Managing a small or medium fleet of vehicles has its challenges. Two of the most critical tasks a fleet manager is charged with are controlling costs and maximizing efficiency. With fuel being one of the most significant expenses for a fleet-dependent company, reducing fuel costs while increasing productivity is a top priority.
While there are many fleet management tools a small business owner can use to reduce costs and increase efficiency, fleet cards are consistently among the best — if they’re used to their full potential.
Fleet cards offer several advantages to small businesses that operate multiple vehicles. By providing a centralized system to manage fuel expenses and other vehicle-related costs, these cards can help simplify administrative tasks, improve financial control and enhance operational efficiency.
The Basic Functions of a Fleet Card
Fleet cards offer several advantages to small businesses that operate multiple vehicles. By providing a centralized system to manage fuel expenses and other vehicle-related costs, these cards can help simplify administrative tasks, improve financial control, and enhance operational efficiency. Key benefits include:
Fuel Rebates and Discounts
Most fleet card providers offer fuel rebates, and some, like Shell Fleet Cards, provide additional discounts at specific service providers.
Real-time Data
Fleet cards track all transactions in real time, making it easier for businesses to monitor spending and ensure purchases are within budget.
Purchase Controls
Many fleet cards are equipped with customizable purchase controls. A fleet manager can restrict purchases based on specific variables, such as time or day, helping prevent fraud and unauthorized spending.
Detailed Reporting and Analytics
A powerful feature of fleet cards is their reporting and analytic tools. These tools provide fleet managers insights into fuel consumption, vehicle efficiency and driver behavior.
At their most basic function, fleet cards are designed as a payment method for fuel and fleet-related expenses. Yet they can do so much more. Each of these features can help reduce fuel costs and boost overall fleet efficiency.
Let’s take a look at the specific ways a fleet card can help cut costs.
Using Fleet Cards to Reduce Fuel Spending
Since fuel is one of the most significant expenses for any fleet, reducing fuel costs can significantly impact a company’s cash flow and bottom line.
Rebates and Discounts
It’s pretty easy to see how fuel rebates and discounts can help reduce fuel costs. But there are ways to maximize these savings. When you have a card like the ones offered by Shell, and you consolidate your fueling to only Shell fuel stations, you reduce how much you are paying for every single gallon. Additionally, if you take advantage of the discounts Shell has negotiated at participating service locations, the savings can extend to vehicle parts, service and maintenance.
Purchase Controls
Purchase controls are another key feature that can help reduce fuel spending. Fleet cards can be programmed with specific spending parameters. Some common limits include:
- Time of day or days of the week: fleet managers can set a card to be active only on days of business or even during business hours.
- Number of transactions: The amount of times a card can be used can be limited.
- Volume amount: A card can be set to allow a maximum volume per purchase.
- Dollar amount: A card can be set to allow a maximum dollar amount per purchase.
- Fuel type or grade: Fleet managers can program a card only to allow a particular fuel type (diesel vs. gas) or fuel grade (regular vs. premium).
By limiting a card’s usage, small businesses can better manage their spending and ensure all expenses are legitimate. This feature helps companies reduce waste and eliminate fuel theft, ultimately reducing fuel costs.
Automated Fuel Expense Tracking
Real-time data combined with purchase controls makes it easier to spot discrepancies and prevent unauthorized purchases, which can help add more to your bottom line.
Because all transactions are tracked in real time, fuel expense reports can become a thing of the past. All purchase information is sent to a fleet card dashboard so fleet managers can easily view:
- Date of purchase
- Time of purchase
- Purchase location
- Purchase amount
- Fuel volume
- Odometer reading
- Driver identification
While having this information is excellent for keeping tabs on business, it also helps save money. Manual tracking of fuel expenses can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Automated fuel expense tracking eliminates this process, helping you save on hours that could be spent doing other tasks.
Real-time data combined with purchase controls makes it easier to spot discrepancies and prevent unauthorized purchases, which can help add more to your bottom line.
A More Efficient Fleet
In addition to cutting fuel costs, fleet cards also help improve the overall efficiency of fleet operations. In particular, a fleet card’s automated fuel expense tracking and reporting features help small businesses streamline fleet management.
Automated Fuel Expense Tracking Equals Time Saved
With automated fuel expense tracking, there is no need to collect receipts. The accurate and instant information provided by real-time data means drivers no longer need to submit expense reports. Fleet managers or accounting don’t need to review those same reports because the work is already done. Drivers are freed up to spend more time driving, and accounting can focus more on budgeting and strategic financial planning.
Reporting and Analytics
The advanced reporting and analytics tools of fleet cards provide valuable insights into fleet performance. These tools allow fleet managers to analyze fuel consumption, identify trends and pinpoint areas where costs can be reduced. Three areas where reporting and analytics help create efficiency are maintenance, routing and driver performance.
Optimized Vehicle Management
Analyzing fuel consumption data provides insights into vehicle performance. Fleet card reports make it easy to track hours of use, which is great for staying on top of manufacturer-suggested maintenance schedules. Changes in vehicle performance are often early indicators of potential problems. For example, a decrease in fuel economy may indicate an issue that otherwise might be missed until it becomes more significant. A quick diagnostic can show if there is a problem that needs to be addressed.
Better Routing
Route optimization is another way fleet cards help improve efficiency. Using fleet card metrics, fleet managers can compare routes by evaluating time on the road and fuel consumption for specific vehicles.
With GPS and telematics integration, fleet managers can monitor idle times, speed and MPGs in real time. By optimizing routes, businesses can reduce fuel consumption, improve delivery times and minimize wear and tear on their vehicles.
Driver Behavior
Driver behavior significantly impacts fuel efficiency, delivery times and vehicle longevity. With fleet card data and telematics, fleet managers can track driving behavior such as speeding, idling and harsh braking, all of which can lead to increased fuel consumption and vehicle wear.
By identifying drivers with inefficient driving habits, businesses can provide training and incentives to encourage better behavior. Improving driver behavior can also help reduce the risk of accidents and vehicle wear and tear, further improving fleet efficiency.
A Simple Way to Cut Costs and Increase Efficiency
Fleet cards offer a powerful solution for small businesses looking to reduce fuel costs and improve the efficiency of their fleet operations. With features such as fuel rebates, purchase controls, automated tracking and advanced reporting, fleet cards can help small businesses gain greater control over fuel expenses while streamlining fleet management.
Ultimately, fleet cards are more than just a payment tool — they are a comprehensive fleet management solution that helps small businesses cut costs, boost efficiency and improve the overall performance of their fleet.
Are you taking advantage of the many benefits your fleet card offers?