Fuel cards are commonly used by carrier companies in the United Kingdom. These cards usually enable company drivers to purchase fuel at certain stations without exchanging money. Here are some of the main benefits of issuing fuel cards to company drivers.
Driver Safety
Fleet operators should do as much as they can to avoid their drivers having to carry around large quantities of cash or a company card when they are out on the road. Truck drivers are often the victims of theft because thieves are aware that money and bank cards are kept inside trucks at night. This can lead to truck drivers feeling unsafe on long journeys – especially in areas that they are unfamiliar with. Fuel cards are of very little value to thieves, who would find them hard to sell. This makes truck drivers that do not carry cash or a bank card far less susceptible to crime.
Protection Against Internal Theft
Unfortunately, thieves from outside of an organization are not the biggest worry for many fleet operators. Fuel cards can only be spent on fuel and their use is very easy to track. This makes it much harder and less attractive to people working for the company who might want to skim a little money off the top and pretend that it was spent on fuel. As the cost of living crisis impacts truckers more and more, fuel and money thefts will undoubtedly increase in frequency. Fuel card records should help to keep track of just how much fuel is in each vehicle at any given time.
Convenience
Fleet drivers don’t want to fiddle around noting what cash they have spent on fuel. Fuel cards make the whole process of commercial refueling far more convenient. Because fuel cards automatically log all transactions, and these transactions can only be for fuel, drivers do not have to keep records of all of their refueling stops. This reduced their total journey times, which also makes them more efficient at completing their job. The more efficient a driver is, the more a carrier company will earn.
Predictable Pricing
Pump prices in the United Kingdom vary massively according to location. Areas with high levels of demand, low delivery costs, and high levels of competition tend to have cheaper fuel. Areas with low levels of demand, like rural areas, or low levels of competition, like motorways, tend to have much higher prices. Some fuel card companies offer clients the ability to pay a flat rate for fuel if they use service stations covered by the card. If fleet vehicles spend a lot of time on motorways or transiting through rural areas, this can save a great deal of money in the long term.
Ease of Accounting
Fuel card companies charge clients at a predetermined time every month. This makes accounting for fuel expenditure much easier than if all of the fuel costs for a company had to be separated from other uses of company cash or cards.
