Gas is one of the most significant expenses that a fleet company faces. Fuel costs can represent up to 60% of a fleet’s total budget, which is astronomical compared to other costs. As gas prices climb, fleets are always looking for ways to save money on fuel. One of the ways that companies do so is through fleet fuel cards. Fleet fuel cards allow a business to buy gas within a specified gas station network at a discounted price. They’re easy to use, helpful for managing spending, and a beneficial solution for businesses of all sizes. What are the specific advantages of enterprise fleet cards for fuel? This article will break them down.
Monitor Spending at the Pump
Fuel cards help businesses save money by allowing them to monitor what is spent at the pump. Of course, all businesses want to trust their employees, but the fact of the matter is that theft happens, and fleets need to do what they can to prevent it. There are four common ways that theft occurs at gas stations.
- Siphoning: The employee removes fuel from the company vehicle using a hose or other device.
- Overfilling: The employee fills another container after the company vehicle is full.
- Slippage: The employee uses company money to buy snacks, drinks, or souvenirs at the gas station.
- Misuse: The employee uses a company card to buy fuel for a non-company vehicle.
Fleet fuel cards help businesses prevent these methods of theft by allowing managers to set limits on purchase amounts, product type, locations, and more. Drivers also have to enter their driver identification number to make a purchase, preventing unauthorized use. These features keep a business in the know as to who is spending their money, where, and on what.
Get Reports on Spending
The easiest way to start saving money on fuel is first to figure out the business’s current spending patterns. Fleet cards can provide detailed reports that pinpoint misuse, track previous purchases, and view fuel expenses. Here are some examples of reports that you can obtain:
- Summary Report: This report helps businesses plan their budgets by showing a financial summary, exception summary, and site summary.
- Purchase Activity Report: Businesses can view all of the fuel and maintenance purchases for any number of vehicles.
- Premium Custom Reports: Businesses can customize exception, transaction summary, and transaction detail reports.
- Tax Exemption Report: Tax-exempt businesses can view tax information at the transaction and summary levels
Easy to Use
There’s no need to keep track of paper receipts or credit card statements with fleet fuel cards. Instead, most fuel cards come with a mobile app that allows managers and drivers to track their fuel spending. Sometimes these apps even include contactless payment, shortening time spent at the pump, and making fuel stops a breeze!
Drivers no longer need to worry about paying out of pocket for fuel and chasing down their managers for reimbursement. With fuel cards, they will always be able to purchase fuel and account for their spending.
Save on Administrative Costs
As mentioned, one of the biggest hassles when it comes to managing fuel costs is simply keeping track of the statements and receipts. It can take hours to sort out who purchased what and where. Then they may have to do it hundreds of times for hundreds of vehicles. There’s no need for that struggle in this modern age. Fleet fuel cards keep track of all that data for businesses so they can cut down on time and money by having that information readily available.
IFTA Reporting
Fleet companies are required to complete fuel tax reports as part of the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) at the end of each quarter. The IFTA reports show how many miles your trucks traveled in participating jurisdictions and how many gallons of fuel were purchased. The purpose of this data gathering is to determine tax liability. This information can be hard to keep track of if a business is using paper receipts or credit card statements, but with a fuel card it becomes easy. It’s all available in the app or online! Filling out these reports becomes a breeze.
Conclusion
Fuel cards are an immense benefit for fleets of any size, but they can lead to incredible savings for enterprise fleets. Fuel cards help businesses keep track of fuel costs, obtain discounts all over the country, and save money on administrative costs related to documentation. For a list of the best fuel cards, check out our blog article on the subject here. We did the research and outlined the pros and cons of the most popular fuel cards in the country. For more information on fuel cards and all things fleet-related, follow our blog!
