No limit on gas purchase at truck stops?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Nov 29, 2009
Messages
7,217
Always thought it was the banks that put that dumb $75.00 limit until the bank called and told me someone made a $471.xx purchase at a pilot truck stop in Oklahoma I believe it was with my credit card number. I suppose this would have been a good time to ask, but that wasn't really my concern at the time
Maybe I'll call and ask, but how did they buy so much fuel in a single transaction? They authorized it for $500.00
 
Crooks find ways to circumvent the rules put in place to deter them.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
how did they buy so much fuel in a single transaction?

Didn't you say it was a truck stop?
 
Some of the semi trucks have 200-300 gallon tanks. I've personally filled up $6xx.00 many times on my rig.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Always thought it was the banks that put that dumb $75.00 limit until the bank called and told me someone made a $471.xx purchase at a pilot truck stop in Oklahoma I believe it was with my credit card number.


They must have made up a fake credit card after getting all your card info. Probably skimmed the card or read the info via RF somehow if it's an RF type of credit card.
 
Originally Posted By: PumpPusher
Nope, no sense in limiting transactions to $75 when a big truck take several hundred dollars to fill.


Back when I drove big truck, I was getting fuel in Wisconsin - - and this dude in a yellow Kenworth had FOUR 200 gallon tanks mounted - 800 gallons! (almost $2000 to fill at today's prices!!!!)

I asked him about all the fuel capacity - he makes runs to Alaska (it was the winter time)

He was filling with 2-3 pumps at once. (My truck had twin 150's and I often ran two hoses, also)
 
Twin 90 gal tanks on my work truck. $75 doesn't go far. I never run it low and spend a few hundred or more. The limits are set by the stations.
 
I have an auxiliary tank on my diesel pickup that will hold 90 gallons. To get around the limit I go inside the store and give them my card. Sometimes they let me fill up and charge me the amount, other times I must tell them how much I want in advance.

Either way running the transaction inside the store is how you get around the limit.
 
Dude made a fake card out of an old hotel key or something and just re-magnetized the strip with your info. The bank will cover you but if you want to file a police report they might have the guy on camera. It will be hard to find an interested jurisdiction though as you're not a citizen of the truck stop's jurisdiction and the actor was also "passing through".

He would not have paid inside as that would show off his fake card. Paid at the pump.

Chip cards are everywhere... except fuel stops.
 
I have an Escalade with a 31 gallon fuel tank and it requires premium fuel. It routinely costs over $80 to fill it up. I've never encountered a $75 limit at any gas station.
 
I believe they can set it for what they want. But most gas stations do not want it set for $500 when a fill up for a car is under $50. Some percentage of people will get declined at $500 but approved at $75.

Now I go to a large truck stop at the NY/MA border and the pumps do not take credit cards, only fleet cards. Inside they take a credit card.

I would guess the truckers with fleet cards are not paying the list price at the pump rather they get a discount.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald

I would guess the truckers with fleet cards are not paying the list price at the pump rather they get a discount.


Yes we do...substantial at some places. A lot of fleets are on a "cost plus" plan where you basically get the fuel at cost and pay between 2 to 7 cents per gallon extra basically to pump it. This usually nets out to be 20 to 30 cents less than the advertised price. Some smaller fleets are on a "retail minus' (we are) where you just get a flat discount off the posted price..it usually isn't as good. Both of these however require that you have some sort of approved fuel card like FleetOne or ComData etc that guarantees they will get paid. Truck Stops hate credit cards which is why the "credit" price is usually 6 cents more than cash.

There also is no substantial discounting on gasoline...just the (overpriced) diesel.
 
The limits at the pump are induce solely by the retailer, despite what the register jockey is going to tell you (because he/she was lied to by the owner/operator of the business fuel store in the training).

I have called my card providers and asked them why the limits exist; it is solely determined at the point of sale. As long as you card has the available credit to cover the charge, and no external reason exists to deny the charge, then the credit card company has no reason to limit the purchase. In fact, if you think about it, the more most folks charge, the more interest money most companies make. Why would they limit a gas purchase?

OTOH - the retailers also make more money when we charge more goods/services. Makes no sense to me why retailers do this ... But some do.
 
Originally Posted By: PiperOne
Originally Posted By: Donald

I would guess the truckers with fleet cards are not paying the list price at the pump rather they get a discount.


Yes we do...substantial at some places. A lot of fleets are on a "cost plus" plan where you basically get the fuel at cost and pay between 2 to 7 cents per gallon extra basically to pump it. This usually nets out to be 20 to 30 cents less than the advertised price. Some smaller fleets are on a "retail minus' (we are) where you just get a flat discount off the posted price..it usually isn't as good. Both of these however require that you have some sort of approved fuel card like FleetOne or ComData etc that guarantees they will get paid. Truck Stops hate credit cards which is why the "credit" price is usually 6 cents more than cash.

There also is no substantial discounting on gasoline...just the (overpriced) diesel.
Yes-that's why smaller operators (and individual diesel vehicle owners) are somewhat subsidizing the bigger OTR guys. I have a regular customer who is a BP station owner (through Lykins Oil as his jobber) who regularly sells diesel AT A LOSS for less than his cost to get the drivers in the building to make it up on inside sales. Lots of profit in coffee, slushies in summer (what I work on), etc.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: dnewton3
I have called my card providers and asked them why the limits exist; it is solely determined at the point of sale. As long as you card has the available credit to cover the charge, and no external reason exists to deny the charge, then the credit card company has no reason to limit the purchase. In fact, if you think about it, the more most folks charge, the more interest money most companies make. Why would they limit a gas purchase?

It's the same here. Most pumps allow you to preauthorize a set amount, with a few choices. Some brands have that limit set considerably higher than others, particularly from when prices went through the roof. The newest stations here seem to have the higher limit purchases.

The Shell I routinely go to has as their highest preauthorization choice as $200, as I recall.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top