how upset would you get and what would you do

[Dynamite 1]

i asked the question on administrative fees on comdata and the response has not been overwhelming. so i believe i should reword and elaborate on the subject. our current carrier we are leased with, starting 3/1/07 is charging a 5% admin. fee to adv. your comdata card. for example, to advance 250.00$ they will charge 12.50$. it is simply 5% of the amt you ask for. so how would you all react to this. thanks once again in advance for your participation.

 

[slfisher45]

I wouldn't get upset because that solves nothing. If they received no fee before then they are trying to cover their administrative costs now and at the same time discourage the advance usage. I would not use the advance feature.

Cooler heads prevail....

 

[LDB]

Does all your pay go to the card? Does that apply to all your pay or just advances outside the normal pay loading time? If that applies to all card loads including your pay that's insane. If it's 1 or 2 times a year that for whatever unexpected reason you need a card load on Friday rather than waiting for the Monday payroll load I'd grit my teeth and let them know as a good and valued contractor I'm not happy at being overcharged.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
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Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[arkjarhead]

I drove for a company once that charged us 5 dollars for a comcheck regardless of how much it was for. I'm sure there are some admin. fees involved with using the comdata network.

 

[TeamCaffee]

We felt the ComData fees where also unreasonable but we liked the ease of using a card and the discounts. We signed up for a TAB account with Flying J and now transfer money from our checking account to our Tab Account. Not only do you not pay fees with Flying J you get interest on the money in that account. We also get the cash price when using their Tab Account. Another nice thing about the TAB acccount is if you run team you can link your cards together and you will get double showers.

 

[chetjester]

Bob and Linda. If you get money on your Comdata card, you can transfer that money to TAB in 15 minutes with Comdata only charging a $1.00 fee for the transfer. You call TAB, use their phone menu, select Comdata deposit, select that you need a check number and the TAB menu will walk you through the amount, a call back number and give you a check number to register with Comdata. Then, call Comdata, register the amount and check number, and, usually within 15 minutes to a half hour, the money is in your TAB account.

I love that feature of TAB.

 

[TeamCaffee]

I am CHEAP! The dollar fee drove me nuts and it doesnt cost anything to transfer from the bank. We have to pay a 1.00 fee to load the card and then a 1.00 fee to transfer the money and that takes care of all the interest you earn. It is very easy to transfer the money online from bank to bank it does take a little longer for the transfer to take place so you have to pre plan.

 

[Dynamite 1]

no, the 5% is strictly on load advances not your weekly pay. this is not being charged by comdata but by the carrier on top of what little usage fee or transaction fee comdata charges. i realize that there are many ways to get around this charge, but i am also sure that not everyone has as many options as others. the way we all see it the people in the office who take care of doing the advances are the same people who are already being paid 8 hrs a day for dispaching being a shift supervisor or whatever their capacity is. their salary should already be covered, or atleast they have been till now. so think about the cost to the drivers and the overall amt. of money going back to the carrier if everyone continues to get advamnces on every load. we all know that alot of drivers advance 20-50% every time. some fleet owners have their drivers get the adv. as some of their pay. dont get me wrong, changes will have to be made or they will have to live with it. it will be a individual choice. at a cost of 12.50 to load 250.00 doing that 3 times a week is 37.50 x 40 weeks a year = 1500.00 x 100 trucks = 150,000.00$ all i know is i wish by the stroke of a pen i could generate that kind of revenue for my corporation. just looking at the overall and really do want all of your input. i am sure all the contractors that are going to have to deal w/this will apprec. your input also. thanks again.

 

[chetjester]

You're right about the $1.00 fee. I have the ability to transfer for free from my checking account to TAB, but, like you said, it takes at least 2 business days. In a past life, I only had to do the CDC to TAB once a week, so it worked for me. Since I was paid on my Comdata card, I could direct deposit to my checking account or do the phone transfer. They both cost $1.00. So, it depended on where I needed the money.

BTW, the savings in using Flying J along with the great coupons makes that $1.00 seem insignificant. I really hate that Comdata charges $2.85 for each fuel purchase along with the fact that all the Comdata truckstops charge more for fuel than FJ.

To be successful in this business, you have to be CHEAP!!! Good for you.

 

[jaminjim]

Okay I will ask the tuff question, what company has started this fee?

 

[nightcreacher]

charge me 5% and comdata will be in trash

 

[Dynamite 1]

good old tri-state

 

[nightcreacher]

>You're right about the $1.00 fee. I have the ability to
>transfer for free from my checking account to TAB, but, like
>you said, it takes at least 2 business days. In a past
>life, I only had to do the CDC to TAB once a week, so it
>worked for me. Since I was paid on my Comdata card, I could
>direct deposit to my checking account or do the phone
>transfer. They both cost $1.00. So, it depended on where I
>needed the money.
>
>BTW, the savings in using Flying J along with the great
>coupons makes that $1.00 seem insignificant. I really hate
>that Comdata charges $2.85 for each fuel purchase along with
>the fact that all the Comdata truckstops charge more for
>fuel than FJ.
>
>To be successful in this business, you have to be CHEAP!!!
>Good for you.
every company has different charges for comdata,some dont charge some do

 

[LDB]

When I was initially choosing companies 3S didn't make the final cut because of more fees than the finalists. They seem like a very good company in all ways except for what they ding their contractors for.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[themagicoen]

Off topic somewhat BUT Comdata does has some advantages - W/ P2 and Fed Ex you get 45% of load pay at delivery on your comdata free of charge. Okay, you use that to pay for fuel and you'll get cash price PLUS the carriers discount, sometimes .05 to .20 off/gallon. Now Comdata charges $1.50/fueling - 100 gallons at .05 off is $2.00 off for using that Comdata PLUS if you goto say TA and get road miles you just earned $1.00 in points unless it's double point month so now you earned $2.00. So you just saved a net of $3.50 for using it - seems like a good deal to me.

 

[Dynamite 1]

you saved 3.50 for using it but at say 2.30 a gallon a 100 gal. would cost 230.00 x the 5% tri-state charges to load the comdata card it just cost you 11.50 to get your money in advance to pay for the fuel minus 3.50 you saved still makes the transaction cost 8.00.

 

[tmbm]

Using the comdata to fuel is essential for your job. For a company to charge a fee to allow you to do your job for them is absurd. As we all know there are certain expenses involved in running a business. They are trying to cover the expense of having someone load the card for you. This is an expense they should cover and not put on the drivers. Just my opinion.

 

[GerryGA]

Newbieeeeee got to ask the dumb question, why not put it on the visa and pay at the end of month or sooner if its from your bank? Or is the fuel price higher because of the plasic?

 

[chetjester]

All the truckstops add up to $.06 more per gallon to use plastic. Use Comdata, and you get the "cash" price. At Flying J, you only get the cash price using cash (what's that?), a fleet card like TCH or their money card.

 

[GerryGA]

Thanks.......