Employee Fuel Theft

A multi-billion dollar problem often goes undiscovered

A business owner will initially conducts interviews, spends time training, all to ensure the best talent is now part of his organization.

Somewhere along the way, this valued employee has developed a new behavior, theft on the job. Stealing fuel is big business when diesel fuel prices are $4.00 a gallon and gas prices are high.

No business owner wants to think any of his employees as untrustworthy & dishonest. The American Society of Employers state that businesses lose 20% of every dollar to employee theft; 55% responsible are part of your management team.

A study conducted at the hospitality industry found that 34% of employees between ages 18-29 believe stealing from their employer are justifiable. Employee theft in the hospitality industry amounted to 4% of food sales, and cost the industry overall about $8.5 billion a year.

That 4% was also the amount a fleet owner estimated he lost to fuel theft. News reports may print on incredible inside jobs where employees plotted to steal thousands of gallons of fuel, it’s the small amounts that often go undiscovered and can really add up. If an employee takes 10 gallons a month per truck, at $4 a gallon that’s $40 monthly. For a company with 50 trucks, the theft cost the company $2,000 a month, $24,000 a year. In a down economy, that’s a significant preventable loss.

The US Chamber of Commerce once reported that 75% of workers have stolen from their employer at least once and half do so repeatedly. This statistic includes theft of supplies and theft of time, the numbers are still dismaying. Repeated theft occurs when an employee sees an opportunity yet sees no repercussion.

Employers need to take steps to prevent loss. First, recognize such a problem does or could exist. Theft prevention can and should be just a normal precaution, like locking the doors at end of day and putting valuables in a safe.

Accurate record keeping is the accounting version of locking the door. Know your margins, you can’t find what you don’t look for. Whether using a POS system, fuel cards & GPS systems in transportation, technology makes it easier to compile & compare information about losses and trace them back to their source. Information needs to be up to date and you need to act on it; finding a discrepancy early and putting a stop to the problem cuts losses but also sends the message purchases are being checked.

Your business will suffer if theft is ignored and may grow out of control. What procedures have you put in place to protect your business?