Is a fuel card a carrier's responsibility?

[Mr. Loyalty.]

I was having a discussion the other day with a expeditor when the fuel card subject came up, and it led me to create this thread....

Is a fuel card a carrier's responsibility to provide to their drivers, o/o's, etc? I strongly feel it is not. Many carriers do provide one, and many do not. Some charge a fee per use as a form of $ generated, and some do not..

What are your thoughts/ feelings on this?

 

[Turtle]

If the drivers are employees, I would think it is the responsibility of the carrier to provide fuel for their trucks, either at the terminal or via fuel card. For owner/operators it's not really the carrier's responsibility, to provide fuel cards, but it is in the best interest of the carrier to make fueling a non issue in getting their freight delivered.