Choosing the right fuel card is important. You want to ensure the network aligns with your fleet’s operational area and that the discounts, fees, and controls meet your needs.
Look for features like the ability to assign cards to specific drivers and vehicles, limiting the chance of fraud or misuse. Also, consider the benefits of streamlined expense reporting and IFTA compliance.
Tracking
Businesses that spend a lot on fuel yearly—like delivery companies, limo services, and airport shuttles—will benefit from a fleet fuel card’s ease-of-use and expense-tracking features. These cards help you take control of spending by ensuring your drivers are making legitimate purchases, preventing fraud, and saving you money. They also give you the power to flag charges for review, avoid hidden fees, and make it easy to stay on top of payments.
Unlike traditional credit cards, most fleet fuel cards provide more detail on each purchase—including driver ID and vehicle odometer information—making it easier to track spending. Look for a card with excellent nationwide coverage across all brands that provides a per-gallon rebate and robust reporting and management tools like real-time alerts and spending limits.
Many of these cards, like the voyager fleet systems offer a vehicle-specific card for each driver—often with their name or ID embossed—requiring them to enter a personal PIN at the pump before buying fuel. You can then view and manage each purchase in an online dashboard to quickly discern unauthorized usage and identify other fuel-related purchases.
Moreover, some cards use the geolocation of the driver and fuel station along with the engine control unit (ECU) data to ensure that the transaction is valid. This is especially helpful for detecting fuel or vehicle maintenance-related purchases made outside of business hours, and it can also help reduce the risk of unauthorized fuel use by employees.
Reporting
Unlike traditional expense reporting, which relies on spreadsheet data collection and is subject to human error, fleet cards provide automated tracking and reporting. With this, business owners can easily and confidently gain insights into one of their most costly expenses. This data is then housed in a dashboard that can be customized to meet specific business needs. With this, managers can easily monitor spending trends by driver, vehicle, date range, and fuel station.
When reducing fuel and maintenance costs, a business must maintain its spending habits. For this reason, some fuel cards offer more than just automation – they also feature purchasing controls for monitoring spending at the pump and exception monitoring to highlight if a driver is exceeding company guidelines.
Additionally, business owners can eliminate countless receipts and streamline their accounting processes with online account management and support. Some providers even give their customers access to a dedicated account manager, so if they have any questions or concerns, a real person can answer them. This type of personalized service is becoming a common standard for many businesses, as it can significantly reduce the burden of managing a business’s expenses. This is especially true for larger fleets that may need to file IFTA or other tax-related paperwork yearly.
Security
Fleet fuel cards should offer security that will make it difficult for drivers to use them at unauthorized stations. Some of the best cards will only work at stations that have agreed to partner with the card provider, and they’ll have large networks that cover most of the country. That means drivers will be able to get their fuel without having to travel out of their way, and it will also be easier for fleet managers to track usage and see whether someone may have been abusing the system.
In addition, the best fuel cards will let fleet managers know if a card has been used at an unauthorized station. This information will help them determine if it was due to a driver error or if the card had been compromised by theft or fraud. Regardless of the reason, they can cancel the card and assign a new one before further damage is done.
Using fleet fuel cards can help streamline many fleet expenses by reducing the need for paper receipts and streamlining expense reporting. By combining convenience, savings, and security, these cards can help business owners save money on fuel, vehicle maintenance, trucking, and even commercial diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) purchases. And they’ll provide dedicated account management so customers can contact a live representative when needed.
Flexibility
Fleet fuel cards alleviate the need for tracking receipts by offering the most efficient way to collect, view, and interpret data. They eliminate the risk of misplaced keystrokes affecting projections, budgets, and reporting while reducing time wasted on recording manual information.
Fleet fuel cards may offer more than just payment solutions, depending on the provider. The ability to track mileage, establish spending limits, and provide access to partner discounts can be major pluses for the business owner looking for ways to make operations more cost-efficient.
When choosing a fleet card, it is essential to consider its acceptance network, largely determined by the size of its customer base and the geographic area where businesses operate. Additionally, fleet managers should carefully review card terms and fees to ensure the solution meets the business’s needs. With these features, drivers and business owners can exercise complete control over fuel and maintenance expenses while helping their businesses stay competitive in the face of rising costs. In addition, a reliable fleet fuel card will never charge hidden fees and will provide a monthly statement that is easy to understand.
