Fuel Management overview

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The Fuel Management Module encompasses several main programs within TruckMate. Below is a brief explanation of what the functions of each of these programs are:

Some oil companies send you an electronic copy of your fuel purchase invoice. TruckMate has developed a process for you to import this electronic invoice into your TruckMate program. Using the Card Data Import program, you select, from a pull-down menu, which card data import style is associated with your company.

The Fuel Tax Audit program will allow users to verify information entered in the Fuel Tax Module, and print a report on areas requiring modification. To use the program, simply make your selections from the list, set an appropriate starting and ending date, and select the 'Verify' button. You’ll be re-directed to the 'Report' tab where you can view, and if desired print, the audited information.

With the Fuel Tax Trip program you can track a particular driver’s trip, which trailer he has, the mileage estimation and the map he will be taking to complete the trip. You enter the starting origin, destination, starting odometer reading, leaving date/time and estimated arrival date/time. The Trip program can help you calculate the rest. You can even track different legs of a trip. For example, on a trip with a single freight bill, the first leg of the trip is the movement of the equipment to the freight pickup location, the second leg is the movement of the equipment and freight to the delivery location. Empty and loaded miles can be calculated for all legs.

The Trip Generator Maintenance program acts as a kind of "after-the-fact Dispatch program" for it allows you to record Trip information an the end of a Trip, using the documentation the Driver provides from his Trip Sheet. This comes in handy if you have a Driver doing repetitive Trips for a period of time, for you can simply use Trip Generator Maintenance to record his Trip information, without having to repeatedly enter Dispatch details.

System Reports

Several reports can be run using TruckMate. All Fuel Tax reports start with the letters 'FT'. It might be advisable to sample all available reports at one time since the data is presented differently on each report but all information will prove useful for your company.

DB2 SQL patches containing the IFTA rates (used in Fuel Tax Reports) will be accessible quarterly on the Trimble Transportation Client Center web site (https://clientcenter.tmwsystems.com/). Be sure to run both SQL files included in the patch.

Fuel Tax Reports may not print correctly without the necessary 'valid' rates for the quarter in question. A temporary quarterly patch will be downloadable when tentative quarterly rates become available, and a final quarterly patch will be available for download once the IFTA rates are finalized for a particular quarter.

Run the majority of your reports near the end of your business quarter to ensure accuracy of data entry, and catch any errors prior to the end of the quarter. The following reports should be run on a regular basis:

  • FTCONT.RPT - Continuity Report

  • FTUNITSTATE.RPT - Tax Breakdown by State/Unit Summary

  • FTUNIT.RPT - Tax Breakdown by Unit

  • FT.RPT - Tax Breakdown by State

  • FTMI.RPT - Mileage Detail Listing by State

  • FTFUELST.RPT - Fuel Listing by State

For more information on these Crystal Reports (and all other Reports included with TruckMate) see the Crystal Reports Reference.