• At times, drivers might refuse to comply with established fuel networks, which costs the carrier money in the long run.

While most drivers will be compliant with the company fuel network, some drivers will not. These drivers simply will not comply with the company fuel network and fuel at fuel stops of their choosing. This is due to drivers having “favorite” truckstops, not “liking” the facilities at the company fuel stops, and/or trying to avoid fueling to be able to “manipulate” their hours of service. Non-compliance should be considered a driver performance issue and treated as a serious matter. Non-compliance drives up fuel costs, and if not corrected can lead to other drivers becoming non-compliant.

Drivers who are manipulating their hours of service can be the most difficult to bring into compliance with the company network. However, if drivers are using electronic logs, the carrier’s ability to detect this falsification has become easier. Drivers should know that the accuracy of their on-duty (not driving) time is verified using supporting documents, and that fuel receipts and fuel billing statements are the most common support documents used in auditing (everybody has to buy fuel!).

The log manipulation technique used by drivers on paper logs, is to fuel “wherever the day legally ends.” By doing this, the driver can continue to drive after using all available hours without leaving a “paper trail.” This allows the driver to get home, or make it to a customer, when their available hours have been used. If they had fueled at the company fuel stop, the driver would have had to have accounted for a fueling when taking a required break hours earlier.

The problem is, if the driver is caught, there are serious consequences (fines against the driver and an out-of-service violation on the carrier’s record, which can lead to the attention of auditors). If the driver is involved in an accident while operating over hours, the ensuing litigation can be disastrous for the driver and the carrier.