An unspecified systems failure sometime in the past 24 hours left many truck drivers who use EFS fuel cards unable to fuel their vehicles. The outage appeared to be nationwide, according to social media users, some of whom had been in contact with representatives from EFS parent company WEX (NYSE: WEX).
Sources within the travel center community confirmed the problem to FreightWaves and said they were aware of the issues and monitoring the situation.
As of midday, WEX had provided no official update on any of its social media channels. WEX Director of Public Relations Rob Gould sent FreightWaves the following statement:
“We are experiencing intermittent authorization issues on EFS and Fleet One cards at some of our locations. We have been and are continuing to actively work to solve the problem. In the meantime we humbly apologize for the inconvenience.”
In addition to the EFS cards, WEX produces the FleetOne card and cards for other providers as well, including the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA). The outage appears to be affecting at least some of those cards, according to card users. It is unclear what the specific issue is, how widespread it is, and whether it is an intermittent problem or a complete outage.
OOIDA offers the Truckers Advantage Fuel Card, which uses WEX’s system. Norita Taylor, spokesperson for OOIDA, said the association is aware of the issue and still trying to determine its extent and what communications to members are necessary regarding the issue.
Numerous postings by angry truck drivers on the EFS Facebook page indicate a lack of communication from the company. One poster said they spent 45 minutes on the phone waiting for a customer service representative only to be told there was no word on when the system would be back up and running. As of 12:48 p.m., another poster’s card was still not working, and others reported being unable to even log in to their accounts.
One poster said a WEX sales rep told them an email would be sent out to all WEX customers affected once the problem was corrected.
Drivers reported sitting for hours in some cases at travel centers, unable to fuel their trucks. Some turned to other cards, while others waited. Unlike some situations such as adverse weather conditions where drivers may be able to extend their available daily driving hours, an FMCSA spokesperson said this situation would not classify as an emergency situation and therefore no additional drive time would be available.
