on a city run with a brand new PC.

 

[wayfair]

If you don't have a fuel card and are told "make it work", immediately get your union Steward

 

[soberups]

In my opinion, we should refuel our cars every night regardless of how many miles we happen to drive. Starting the day off with a full tank is a best practice that should be followed for several reasons.
1. I have been told by a mechanic that keeping the tank full prevents condensation buildup inside the tank.
2. We never know when a power outage, traffic accident etc will cause the pumps to be inoperable or empty, so refueling every night leaves us better prepared for an emergency that causes fuel to be unavailable the following day.
3. In my case at least, on two occasions I have wound up having to make an unplanned, emergency trip to the Portland airport, towing a pup trailer full of NDA volume that could not be processed at our building due to a power outage. This wound up being an 80 mile round trip and had I been forced to stop for fuel on the way I would have missed the outbound flight and over 300 pieces of NDA volume would have been service failures.

Its probably a bit of the prepper in me, but I never allow my personal vehicles to get below half a tank and I don't leave the building in the morning without a full tank in my package car.

 

[ChickenLegs]

In my opinion, we should refuel our cars every night regardless of how many miles we happen to drive. Starting the day off with a full tank is a best practice that should be followed for several reasons.
1. I have been told by a mechanic that keeping the tank full prevents condensation buildup inside the tank.
2. We never know when a power outage, traffic accident etc will cause the pumps to be inoperable or empty, so refueling every night leaves us better prepared for an emergency that causes fuel to be unavailable the following day.
3. In my case at least, on two occasions I have wound up having to make an unplanned, emergency trip to the Portland airport, towing a pup trailer full of NDA volume that could not be processed at our building due to a power outage. This wound up being an 80 mile round trip and had I been forced to stop for fuel on the way I would have missed the outbound flight and over 300 pieces of NDA volume would have been service failures.

Its probably a bit of the prepper in me, but I never allow my personal vehicles to get below half a tank and I don't leave the building in the morning without a full tank in my package car.

I like your logic.

I've talked to many drivers from other companies who say they're forced to not fill up their tanks because it adds extra weight, reducing efficiency. Keep in mind these are 15-30k tractors with 150-300 gal tanks

 

[OVERBOARD]

A couple of years back there was a driver fueling his personal car with the company gas card. He was doing it for years the only reason he was got was he started to use it on Sundays which was eventually flagged. That took care of the gas card problem no one is aloud to take home gas cards, We have to sign out the gas cards each morning and return to the OMS at night.

 

[brownman.canada]

Hello fellow UPSers.

I work in a small center that does not have fuel on-site. We are required to fuel the package cars during the day using fleet cards. I am a swing driver, recently out of qualification, one of 6 new drivers in the building. None of us, nor many of the other drivers who have been here for a while have been issued fuel cards. Instead, we are told to "make it work".

I brought this issue up with my on road sup a few days ago, and long story short, he told me to get lost. I asked around some more and found out that the cards are issued to the package cars, and not to the drivers. Since we have more drivers than cars, there are not enough cards to go around. Originally, the cards were supposed to stay in the cars, but every driver with their own route keeps their card on them, and the ones out of the spare cars were pocketed years ago.

I've been driving since October as seasonal, and have managed to memorize a card number, which the clerk at the station nearby will manually enter and allow me to get fuel. This trick works, but there are several problems with it. First of all, it restricts me to getting fuel at only one station. I can't get my air off, for example, and then get fuel before I start my route. This basically requires me to start every day with a lengthy fuel stop- during the time I am supposed to be running off air. (I say lengthy because I have to talk to the clerk to activate the pump as opposed to paying outside.)

In addition to that, since the card number I use "belongs" to another driver, I can only ever get fuel once per day- otherwise he will not be able to fuel his own car. This means that I will always bring my car back to the building with less than a full tank- something that irritates me because I know how annoying it is to start the day with an empty tank.

Long story short, one of these days I am going to have late air because I had to stop and get fuel. Is it worth talking to my center manager to see if he can do something about it, or should I just shut my mouth and keep doing what I'm doing? In my mind I am only asking for the tools to do my job efficiently. Is this worth the fight?

If you are not getting help from the management team then go to the union and tell them what's going on. You should a fuel card how else are you going to do your job .

 

[brownman.canada]

A couple of years back there was a driver fueling his personal car with the company gas card. He was doing it for years the only reason he was got was he started to use it on Sundays which was eventually flagged. That took care of the gas card problem no one is aloud to take home gas cards, We have to sign out the gas cards each morning and return to the OMS at night.

Sounds like a good plan

 

[brownman.canada]

I like your logic.

I've talked to many drivers from other companies who say they're forced to not fill up their tanks because it adds extra weight, reducing efficiency. Keep in mind these are 15-30k tractors with 150-300 gal tanks

It part of your pre trip in the morning to make sure you have enough fuel for the job. And when you are done your day (post trip) to make sure you have enough fuel for the next day.

 

[brownman.canada]

The lack of fuel cards is not your problem.

Quit using someone else's number and just go out and deliver as best you can until the car runs out of fuel, then call in and have them send a tow truck. Repeat as necessary. Eventually they will figure out that issuing you a fuel card is cheaper than sending out a tow truck to deliver fuel every day. Or maybe they wont. Either way, you are paid by the hour.

That will come back and bite you in the butt. Its part of your pre trip to make sure there is fuel in your package car. Refuse to go on road until you get a fuel card, and talk to your union rep

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

Not giving up my fuel card. It stays in my wallet except when I am on vacation. Too many times when I left the card in the package car it returned to the building when the shop swapped trucks for maintenence.

It's not "your" fuel card. So, it probably shouldn't be stored in your wallet. Many drivers have been screwed by that mentality. I wish I had $5 for every time I covered a route and the bid driver had forgot or flat out refused to leave the fuel card where it was supposed to be. And if a center's management team has told their drivers to keep them in their wallets then they are part of the problem too.

 

[rod]

Being that I got paid by the hour I fueled EVERY day. Many times I didn't need to but I always figured about the time I started the day with "close" to what I needed that would be the day they would give me a few extra rural routes to run off. I also kept the free car wash tokens for every 100 gallons for my personal use.

 

[1989]

I would think using the memorized number could get you in hot water. At my center we sign out gas cards for unleaded trucks or routes with excessive miles. If they didn't care who did what, then why would they make you sign the card out? Using a card without signing it out I would assume is grounds for disciplinary action.

If you are using your own id number there shouldn't be a problem. The fact is, you are using a ups fuel card to purchase fuel for a ups vehicle. That is exactly what they are intended for.
If I were to be question about a fuel charge on the card I have, I would ask what I'd was used. And keep all receipts thereafter.
I worked in a center one time where we turned in our receipts with our name and car number on them. Now I don't.

 

[jaker]

Holy crap why are you guys missing the point he does not have the fuel card in his possession

would any of do anything here if you didnt have it in your possession

If they told you to key in a pkg and record it as deliver and you didn't actually deliver it would you

 

[soberups]

Holy crap why are you guys missing the point he does not have the fuel card in his possession

would any of do anything here if you didnt have it in your possession

If they told you to key in a pkg and record it as deliver and you didn't actually deliver it would you

If I key in the number for a UPS fuel card in order to put fuel in a UPS vehicle...it is no different than if I swiped the actual card itself to put fuel in a UPS vehicle. UPS gets the bill either way and UPS gets fuel in its vehicle either way.

If I key in a package and record it as delivered when I never actually had or delivered the package...I am committing fraud. I am lying and claiming a package got delivered when in fact it did not.

Fuel and packages aren't the same thing.

 

[jaker]

If I key in the number for a UPS fuel card in order to put fuel in a UPS vehicle...it is no different than if I swiped the actual card itself to put fuel in a UPS vehicle. UPS gets the bill either way and UPS gets fuel in its vehicle either way.

If I key in a package and record it as delivered when I never actually had or delivered the package...I am committing fraud. I am lying and claiming a package got delivered when in fact it did not.

Fuel and packages aren't the same thing.

Yes it is because you don't actually have the card , I will say it and I am done with it

You are risking your job by not actually having the card or the permission to use it , but it is your life and its their life so you guys can gamble with it

 

[soberups]

Yes it is because you don't actually have the card , I will say it and I am done with it

You are risking your job by not actually having the card or the permission to use it , but it is your life and its their life so you guys can gamble with it

Upon what basis would the company fire him?

It isn't theft because he isn't stealing the fuel, he is putting it into a package car.

It isn't dishonesty because (a) he isn't trying to hide anything (b) he isn't lying about anything and (c) he isn't falsifying anything. He is using a UPS account to put fuel in a UPS car.

What contract article is the driver guilty of violating that would warrant disciplinary action?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

If you are using your own id number there shouldn't be a problem. The fact is, you are using a ups fuel card to purchase fuel for a ups vehicle. That is exactly what they are intended for.
If I were to be question about a fuel charge on the card I have, I would ask what I'd was used. And keep all receipts thereafter.
I worked in a center one time where we turned in our receipts with our name and car number on them. Now I don't.

We used to also turn in receipts with our car number and gallons pumped. Turns out there was really no reason for us to be doing this so our new center manager stopped this practice.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Yes it is because you don't actually have the card , I will say it and I am done with it

You are risking your job by not actually having the card or the permission to use it , but it is your life and its their life so you guys can gamble with it

If the card in question were a co-workers personal credit card that you were using for personal reasons I would totally agree but the card in question is a company fleet card being used to refuel company equipment. There is no way that you are risking your job by doing this.

 

[ChickenLegs]

When you fuel up, you are allowed to use a rewards card to collect points and what not.