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Power Up: Fleet and Fuel Cards Enhance Control, Save Time
By Karen M. Kroll
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Several years ago, the 40-some employees of W.L. French Excavating Corp. who drove company vehicles would use either cash or personal credit cards to cover their fuel purchases, and then turn in their receipts for reimbursement. Tracking the expenditures was time-consuming, and the company had few ways of preventing unauthorized purchases, says Jessica French, an officer with the Boston-based firm.
Now, the employees use a company-issued fuel card – essentially, a credit card that can be used only to purchase fuel. French receives one monthly report that shows who purchased fuel, and where and when each transaction occurred. This drastically cuts the time previously spent reviewing employees’ gas receipts.
In addition, she implemented controls over the purchases made on the cards. So the tractor-trailer drivers may be able to buy 200 gallons at a time, but those driving corporate pickup trucks can’t pump more than 50 gallons. “It protects the company and eliminates the chance for misuse,” French says.
More than four out of five managers of 1,000-plus vehicle fleets have fuel management programs, according to Automotive Fleet magazine. For many, the reporting is key.
“You want to capture data to manage your fuel spend; to know who’s buying fuel, where, when, and the type of fuel,” says Jim Creighton, vice president of global strategic services with Automotive Resources International in New Jersey.
Also critical: the ability to reduce fraud. According to a 2005 Commercial Fleet Market Study by Havill & Co., a business-to-business research firm based in Toledo, Ohio, of the 18 percent of fleet managers who have experienced fraud or misuse, nearly three-quarters had drivers who were using credit cards. Fleet cards, by restricting the types of purchases that can be made and providing timely reporting, protect against fraud.
Although the terms often are used interchangeably, fleet and fuel cards technically are different. As their name implies, fuel cards are set to allow only purchases of fuel. That way, the manager reviewing the purchase information can zero in on the price per gallon, the type of gas, and the number of gallons purchased, says Glen Sokolis, president of Sokolis Group, a fuel management consultancy based in Philadelphia. Fleet cards can be used for other fleet-related expenses, such as vehicle repairs. As a result, they provide an organization’s drivers with a little more flexibility.
Some card programs also limit the number of transactions that can occur during a specific time period, says David Disque, director of operations with CSI Enterprises, Inc., a provider of fleet and fuel cards. Others may allow only purchases of certain grades of fuel.
To be sure, an organization could use purchasing cards for its gas and vehicle repair purchases. However, it wouldn’t obtain the same level of data. “With credit card receipts, the data capture is inconsistent,” Creighton says.
In addition, while regular credit cards can restrict purchases to certain types of retailers, they don’t limit the types of items that can be bought, says Bernie Kavanagh, vice president of corporate payment solutions with Wright Express. So a driver can add a sandwich and chips to the purchase and charge all of it to the company. Fuel cards, which are processed through a closed network, can restrict the types of products purchased.
On the other hand, if fuel and maintenance costs are not material for an organization and employees regularly make other purchases, management may decide to use purchasing cards, says Michael Oleniczak, senior vice president and program manager with U.S. Bank’s fueling solutions division. That way, employees don’t have to carry both purchasing and fleet cards.
The cards in action
Fleet and fuel card transactions are similar to any credit card purchase, with a few twists. Once the card has been swiped, many fuel pumps require the driver to enter an identification number; some also require the driver to enter the vehicle’s mileage. The ID numbers help ensure that only the drivers designated to the cards can use them, while the mileage report helps management keep tabs on both the drivers and their vehicles’ performance.
The transaction information is electronically transmitted to the card-issuing company, which pays the fuel company. The card company then turns around and bills its customers on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, consolidating transactions from all its drivers. Many card issuers impose account fees. W.L. French, for instance, pays $2 per card per month. It’s minimal considering the benefits, French says.
To implement a fuel card program, the organization typically has to submit a credit application, along with lists of its drivers and vehicles, Disque says. Management also has to let the card company know of any business rules it wants used with the program, such as flagging purchases made on weekends.. It also will need to know which employees are authorized to administer the cards. The process can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks, depending on the size of the program and the reporting requirements.
The card manager also has to decide whether to assign cards to the vehicles or to the drivers. Many organizations assign a card to each vehicle in order to collect data on the total cost of its operation, Kavanagh says. In addition, if the workforce has a high turnover rate, assigning cards to the vehicles may be most efficient. When employees leave, their cards simply stay with the vehicle.
On the other hand, some organizations assign a card to each employee so it’s easier to track his or her purchases. That’s the route W.L. French has taken, French says.
In deciding between different card issuers, a key factor is the number and location of places that accept the card. Ideally, the card that’s chosen can be used just about anywhere. Otherwise, drivers waste time going out of their way to find stations that accept it. Drivers could carry different cards for different gas stations, although this quickly becomes hard to manage, Sokolis says.
Some fleet managers may assume their operation is too small to benefit from a fuel or fleet card program. Just 59 percent of managers of fleets of between 25 and 99 vehicles have implemented fuel programs, compared with 82 percent of fleets of 1,000 or more vehicles, according to Automotive Fleet magazine.
However, this assumption doesn’t necessarily hold up. Even fleets of only a few cars can benefit from the reporting and ability to control purchases. “Any company that has employees who purchase fuel, and the company either reimburses or purchases fuel as a company benefit, should use a fuel card,” says David Rewers, group vice president of fleet sales with Fleet One LLC in Nashville, Tenn.
By gaining insight into fuel purchases, as well as more effectively enforcing corporate policies covering fuel purchases, many organizations see their costs decrease after implementing fuel cards. The combination of enhanced reporting capabilities and security is key, French says. “It sounds so small, but it affects so many things in a positive way.”
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