Optimizing Fleet Budget With Fleet Fuel Cards – Matrack Insights
As a fleet business owner, you always look for a comprehensive solution to monitor and control fuel expenses that take up to 30% of operating costs and significantly contribute to overall cost and profitability.
It may be challenging to control costs, especially with the surging fuel prices. You must also ensure that there should not be any unauthorized or unnecessary expenses on fuel.
Fleet fuel cards give you a comprehensive and reliable solution to handle all those issues and manage the fuel budget successfully.
It is an advanced tool that helps you save your hard-earned money while running your fleet operations with better efficiency and reliability.
For example, you may want to monitor how much fuel each driver spends regularly and whether they are overspending or using your fuel budget for other purposes. A fuel card is a simple solution that allows convenient transaction facilities during fuel purchases and keeps a frequency and price record. It helps you to control your fuel expenses in the following way:
- Keep track of the fuelling pattern for each vehicle to plan the budget.
- Set up spending limits and restrictions to avoid unnecessary and unapproved expenses.
- Ensure the budget is spent on fuel-related purchases only.
Fuel cards are used as an integral part of fleet management software that provides comprehensive and updated data on vehicle performance and fuel efficiency. You can analyze this information for making strategic decisions toward improving business profits.
Fuel cards are a highly efficient and reliable tool that can optimize the cost of fuel consumption and reduce the chances of unauthorized or inefficient use. It also makes fleet management operations more streamlined and cost-effective.
How Do Fuel Cards Help Save Cost?
The most significant aspect of a fuel card is the integration with your fleet management which can help you save a lot of money through fuel-related purchases.
Fuel cards integrated with the GPS-enabled fleet management system can assure you that they are used only for your fleet and not for other purposes.
It also helps you to get clear and accurate information on spending that leads to informed decisions. You can gain total control over the usage of cards to achieve the desired benefits.
The fuel cards offer several benefits to fleet operation by optimizing expenses and controlling the budget in the following way.
Streamline activities
A fuel card is a convenient alternative to cash transactions avoiding handling cash. You don’t require any hard copy receipt but can access all records regarding date, time, location, and price details through the easy-to-use online account.
You can also access customized reports based on your needs. All these features allow you to easily track and control your budget to help improve your bottom line.
By going paperless, you can save on time and workforce, which means better resource utilization and cost optimization.
Cost Savings on purchase
You can take advantage of discounts by using these cards at selected locations depending on the terms between issuing enterprise and the pumping stations. It results in considerable cost savings when fuel prices increase rapidly.
Fuel cards take care of fluctuating prices and help save costs in the long run. These cards are accepted nationwide, giving drivers better flexibility to choose the filling station to purchase the fuel at the most affordable cost.
You can ensure that drivers use the approved locations for filling fuel to take advantage of price benefits.
Setting limits on spending
Fuel cards help control your budget by understanding where excess money is being spent and allowing you to lower fuel costs. You can set up transaction limits on fuel cards, so there is no chance of overconsumption and unauthorized fuel purchase.
It also improves the accountability of drivers to optimize fuel consumption and helps control costs. Even if there is any unauthorized handling of fuel cards, the fleet management software helps to safeguard your budget by using a combination of restrictions.
You have complete control over the purchases, allowing you to track the costs connected with each vehicle in your fleet. You get notifications if a driver exceeds your pre-defined spending limits.
Additional Services
You can purchase various fuel-related products and services using the fuel card at affordable prices. It includes the cost of spare parts, repairs, and maintenance costs. It offers you loyalty points accrued for every transaction, that you can redeem as required. If you are driving on a route and searching for nearby pumping stations and other facilities, the card guides you to locate it conveniently, which saves you time and fuel, thereby minimizing the cost.
How to Choose a Suitable Fuel Card?
No doubt fuel cards help in optimizing cost by offering several benefits. However, the range of benefits differs from one company to another and according to the location.
You should analyze the factors while looking for an ideal card and select the one that gives the best cost advantage.
Here, we will discuss the factors you need to consider before deciding on the most suitable fuel card for your fleet.
Location
It is the primary point of consideration because some cards operate only in a small territory or region, while others are suitable for a vast network of fueling stations.
If you operate within a small area with your fleet, your ideal choice can be the card compatible with that territory only to get the best price advantage.
If your trucks travel long distances across the country, a card with higher coverage and universal acceptability should be best for you.
Fuel Type
Fuel cards generally provide mixed-type fuels, including diesel, petrol, or gasoline. You need to select the card based on the type and brand you require for your fleet operations.
Another point of consideration is whether to go for a fixed-price or pump-price fuel card option to match your purpose because it would help you deal with the price fluctuations of that particular type and brand.
Some fuel cards are related to a specific brand and are well-connected with many service stations across the country.
Discounts Offered
Fuel-related expenses are a significant part of your cost, so selecting an appropriate card based on price benefits is crucial for your business. You need to consider the best discount option while choosing a card.
This discount can be applicable at the point of purchase or as a rebate on the monthly purchase.
Fuel cards that provide easy repayment choices will allow you to manage your financial flow easily. You can also gain points and use them for rewards schemes for drivers.
Advanced Features
The advanced features of the fuel card allow effective integration with the GPS-enabled fleet management system and provide all relevant information about diesel consumption, price, location, driver, routes, etc.
You can set up monitoring systems, download statements, and check transactions through the companion app. You will further analyze these data to make calculations and informed decisions to optimize your cost in fleet operations.
Matrack Fuel Card
Matrack fuel card allows easy integration with the Matrack fleet management system, which helps monitor and record transaction details online. You can track your fleet’s routes, mileage, location, and frequency of fuel purchases through GPS management software. The comprehensive and updated data on fuel expenses would help you control the cost and optimize your budget. The various benefits of Matrack fuel are as follows:
Automated process
Matrack can integrate the fuel card with the fleet management software and automate the entire process, including transactions and data handling. You can have access to authentic, updated, and accurate records in an organized manner for easy analysis, making business operations more streamlined and efficient. It simplifies the fleet management process by avoiding paper works, documentation, or reconciliation.
Security
Matrack fuel cards offer you protection against fraud by using anti-fraud technology. It allows setting up an individual PIN for each fuel card so that you can track and deactivate them easily in case it is lost or stolen. Matrack offers an additional service by engraving the vehicle number or the driver’s name on the fuel card to avoid misuse and unauthorized handling.
Flexibility
Matrack fuel card is a simple and powerful tool for drivers and fleet owners. It gives you access to the fuel data anytime to help you ensure better efficiency and productivity along with cost control. You can use Matrack fuel cards to get more benefits at the selected truck stop locations and fueling stations.
Find locations
When handling a fleet of vehicles through different routes, you must know which service stations are the best on the route and plan accordingly. Matrack offers an easy system to find your nearest service station whenever you need fuel or service for your truck.
Control expenses
The Matrack fuel card, in conjunction with the GPS-enabled fleet management software, allows you to monitor the fuel consumption pattern for each vehicle. You can set up authority and specify which driver can buy how much fuel by fixing a spending limit. It helps control your fuel budget and curb unnecessary or inefficient use of fuel. Matrack offers a fixed-price card that allows you to pay at a fixed price despite the higher price at the time of fuelling.
Additional services
You can use the Matrack card to pay for maintenance, repairs, and other truck-related merchandise purchases. Matrack also offers a 1.5% early-pay discount and a 60-day no-interest payback period for the users of fuel cards.
Conclusion
Fuel expenses form a significant part of the expenditure in fleet management. Fuel cost is also one of the most unpredictable expenses, susceptible to variations that can significantly affect profitability. It is necessary to have a proper plan to optimize fuel consumption and increase profitability. Fuel cards help to manage cash flow on the fuel purchased and provide comprehensive and updated data on expenses that can be critical for managing costs.
The monthly reports and data produced by fuel cards are highly impactful. The information can help you optimize the drivers’ efficiency and understand their fuel purchasing patterns. The limit on spending for unrelated fuel products eliminates the chances of unauthorized purchases. Only the registered users of a fuel card can use it, meaning it is well protected if a card gets lost or stolen.
The fuel cards provide insights about the routes each driver has taken and the pumping stations visited. A fuel card allows the purchased fuel and relevant fuel-related products only. So, you can be sure that no unexpected costs will occur. It helps to control your fuel budget effectively across all of your vehicles.
Matrack fuel card is a reliable tool to control fuel expenses, particularly when petrol and diesel prices constantly rise. There are several benefits that Matrack fuel cards offer, including the tracking of fuel expenses regularly and restricting any unauthorized purchase or inefficient use of fuel.
You can save a lot with Matrack fuel cards through hassle-free online transactions, monitoring expenses, and controlling the re-fuelling habits of drivers. The various features of fuel cards allow you to optimize the cost of fuel consumption and reduce the chances of unauthorized or inefficient use. It helps to make your vehicle operations most cost-effective and efficient.