Comdata cards... hate 'em

PISSED - posted on 12/23/2012

FUCK COMDATA I CANT BUY CHRISTMAS GIFTS OR PAY FOR GAS OR FOOD FUCK THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY FUCK ALL THE TRUCK STOPS WHO CHARGE 279 FOR A GALLON OF TAP WATER

Heather - posted on 04/04/2009

My fiance drove truck for two years with USA Truck. This is what he says:

Comdata will give you a balance on your card, its similar to a debit card, but not all banks will use it like a debit card, most do. You can use it at wal-mart like a debit card too, pretty handy! Comchecks take 3% of the total amount if you want to send yourself a big amout this is not helpful at all. Advancing money to a bank account is fairly easy, it should be the first balance you had mentioned, that is the amount of money that he has earned and is on his card. the cash on hand balance is the cash advance, if im not mistaken the normal amount a company gives is 160 dollars, which will come out of the following weeks pay check.... so keep in mind that after home time if he takes out the cash advance his next paycheck is going to be almost nothing because when you come off home time you get bad miles... best to stock up on groceries :D otherwise getting human beings on the phone from comdata is not possable unless you have the right number, and they conviently do not put that on the back of the card. only truck service stops like TA or petro have these, and its almost impossible for them to get someone too. All in all, tell your husband to get the paychecks direct deposited from his company into a joint account and carry around his debit card, its much simpler this way. BTW something they DONT tell you, comdata charges one dollar for every transaction you do, so keep that in mind you are spending a dollar... comchecks are cashed at truckstops, i have heard they can be cashed at a bank but i have never tried to do this. if you do have a vehicle that can take 50 gallons of fuel you can cash your comcheck at the truckstops without the fee of 3%, but who has that? As far as that, it takes a month for the direct deposit to go into the bank, in the mean time the money he is earning goes onto the comdata card, im sorry his recruiter only knows the basics, but i think that is what he was trying to tell you. Hope this helps.

Jessica - posted on 03/12/2009

Hello Billie! We're not too new to this, so hopefully I can help! I believe all my husband uses his Com-Data card for is getting his cash advance for the week. I can ask him your questions about his Com-Data card when he gets home, but I really do think that's all he uses it for! And no, the Com- Data card doesn't place a hold on it or anything...It just takes it out of the next weeks pay. I'm sorry, I guess I don't as much as I thought....hope this helped! Fee free to message me anytime! I think it's so wonderful that they have a community for us! =)

Robert - posted on 01/21/2014

Comdata card will work with most POS debit/credit card terminals such as Wal-Mart, Target or Grocery stores. I have used it at my ATM to pull the funds off of my card and deposited it in my account. You may be left with a balance on the card. I will use it at the "Pay at the Pump" gas stations to finish off the balance. The card is a convenient way for your employer to get your pay to you without paying fees to their bank for paper copies but it ends up being an inconvenience
to the employee. Check with your employer to find out whether they provide "direct deposit". It is just as convenient for your employer and more convenient for the employee.

Rebecca - posted on 01/01/2013

many hotels will cash a comchek, some may be able to run the card like a debit and get cash off it that way. many hotels also have a shuttle service that can take him to an atm

Lorinda - posted on 01/01/2013

My son (age 22) just graduated from CR England driving school in Nov. He went out on the road immediately and loves it. Then he came home for Christmas, spent a week here, and he went back out on the road. As of Friday, Dec 28, he has been stuck at a hotel outside of Dallas TX, and may be there up to a month, until they get another trainer for him to drive with. He missed a weeks pay by coming home for Christmas of course. Here is my question. While he is staying at hotel, he makes 25.00 a day. But without transportation he cannot get to a merchant who excepts Comdata. So what can he do? Right now he is hungry!!! Not to mention very disenchanted with the company and just wants to find another job. Anybody have a phone number to Comdata, or know where to find a list of merchants who except this stupid card?

Rebecca - posted on 06/04/2009

My husband works for PAM too!

What we do is this: I have a number of pads of COM-Cheks at home, and each week, he calls me to get a check number, makes the check for the entire amount of his pay, I deposit the check into our account and he uses the debit card (after he okays the amount with me first!) for purchases.

There is a dollar fee for each transaction, which is why we do it that way. We did try the direct deposit thing, but 2 things made it stupid - you still had to register the COM-Check each week AND it took two to three weeks to get into our account.

I usually can get a human on the phone when I call the phone number that is in the COM-Check pad, after a few minutes of "patiently" waiting. I don't know the difference between the two balances, as we clear his out every week, but I would assume that 'cash on hand' would be the amount readily available if used as a debit card.

Hope things are going okay with P.A.M., as my husband has had a dedicated GM route for 7 years and now we have no idea what the next few weeks have in store.