Fuel cards are a smart way to save on gas and maintenance costs for fleet trucks or vans. They also provide reporting metrics daily, weekly, and monthly.
- But, picking the best card can be tricky for transportation companies.
Size Matters
Fleet fuel cards offer businesses a way to track and manage employee spending and save money on gas and vehicle maintenance. However, not all cards are equal. Those that combine flexibility, control, and savings are ideal for companies that frequently send vehicles out to do business on the road, such as shipping and transportation companies or delivery drivers.
The best fleet fuel cards also provide instant access to various reports to see real-time purchases and billing information. This eliminates the need to collect receipts from employees and cuts down on accounting administration time. Look for a card with detailed purchasing information, like who the driver is, what fuel grade is purchased, and the sales tax charged on each purchase.
Another key feature to consider is whether or not a fleet fuel card offers discounts at filling stations. Many cards offer a few cents off per gallon, while others have more substantial discounts of up to 45 cents off. Be sure to research each card’s network, and watch out for hidden fees that could offset any potential savings.
Security
A fleet fuel card is a secure way to track staff spending and gain discounts. It also helps to manage expenses over time, saving business owners time and effort when filing taxes.
Detailed reporting and analytics are other helpful features to look for in a fleet fuel card. This can help businesses find optimization opportunities, like rerouting drivers to pass by more fuel stations with discounts. It can also provide insight into how much is spent per day, week, or month.
The best fleet fuel cards offer security features to reduce fraud and theft. For instance, some require driver IDs, odometer readings, and geolocation data before a transaction is approved. They can also disable cards after hours and deactivate them when a driver reports a lost or stolen card.
Convenience
Using fleet fuel cards makes sense for businesses that need to simplify expenses and gain valuable insights into their operations. They also provide a way to eliminate paperwork and make it easier for employees to manage costs. But, not all fleet cards are created equal.
When selecting a card, consider the fuel discounts, fee structure, controls, and back-end reporting you’ll receive. Branded fuel cards may offer higher per-gallon discounts but can only be used at select oil company locations. In contrast, universal cards work nationwide, allowing drivers to choose their preferred stations on their route maps.
Look for cards that offer a wide range of services, including cash advances. The best card programs are backed by comprehensive customer service for driver support, with enhanced security features that protect against fraud. They also capture level-3 data, which reveals which card account holder completed the transaction and how many gallons of fuel were purchased.
Flexibility
Many fleet cards allow you to optimize your purchase information by limiting which kinds of fuel, the day and time of the purchase, or even the specific transaction amount that can be charged. Some even allow you to set up exception reporting, track purchase behaviors that you consider out of the ordinary, and alert you of potential problems. Fleet card programs also usually provide a centralized online platform to access detailed purchasing data, cut out the need for hard-copy fuel receipts, and streamline accounting administration. They often offer advanced features like telematics tools, enabling you to see where vehicles and drivers are located in real-time.
While most people think of a fleet as consisting only of semis, many businesses have smaller motorized vehicles that can qualify as a fleet, including scooters, motorcycles, cars, pick-up trucks, forklifts, tractors, bulldozers, and more. Whatever the size of your fleet, a fleet fuel card will save you money, prevent theft, and reduce the administrative burden of tracking and reconciling vehicle expenses.
Reporting
Businesses in shipping, transportation, and certain tourism sectors (such as limo services or airport transfers) often require fleet cards because they spend a lot on fuel each year. These cards can help business owners save time, energy, and money by eliminating the need to keep track of individual employee fuel purchases manually and also allow them to monitor and control purchasing activity. Some fleet fuel cards also offer perks such as rebates.
A good fleet fuel card should have robust online tools that let managers analyze fuel usage, save time, and identify cost-cutting opportunities. This should include IFTA reporting and the ability to set up spending limits or flag charges for review.
Choosing a fuel card can be a complex decision, but with a little research, you’ll find that these cards are worth the investment for many businesses. Make sure to consider the size of your fleet, as some cards have minimum spending requirements and only work with specific fleet sizes, while others can be used across all types of vehicles.
