The main benefit across all fuelcards is the admin reward they offer. Some fuel cards give a fixed weekly rate for fuel, which will commonly save companies around 3 pence per litre, subsequently there is a cost saving on fuel as well as less time spent on administration. Using petrol cards and diesel cards also enables companies to repay the exact amount that drivers have spent on fuel, ensuring they do not overpay expenses, while also ensuring drivers aren’t left out of pocket.
Fuelcards allow fleets to precisely total their carbon footprint which is critical in understanding current carbon emissions, setting reduced targets and measuring them, meaning a greener fleet. This can also highten fuel efficiency.
Some fleets may only require their drivers to buy fuel and others are happy to permit purchase of other items from the forecourt. This is completely down to the customer’s preference and fuelcard companies permit businesses to designate purchase options when setting up their new card. Fleet managers can also set-up alerts on fuelcard usage. For example, a fleet manager might want to be told straight away when cards are used outside of designated hours, or when a higher than usual amount of fuel is purchased or when fuel is purchased outside of a specific area.
The easiest way to achieve this is to identify the vehicle’s registration number on the fuelcard. This must match the registration number of the vehicle being filled up or the petrol station will refuse the payment.
Traditionally, fuel cards were aimed at haulage and courier companies and other similar industries. But now an increasing number of companies are learning around the advantages of petrol cards and diesel cards, leading to customers becoming more versatile. Other changes may include larger product offerings, for example the ability to pay road tolls and other services , giving companies the advantage of tying in fleet expenses with their fuel spend on a single account.
A reporting system is needed in helping to manage a fleet in an effective way, so it is vital that the reports you get you are able to make good use of. You need to examine these reports that are useable and make sure that they draw attention to any purchases that need to be called into question. Also ensure that you are able to gain access to the reports online whenever you need to in order to obtain up-to-the-minute information regarding vehicle and driver performance and to ensure you have sight of exactly when and where fuel was purchased to guarantee your drivers are using cost efficient routes. These reports ensure that every driver is held responsible and can be useful when the need to assess new teaching requirements arises.