What should you look out for when signing up for fuel cards for your business? What can be offered and what is simply unrealistic? In this short piece we hope to dispel some of the myths about fuel cards and what super powers they do or do not have.
Are fuel cards right for me?
Are you a company with a relatively large fleet or are you a one person show? The answer to this question is important as most fuel car suppliers will have a minimum number of vehicles as a requirement. This is primarily down to the fact that the administration and effort may not work out for smaller companies, especially where very few kilometres or mile are covered. For the very small companies (with less than two vehicles) perhaps fuel cards do not suit. For the rest you may be wise to consider the service.
What should I look for in fuel cards?
- Fuel price discounts – this is a must. All fuel card providers should offer this. While it is important you do need to consider the savings made here while at the same time considering the other aspects and features of the service
- Reporting – this is needed if you want to learn from your current fuel use. The insights in these reports (especially the insights into fuel usage per driver/car) can prove the most cost saving of all.
- Coverage – there is no use getting discounts with fuel cards if the driver has to go a long way out of his or her way to actually get the saving. With this in mind coverage of differing service station chains should be considered.
- Support – what happens if something goes wrong? Like with cash or credit cards problems can happen with fuel cards. As a customer you need to know who will be there for you in the event of a problem.
What other features can Fuel cards offer
- Fraud monitoring – some fuel card providers offer this as part of their reporting. This can save you big time in the long run.
- Service station information – maps and listings on applicable service stations can help especially when covering more remote areas (where on some occasion even credit cards are not accepted).
- Fuel wastage reporting – these reports are offered by some fuel card providers, however some providers either don’t offer them or offer very poor reporting in the area. In order to make real savings in fuel usage drivers need to be educated on fuel usage, irrefutable reports work well here.
Getting a good deal on fuel cards is all down to what you or your company are looking for. If you are looking for the biggest possible discount then your biggest factor will be the discount percentage. On the other hand if you are looking for longer term savings the wisest approach is to consider reports which will isolate and identify the main sources of fuel wastage. With all this in mind savvy buyers should closely examine the additional features offered by their prospective providers.
Attached Images:
- License: Royalty Free or iStock source: http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/622537
Fleetcare is Australia’s largest independent fleet management and novated leasing company. They’re not tied in with any financial institutions and will work to get you the best deal on your fleet management needs.
