Fleet Card Reporting and Analytics Can Help Reduce Fuel Usage

If you manage a fleet, you know every drop of fuel saved can make an impact. With fuel being one of the biggest expenditures for fleet-dependent companies, it’s important to manage fuel use. Fleet managers and business owners are always seeking ways to reduce operational costs and improve efficiency, and reducing how much fuel a fleet consumes can greatly impact bottom lines and cash flow.

Using fuel card reporting features, you can analyze fuel usage trends, compare efficiency across drivers or vehicles and plan better routes.

Fleet cards are versatile tools that can help manage how much fuel a fleet uses. There are features of fleet fuel cards that can help reduce spending and how many gallons you need to keep your fleet operational.

How Fleet Cards Function

A fleet card is a specialized payment card used by businesses to manage expenses related to the maintenance and fueling of company vehicles. These cards are typically issued to drivers, allowing them to purchase fuel and, in some cases, pay for vehicle maintenance and repairs. Many fleet cards include fuel rebates, but these business gas cards offer benefits that go far beyond savings at the fuel pump. All of which impact fuel usage.

Streamlining Fuel Purchases

When a company uses fleet cards to pay for fuel and other costs related to managing a fleet, those fleet expenses are consolidated into a single payment platform. With all your drivers using the same form of payment on the same account, all your data is in one place.

By streamlining your fuel purchases, fleet managers have centralized control and visibility over fuel spending.

Real-time Data

When you use a business gas card or fleet card, all your transaction data is captured in real time. This includes the date, time, location, purchase amount, fuel volume, fuel type, fuel grade, mileage, driver ID and more.

These details are valuable for analyzing spending trends and making decisions regarding budgeting.

Automated Expense Tracking

With real-time data collection, your fuel expense tracking is automated. This means no need for collecting receipts, submitting fuel reports, or reviewing those same reports. This results in time saved for your drivers and your accounting department.

Purchase Limits

A powerful feature of fleet cards is their ability to control spending. Fuel cards have purchase limits that can be customized for each employee. This means you can do things like:

Set daily spending limits.
Cap volumes per transaction.
Approve purchases for certain times of day or days of the week.
Allow certain fuel types (gas or diesel) or grades (regular or premium).

Reporting and Analytics

One of the most powerful aspects of fleet cards is their reporting capabilities. All data collected from fuel purchases is housed in a fleet card dashboard. This information can then be viewed in a variety of reports. Fleet cards include standard reports and the ability to create customized reports based on your desired timeframe and metrics.

Using Reporting and Analytics to Manage Fuel

Fleet managers can use the data collected by fleet cards to uncover actionable insights. Using fuel card reporting features, you can analyze fuel usage trends, compare efficiency across drivers or vehicles and plan better routes.

Driver Insights

There are two ways to reduce your fuel spend. One is to simply spend less on fuel. The other is to use less fuel through increased efficiency. By using reports and analytics, you can help your drivers do both.

Spending Less on Fuel

You can run purchase reports for specific drivers using the customizable reports offered by your fleet card. This data can help you analyze spending trends and flag any unnecessary spending. Looking at how and where your drivers are fueling can identify out-of-network spending that may cost you more per gallon. Use these reports to ensure your drivers take full advantage of fuel rebates, discounts or negotiated rates.

Creating Efficient Drivers

Other driver-specific reports can reveal opportunities for increased efficiency. By comparing fuel consumption trends between drivers who use the same route, you can see if some employees are more efficient than others. If a driver demonstrates a history of using significantly more fuel than their peers, this may indicate a need for retraining on efficient driving practices like eliminating idling, speeding, harsh braking or aggressive driving.

Vehicle Insights

Using fleet fuel card analytics can help fleet managers increase vehicle efficiency. Regular reports highlight vehicles that consume more fuel than expected. This information may indicate a need for maintenance. Any time you see a shift in vehicle performance, it’s time to run a diagnostic and see if any codes pop up that need to be addressed. Fixing any underlying issues can help to better-performing vehicles and less fuel consumption.

Routing Insights

One of the most impactful variables on fuel usage is routing. Planning the best path for your drivers to reach their destination is key for an efficient business—in relation to both time and money. Using fuel consumption reports and comparing different routes with the same destination can help you determine the best one.

When new variables, like additional traffic lights or construction zones affect your routing, these reports help you evaluate whether a route is still optimal or if a new one is necessary. Minimizing travel distances and avoiding congestion can help reduce fuel consumption.

The Outcome of Controlling Fuel Usage

Using your business gas card or fleet card’s reporting capabilities to help reduce fuel usage can lead to two outcomes: cost savings and operational efficiency.

Cost Savings

Fuel accounts for a significant portion of fleet operating expenses. This means even marginal improvements in fuel efficiency can translate into substantial cost savings over time. Optimizing fuel usage through data-driven can help lower costs and allow you to focus on other areas of your business.

Operational Efficiency

Using data insights to improve routes and driver behaviors can help improve both your fleet’s efficiency and fuel usage. Here are just a few examples focusing on lowering fuel usage:

Improved routes can lead to less time spent on the road.
Improved routes can lead to less vehicle use.
Efficient driving behaviors can cause less wear and tear on vehicles.
Efficient driving behaviors can help lower fuel usage
Addressing maintenance concerns early can help improve vehicle longevity.

The behaviors that can help reduce fuel usage can also help improve fleet efficiency. Fleet managers can use fleet card data and reporting to find actionable insights and implement these changes