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With the costs of fuel rising, and the economy sinking, everyone is looking for ways to cut down on their travel expenses. Employees may find the answer with their company credit card. Trusting employees with fleet credit cards is always a risk. On the one hand it relieves the employer of the hassle of putting gas in company cars himself or having a company fuel-up station, but giving the employee a credit card to take care of gas costs makes the company susceptible to paying for the employee’s personal use as well.

Of course, this risk is not limited to the private sector. Most people expect government employees to abuse their privileges and spend public funds for personal use. The U.S Department of Justice recently caught a Deputy U.S. Marshal in the act of doing just that.  U.S Marshal Peter F. Rouse was caught swiping government money to pay for his personal gas – to the tune of $4,000 – 8,000. The deputy’s free ride was interrupted due to the use of GPS tracking systems in conjunction with the examination of credit card records.

The Justice Department was able to use GPS data to prove that Rouse’s government owned vehicle was not at the gas stations shown on the credit card statement at the time gas was purchased. Obviously, it wasn’t the government vehicle that was getting filled up. This left Rouse with little room to escape charges. Although government fraud surely goes under the radar many times, this particular case was found out. Too bad other instances of government free-riding aren’t as easy to solve.

GPS tracking can lead to more solutions, just as easily. As was demonstrated in this case, GPS tracking can save the government and private sector businesses large amounts of money. GPS tracking provides accountability, enabling employers to investigate suspect situations with a simple review of GPS tracking data.

If an employee decides to fill up his SUV for a quick family weekend vacation using the company credit card, GPS tracking equipment would show the company car parked at the time of that fuel-up. Company executives have a greater ability to protect company assets and hold employees accountable with GPS tracking. The result is a better bottom line for the company, as well as healthier company morale. When the nature of a company, or the government’s business requires issuing company credit cards along with company vehicles, a simple GPS tracking system is a smart idea.

Article Written by Lynetta Bowen