The cost of fuel is a daily concern, and with fluctuating prices it is to impossible to budget accordingly. And, if your business operates a fleet, it is even more of a worry. Balancing your company’s budget with many vehicles purchasing fuel at different prices is a difficult task. The best way to combat the rise and fall of gas prices is to look for patterns in pricing, and to check each vehicle in your fleet’s fuel economy.

Finding out and keeping track of your vehicles’ fuel economy is best done by utilizing a fleet fuel card. With it you can track exactly how many miles per gallon each vehicle is getting and budget accordingly. You can set card gallon limits and set purchase restrictions by card.  Accordingly, it will be easy to see if one of your fleet vehicles starts to use more gas than it previously had  by viewing transactions and exceptions reports in real time. If that happens, you’ll know right away and will be able to act accordingly to increase the vehicle’s fuel efficiency.  Certain fuel management programs even offer real time alerts notifications.

Fuel Gauge

Tracking your fleet vehicles’ fuel purchases is crucial to the success of your business. If certain vehicles are getting poor mileage per gallon, then it is imperative that it be fixed. Excessive fuel waste can eventually put you out of business. It sounds ridiculous to say, as if a few dollars here and there really matter. But multiply those few dollars by each vehicle in your fleet and then multiply it again by the amount each vehicle is used, (how often it needs to be filled up), and then again by the length of time you’re in business and the sum could be pretty astronomical. It could certainly be the difference between a profit and a loss for your business.

Utilizing a fleet fuel card means working with an offensive strategy rather than a defensive. Instead of panicking about fluctuating fuel costs, you’ll be able to relax in knowing that each of your fleet fuel vehicles is running at optimal fuel efficiency, that you’re making each one of your dollars stretch as far as it can, and that you are reducing your overall fuel costs. Excess fuel waste will be a thing of the past, and you’ll be in a much better position to ride out fluctuating gas prices.

Fleet fuel cards are known for their controls and reporting.  Their ability to be customized can also really help an company’s with their operating expenses not to mention their fuel management expenses.  One of the greatest features of the fleet fuel card is the different reporting options you can receive. Since fleet cards have the ability to be customized to your business’ needs, you can pick and choose the type of reporting that is most beneficial and then receive the information electronically that will help you manage your company’s financial data.  These reports can also be exported into excel.

When choosing the reporting package that will be specific to your company’s needs, you’ll have the option of choosing from maintenance and vehicle reports, account activity reports, summary reports, exception, denial, employee management, tax exemption and exception reports.

Maintenance and Vehicle Reports

If you’re managing a large fleet, it can be really hard to keep track of when each vehicle has had its latest maintenance inspection or if it’s performing at its optimal rate. By choosing to receive maintenance and vehicle reports, you can learn how each vehicle in the fleet is performing, and thus be able to schedule maintenance and repairs on a cost efficient basis.

Reporting Package

Account Activity Reports

Account activity reports are important so that you can know exactly what is going on with each fleet card. You can get vehicle and driver reports which will help you determine the miles per gallon for each vehicle. (And make adjustments as necessary if certain vehicles are spending way more in fuel than others.) You can also get tax exemption reports and invoice reports, which will help you keep track of all expenditures.

Summary Reports

Want a brief snapshot of what your various drivers and fleet vehicles are doing? Include the summary reports as part of your reporting package, and you’ll be able to get brief but detailed reports that will give you details on account transactions, vehicle mileage etc.

Exception Reports

Exception reports are really useful for any organization. In the fleet fuel card report package you could get a report on time of day variances (for fuel prices). This could help you tell your driver’s when they should gas up to save you money. You can also track mile per gallon variances (pattern discrepancies should be able to point this out), product variances, excess fuel purchases and track all transactions made to account.

Fleet fuel cards offer many reporting options.  So, it is important look at your organization’s requirements and select your reports based on your current business needs.