How fuel cards and fleet management programs reduce operating costs 

Fuel cards are an integral part of any fleet management operation. While it’s apparent that fleet fuel cards reduce the time and cost to refuel regularly in bulk amounts, what may not be as obvious are some of the other cost saving opportunities inherent to a fleet fuel card program.  

The Rising Costs of Running Fleets 

Fleet managers today face an unprecedented spread of rising costs to contend with, compounded by high price volatility and supply chain disruptions. The three big ticket cost items for fleet managers are: 

• Fuel consumption 
• Vehicle maintenance 
• Administration 

Fuel is by far the largest consumable expense for businesses with a lot of vehicles on the road. While corporate credit cards can be used to pay for a broad range of expenses, fleet fuel card programs focus on lowering vehicle running costs and the logistics around keeping fleets moving, while putting guard rails around unchecked spending and reducing risk of fraud. 

The best fleet fuel cards offer more to your business than alternatives like credit cards by providing additional ways for you to track and manage spending. Fuel cards help reduce fuelling time, enhance visibility into transactions and make it easier to manage your fleet, while also giving you a point of contact to call should any administrative issues arise. 

How Fuel Cards Save On More Than Just Fuel 

Fuel cards help offset today’s unpredictable fuel prices by providing consistent savings, loyalty discounts and other bonus offers from partners designed around fleet manager and driver needs. Here are some of the ways that a fleet fuel card program can help lower your organisation’s bottom line: 

• Savings, rebates, offers – Everyday discounts on fuel, plus partnership offers that provide additional savings on related expenses like car servicing, tyre replacement, car washes. 

• Time and effort – Tap-and-go convenience saves drivers time at the pump. Less time lining up to pay is more time spent on the road. Driver divergence is reduced by fuel cards that are more universally accepted, while online and mobile tools help plan a trip with refuelling stops more effectively. 

• Reduce loss, theft, misuse – Fraud and the administrative overheads around detecting and prosecuting it can be all but eliminated by moving from cash and credit cards to fleet fuel cards. Granular purchase controls over who, what, where and when let fleet managers keep a tighter lid on overspends before they become a problem. 

• Visibility and spending controls – Online and mobile account access tools can help create estimates for budgeting and provide an audit trail by linking expenses to individual users. Business Fuel cards, for example, let you quickly access EOFY statements, monthly statements, and detailed reports, through a single consolidated dashboard. This helps fleet operators move to eco-friendly paperless reporting and make it easy to track all vehicle related expenses. 

Fleet fuel card programs not only simplify refuelling but save on the cost of fuel and related items, streamline back-office reconciliation processes, and provide more visibility of fleet purchases in real-time, with controls for fleet managers to restrict spend per item, vehicle or person.  

All of this adds up to a broader cost saving across multiple vehicle-related expenses for businesses who rely on keeping drivers moving, and on schedule.  

Business Fuel Cards are Australia’s leading provider of widely accepted fleet fuel cards, and we’d be happy to help you assess which type of fleet fuel card program would have the most impact on your bottom line. Get in touch for an obligation free chat.