Outage Persists For WEX Fleet Fuel Cards

Truckers were left with unfilled gas tanks nationwide after an outage to WEX commercial fleet fuel cards, reports indicated on Thursday (Feb. 6).

The WEX cards affected include TCH, T-Check, Fleet One and EFS. The Truckers Advantage Fuel Card used by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association’s (OOIDA) was also affected because the cards run on the WEX system. The EFS card is one of the most widely used fuel card providers for truckers in the U.S.

An unspecified systems failure started Wednesday (Feb. 5), prompting some truckers to take to social media. The specific issue and the number of truckers affected are unclear. A Facebook post from a trucker said he spent 45 minutes on the phone and was ultimately informed that there was no word on when the system would be back up. Several others also posted about their cards not working. Others reported being unable to even log in to their accounts.

“We are experiencing intermittent authorization issues on EFS and Fleet One cards at some of our locations,” Rob Gould, director of public relations for WEX, said in a statement. “We have been and are continuing to actively work to solve the problem. In the meantime, we humbly apologize for the inconvenience.”

OOIDA spokesperson Norita Taylor said the association is aware of the issue and is trying to determine its extent and what communications to members are necessary.

Drivers who couldn’t fuel up lost hours on their daily allotment of allowable drive hours. A spokesperson for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) said because the situation didn’t count as an emergency, no additional drive time would be granted.

In July, WEX acquired the Go Fuel Card, expanding the company’s presence across the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Luxembourg. Partnerships, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are key strategies for WEX to fuel global growth.