What are you doing about the whole fleet fuel card thing?

Do you know if your company needs a fleet fuel card?

Do you even know how a fleet fuel card can help you reduce your overall fuel expenses? Finding the right fleet card or making the decision to switch to a fleet card might seem difficult but it does not need to be. As a business owner or a fleet manager, you have a great deal on your mind. Between meeting your short-term budget, setting your long-term goals and getting some work done, the idea of a fuel card may not even be on your radar. But a fuel card can make all the difference – especially when it comes to minimizing your diesel fuel prices and maintenance costs.

Before fleet cards, businesses had to track their budgets to the very last penny. Drivers would receive large sums of money to fuel their vehicles whenever they claimed to need it. It’s risky to hand someone a large sum of cash for fuel purchases. Receipts help, but when drivers are on the road for a while, receipts get misplaced. Though certainly not the most cost-efficient way of doing business, this was the most common. There was a lot of paperwork, but little control.

Benefits of fleet fuel cards

A fleet fuel card can keep both employer and employee free from the suspicion with a fleet card. A fuel card records all transactions; so companies are no longer dependent on drivers for diesel fuel receipts. Fleet cards also have certain security features built into them to help protect against fraudulent activity as they have certain security features built into them. For example, certain fuel cards can only be used at certain gas stations designated by the business owner. Other fleet fuel cards require the employee to enter the mileage of the vehicle on the gas pump’s keypad or present the fuel card to the store clerk. This way, if a receipt is lost, there is a record of the purchase on the card as well as the mileage of the vehicle. These controls along with the access fleet managers have to a system that allows them to pull reports as soon as a fueling transaction are made, will discourage employees from using the fleet cards for their personal use since anything that looks suspicious about the mileage can be investigated in real time.

Saving money with fleet fuel cards

There are a number of ways fleet fuel cards can save you money-despite the rising diesel fuel prices and gas costs. For one thing, drivers won’t have to be sent out on the road with large sums of money that they could potentially lose or have stolen. If a fuel card is lost, the card can be immediately disabled so no one else can use it. The fleet card can then be replaced quite quickly, and business can continue without interruption.

In addition, fleet managers can place limits on the card. They can either limit how much diesel fuel is being purchased or they can make the fleet card valid only on certain days of the week (so if no business is conducted on weekends, the card won’t work on weekends). This will prevent unauthorized use and will help drivers to manage their diesel fuel consumption better. Better fuel consumption can also be accomplished by finding shorter routes or routes that are more fuel-efficient.

These are just some of the ways that fleet cards can get you fuel savings and provide greater security. Just imagine no receipt stacks, no mileage reports, no reimbursement checks. With the right fleet fuel card, you can track your company’s fuel purchases or spending summaries online, and even block unauthorized purchases. The right diesel fuel card puts the power in your hands, the fuel manager.