Fuel card

The carrier’s card the driver fuels on; each purchase comes off the owner’s settlement, and none of it touches driver pay.

Also called: Carrier fuel card, Card fuel.

Most leased owner-operators fuel on the carrier’s card because the carrier gets a better pump price. The carrier then deducts each purchase on the settlement, usually with a transaction number and the location.

The driver’s fuel slip is the record that lets you check those deductions against what was actually pumped. It is a business expense of the owner, not something the driver is paid or repaid for.

Fuel the driver paid cash for is different: that is a reimbursement, turned in on the load and paid back on the next pay sheet.

Read next

• Reimbursement — Paying a driver back for something they bought for the load out of their own pocket — a toll, a wash, cash fuel.
• Settlement — The carrier’s statement of what it owes the owner-operator for a load, and the check that pays it.
• Fuel surcharge — An amount the carrier pays the owner-operator on each load, on top of the order share, to offset the price of diesel.

Every term, A to Z

Made with the free fuel card at loadtally.app/tools/glossary/fuel-card — LoadTally, loads, settlements and driver pay for owner-operators.