Latest news with #InternationalFuelTaxAgreement
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
How carriers can prevent fuel fraud at the pump before it happens
Unfortunately, carriers are seeing a rise in fuel fraud and are forced to spend significant time tracking and verifying fuel expenses. Back office fuel management and International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) accounting requirements mean that larger fleets spend sometimes dozens of hours per month simply reconciling fuel purchases. Rich Taute, vice president of sales and strategy at QuikQ, joined Loaded and Rolling host Thomas Wasson to talk about what technologies and tactics can prevent fuel fraud and simplify back office fuel management processes. Traditionally, most fleets provide their drivers with fuel cards to manage purchases on the road. These fuel cards are one way to simplify payments and expense accounting, but some systems are prone to abuse and exploitations. The rise in fuel fraud has led to significant losses in the past few years. 'While we have a traditional fuel card product, we're also excited to talk about our cardless solutions, especially SmartQ RFID,' Taute said. 'We've spent the last twelve months helping carriers mitigate fraud, and one of the most effective ways we've been able to combat fraud is through our RFID technology.' SmartQ RFID works similarly to the toll tags that many trucks use to be able to pass through toll stations. QuikQ utilizes that same concept with SmartQ RFID to turn on the dispenser at the fuel pump and tie each transaction to a particular asset. 'This technology is very simple and secure,' Taute said. 'In sixteen years, we've never had a single fraudulent transaction using our RFID payment instrument.' Over the past twelve months, the QuikQ operations team and finance team have been working hard in the field to get these payment instruments to carriers, and Taute says those efforts have been immensely helpful in reducing fraud for customers. 'This is a great solution for you if you've ever experienced fraud,' Taute said. 'If you haven't, you're honestly fortunate, as bad actors are actively targeting less secure payment methods.' In many documented incidents, drivers and scammers have swiped fuel cards at the pump to let other trucks refuel for a cash exchange. SmartQ RFID technology prevents that kind of instance from occurring in the first place. 'Once that RFID tag disengages from the antenna, we'll turn the dispenser off no matter if the pump is still running or not,' Taute said. 'That way, drivers can't defraud their carrier by fueling up another truck.' An ELD solution will only verify whether a truck is at the truck stop, but can't control a fuel station's pumps. 'Those solutions are safer than nothing, but only an RFID tag attached to our pump can really accurately account for fuel going into the correct asset,' Taute said. Two-factor authentication is another element of security QuikQ can provide to carriers. That authentication involves one simple step that requires the driver to verify that they stopped at a given location. 'Many of our customers have deployed that feature on fuel cards and our start code system to increase security,' Taute said. 'It's just another point of safety, and it makes it much easier to track down and prove any infractions.' Likewise, QuikQ also offers fuel type and gallon limits based on the asset. Those controls prevent cases where a driver may try to inappropriately purchase extra fuel for another vehicle or for reefer trailer fuel, for instance. 'We've seen many incidents where a driver fueled a reefer trailer and billed that as truck fuel, which throws off all IFTA accounting,' Taute said. 'Again, it's just another element of security that we provide to ensure that purchased fuel winds up in the right asset.' Aside from the security benefits, QuikQ's payment instruments also provide many back office efficiency benefits to carriers simply by providing that kind of verification. 'That was eye opening for me,' Taute said. 'I always knew fraud and mistakes occurred, but being able to verify it and hear accounts from our customers about how much time they saved was incredible to see.' Quarterly IFTA statements, for example, are often a major pain point for carriers. Just like income taxes can be overpaid or underpaid at the end of the year, carriers may overpay in one state and underpay in another, meaning they have a credit in one state and a payment due in another. By making it simpler to track which fuel is being purchased by which asset, QuikQ can compress the process for carriers and make it much simpler to account for IFTA expenses. 'Every RFID transaction is automatically assigned to the asset, meaning now your IFTA taxes are clean on record,' Taute said. 'In the past, I've worked with carriers who had to spend many hours per month trying to figure out which truck and trailer were involved in a purchase, but with SmartQR RFID, that whole process is automated.' There are still carriers who use printed receipts in their accounting, but those kinds of outdated processes are no longer necessary with the right technology, Taute says. More and more companies are adopting technology to make their back office operations more efficient, and that's something that carriers need to consider in order to compete. 'We're also excited to be launching a solid fuel card platform for payment factoring clients,' Taute said. 'A lot of those factoring services are now offering fuel cards, and we're taking the opportunity to meet the demand for that trend. Bringing our anti-fraud technology to the table with that solution is exciting for a lot of our clients who are looking for the best options in the marketplace,' he said. Combining fuel card programs with invoice factoring helps factoring companies connect with carriers more tightly and increases the value of those factoring services. With this system, the factoring company is funding an invoice, and they can load funds to a QuikQ prepaid account for a carrier in real time. Consolidating that ecosystem and enabling factoring companies to move that money around makes it seamless and makes balances easily reviewable. 'When a carrier needs money, they need that money right now in order to fuel their trucks and operate,' Taute said. 'Using our RFID technology on top of this ensures that factoring companies and carriers don't have to worry about fraud,' Taute said. QuikQ can confirm with certainty that an asset was at a specific pump, and the monitoring systems in place can determine whether or not a truck fueled en route on a given load, which is verifiable for every party involved. Being able to provide that kind of fraud deterrence is a huge help for both carriers and factoring companies, says Taute. The biggest pain point for many carrier fuel departments, according to Taute, is the fact that fraud and payment issues often prevent drivers from being able to properly refuel while on the road. If a driver is stuck at a truckstop and unable to complete a purchase, the carrier is unable to generate revenue. 'Resolving those issues depends on customer service, and with us you're talking to a human being on the phone in under a minute,' Taute said. A lot of what QuikQ provides, however, involves tools to help carriers resolve and prevent issues on their own. 'We can educate the customer and help them triage transaction clearing issues, whether that's something like a driver entering the wrong unit number, being at an unauthorized truckstop, purchasing an unauthorized product, and so on,' Taute said. 'Our customer service team will gladly help, but honestly most customers would rather not have to rely on help in the first place,' Taute said. 'Instead of forcing customers to even have to call us, we can help them understand what to look for so they can avoid having issues and move on more quickly.' In some cases, drivers may be incentivized to purchase fuel at certain locations, and QuikQ can help set up authorizations to make operations more efficient. The SmartQ RFID system is scalable depending on what a carrier wants to do. 'From a fuel perspective, you have to account for the price of fuel in certain locations, IFTA tax considerations, and the route,' Taute explained. 'We've got all the levers so carriers can keep their fuel purchases as open or as tightly controlled as needed.' 'Our security is much more strategic than some of our competitors, so we've gotten a number of calls from prospective customers who are in need of a solution when other fuel providers lock down their entire fleet,' Taute said. 'Because we are able to quickly and accurately track and prevent fraud, we help keep entire fleets moving, and that has won us a lot of business from customers who need a sophisticated solution.' Click here to learn more about QuikQ. The post How carriers can prevent fuel fraud at the pump before it happens appeared first on FreightWaves. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Epoch Times
08-05-2025
- Automotive
- Epoch Times
Premier Ford Announces $11B Relief Package for Ontario Workers, Businesses to Offset Costs of US Tariffs
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced a series of tax deferment and rebate initiatives totalling $11 billion to mitigate the impact of tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The government is postponing certain provincially administered taxes for a period of six months—from April 1 to Oct. 1, Ford announced in an April 7 . He said the move will support around 80,000 Ontario businesses. Ford the package is a response to U.S. tariffs 'causing enormous economic uncertainty.' 'We can't control President Trump, but we're in full control of the kind of future we build for ourselves,' Ford said in the release. 'The best way to protect Ontario is to build the most competitive economy in the G7, breaking down internal trade barriers and diversifying our trade so we can build a more resilient, prosperous and secure province.' The province is introducing tax relief measures for businesses under its 10 business-related tax programs. These include the Employer Health Tax, Insurance Premium Tax, Gasoline and Fuel Taxes, Mining Tax, Tobacco Tax, International Fuel Tax Agreement, Beer, Wine and Spirits Tax, Retail Sales Tax on insurance contracts and benefit plans, and the Race Tracks Tax. It is also providing a $2 billion rebate for employers via the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), in addition to the $2 billion rebate that was issued in March. Tariffs and Shutdowns Trump the introduction of a 25 percent tariff on automobile imports last week. It went into effect on April 3. This new tariff is in addition to the existing 25 percent tariffs imposed on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States, including those from Canada. Related Stories 4/3/2025 4/2/2025 Products imported under North America's free-trade agreement will be exempt from tariffs, while those that do not comply with the agreement will incur a 25 percent tax, the White House . The president also announced a baseline tariff of 10 percent on imports from most countries, along with an extensive list of increased tariffs that will apply to several nations. Ford's announcement comes as the Stellantis Windsor Assembly Plant for two weeks beginning today, impacting thousands of employees. The company is also closing its Toluca Assembly Plant in Mexico for the entire month of April. The shutdowns have resulted in temporary lay-offs for workers at Stellantis' stamping and transmission facilities in Warren and Sterling Heights, Michigan, and Kokomo, Indiana. Ford has been critical of Trump's tariffs for months, saying that they jeopardize Canadian and American jobs, particularly in the automotive sector. 'President Trump calls today Liberation Day. With so many American jobs on the line, I call it Termination Day,' Ford said in an April 2 after the White House's tariff announcement. He The premier also continues to make appearances on a number of American news networks in a bid to explain how the tariffs are damaging to both countries. Ford has described it as a chance to speak 'directly to Americans' about how the tariffs will impact U.S. jobs as well as the price of gas and goods at the grocery store. Ford has been touting the benefits of tighter Canada-U.S. relations since Trump first broached the subject of tariffs in November. Aside from making a number of U.S. network television appearances, he has been 'speaking regularly' to his counterparts in the United States to try to strengthen ties. The province also a three-month ad campaign at the beginning of the year, touting the province as the country's third-largest trading partner and the No. 1 export destination for 17 states. The commercial ran in the United States through the end of March and was expected to reach 100 million viewers.
Los Angeles Times
23-03-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
How the California Tax Relief Plan Affects L.A. Businesses and Residents, Post-Wildfire Devastation
After the devastating wildfires brutalized parts of Los Angeles earlier this year, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) had automatically extended the tax filing deadline for three months for taxpayers within Los Angeles County. This came on the heels of the state also announcing that taxpayers in Los Angeles County would be granted a postponement to October 15, 2025, to file California tax returns on 2024 income and make any tax payments that would have been due January 7, 2025, through October 15, 2025. 'California is taking greater action to continue supporting businesses that have been devastated by the Southern California wildfires,' the Governor announced. 'We are strong because of the diversity of our businesses, and we stand by them – providing relief to aid them through this difficult time.' CDTFA will also continue to offer relief and extensions to those impacted beyond Los Angeles County upon request. In addition to extra time to file, the state can provide relief from interest and penalties and create flexible payment plans for businesses. 'We have the operational building blocks in place to make sure the government is there for all Californians. We care deeply about everyone affected, and we're making sure that our business foundation remains strong and vibrant,' said Government Operations Agency Secretary Amy Tong. 'The loss resulting from these fires is devastating for business owners who have invested so much and worked so hard to succeed. Beyond the automatic extension, we encourage taxpayers who need help with any CDTFA program to reach out to us. Our team members are here to help taxpayers navigate their way to recovery,' said CDTFA Director Nick Maduros. CDTFA's disaster relief includes: • Extensions to file returns: CDTFA returns and payments due on or before January 31, 2025, have automatically been extended to April for Los Angeles County taxpayers whose last return was for less than $1 million in tax. This includes sales and use tax, as well as most other programs administered by CDTFA.• Additional relief from interest and penalties: Impacted business owners not subject to the automatic extension or who require additional relief are encouraged to contact CDTFA for assistance.• Copies of CDTFA tax records: Taxpayers who need to obtain copies of CDTFA tax records can receive replacements free of charge. • Help with updating account information: This could include changing an address, opening or closing a business location or obtaining a copy of a seller's permit or CDTFA-issued license. The automatic extensions for sales and use tax returns and payments to April 30, 2025, are eligible to those taxpayers who owed less than $1 million in sales and use tax on their 2024 third quarter returns. Annual licensing fees under the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Licensing Act and returns due under the International Fuel Tax Agreement are not extended.
