An interview with The Fuelcard People
Fuel cards are a safe, convenient and cheaper way of paying for your fleet’s fuel. The Fuelcard People, based in Abingdon, offer the widest range of leading-brand fuel cards. Steve Clarke, general manager of The Fuelcard People spoke to FleetDirectory.co.uk to explain the advantages of fuel cards for busy fleet managers.
Q: Oil prices have risen to a 10-month high lately leading to a spike in fuel retail prices, any predictions for the prices we might expect as we head into 2010?
A: As the world economy picks up, we would expect that the demand for oil will increase again, therefore prices would continue to rise. The VAT increase at end of the year will also add to the rise in fuel prices through 2010. Fleet managers should be able to reclaim the VAT fairly easily, but may have problems if their fuel invoices do not comply with the EU Sixth Directive.
Q: So how much can fuel cards really shave off fuel bills?
A: It varies. The customer is notified each Friday of a fixed price for the coming week. This applies nationwide, so the exact saving will depend upon where drivers refuel. Typically, you save 10p or more per litre for motorway refuelling. Everywhere else, expect to save between 2p to 3p per litre on national average pump prices. At current prices, if you always refuel on the motorway it’s like getting a month of free fuel every year.
It isn’t just about making major savings at the pump, though. The interval between refuelling and your direct debit payment means that you enjoy up to a fortnight’s free credit. Then, you’re only getting one weekly invoice that covers every transaction across your whole fleet. Compare that to the admin workload for reconciling piles of invoices and statements if drivers refuel with company credit cards or, worse still, if they pay themselves and have to be reimbursed. The admin savings can be massive.
Q: Are fuel cards more secure than other methods of payment?
A: Absolutely, as they work on a closed network. Your fuel card is not linked in any way to the customer, but only to our system. If a company issues credit/debit cards to drivers for buying fuel, these can be cloned to give direct access to business bank accounts. Our fuel cards are not linked in any way to the customer, but only to our system, so can not be cloned to attack their business accounts.
In addition, every card is linked to either a vehicle or a driver, so is useless to a thief. That only leaves the possibility of fraudulent use, which is covered by our offer of reports and alarms which can be tailored to suit each customer. If none of your vehicles should be using more than, say, £200 worth of fuel in a week, you’ll want to know if one of them appears to be filling an empty tank every couple of hours. We can notify you by email, rather than you having to wait for the invoice to arrive. Or, suppose you have a fleet that should only be on the road during normal working hours. If one of your cards is used during the early hours or at the weekend, we can email you straight away. An alarm could be triggered by something as simple as the amount purchased. The manager of an HGV fleet might specify a minimum fill of 100 litres, while a company car fleet manager might require notification of any fill over 60 litres.
Finally, your card can be used for fuel purchases only, unless you have specified that you want it to cover lubricants and so forth. With a company credit or debit card, a driver can add their lunch to the fuel bill. Worrying about the cost of a sandwich, chocolate bar and can of pop might sound trivial, but think about it. That could easily come to £4 so, if a driver does that every day, you’re looking at £1,000 per year. Multiply that by the number of drivers you have and you start to get some surprising numbers.
Q: Your website mentions ‘additional services’. Tell us more?
A: Our tailored reports, which help customers to control and monitor their fuel use more effectively, can be by depot, cost centre and so on and are available on demand. This is in addition to full 24/7 customer access to their account information via the internet, including transactions which have yet to be invoiced.
Most importantly, we allocate a dedicated, named account manager to each customer. This means that, if they ever have a query about anything concerning their account, they can call and ask for their account manager by name. They always talk to the same person, who soon becomes familiar with their business and its needs. This represents a huge benefit for the customer. Most other fuel card companies handles enquiries through call centres, so that a customer with a query has to queue to speak to a randomly selected anonymous operator, who will know nothing about them.
Q: How can fuel cards help to ‘green your fleet’?
A: Our customers know where they can refuel, whether by consulting the site guide provided with each individual card, by consulting the internet or by calling us, and can plan where to refuel. Most commonly, though, they simply see a service station ahead and pull in. Remember, we are talking about BP, Esso, Texaco, Shell and others, not obscure brands. Depending upon which card they have, they will have access to a network of 1,600 or more sites. It would be an odd route that didn’t take a driver past a major brand soon after they decide to refuel. It means that a driver doesn’t have to drive around looking for the cheapest place, because they’re carrying a card which gives them nationwide access to fixed price, discount fuel. They don’t have to waste time and fuel searching for a refuelling point. In addition, as our fixed prices apply to motorway service stations, they don’t have to leave the motorway to refuel.
Q: Is it possible to use a few different fuel cards to suit different cars and uses?
A: Yes, and this is not unusual. We offer the widest range of fixed rate fuel cards from any single supplier and, as we are independent and not tied to or owning a particular network, we are not biased towards any particular card. We can examine a customer’s individual circumstances and give genuinely impartial advice about the best card or cards to suit their specific needs. This might mean a different card per depot or even per driver. As different cards would all be supplied through a single point, though, it means that our systems can consolidate the transaction details to help simplify their reporting and management. This would not be the case, however, with other suppliers as almost all suppliers offer just a single card or, at most, two cards.
Q: Petrol and diesel fuel price differences have narrowed recently; can we expect this to continue?
A: Yes, it looks as though this is a growing trend and around the country prices now seem to be converging. There has never been any really plausible reason for the price difference.
Q: Are fuel cards suitable for diesel and petrol cars?
A: We have fuelcards for diesel-only fleets, for petrol-only fleets and for mixed fleets. That’s the great advantage of dealing with the provider with the widest range. As previously mentioned, we can consolidate drawings from different cards into one simple report. Again, this would not be so with most other suppliers because very, very few of them cover both diesel and petrol.
Q: What advice would you give someone who has never used a fuel card provider before?
A: Above all, shop around and start by asking how many different cards a supplier offers. Fuel cards are not all the same, just as their users are not all the same. A small mixed fleet of company cars and light vans making mostly local journeys will obviously not have the same needs as a major HGV fleet operating nationally. Neither of them would have the same requirements as a courier company or a building firm, but they would all benefit from fuel cards. It would be ridiculous to suggest that a single card could be perfect for all of them, but that’s exactly what most suppliers are going to have to say. If they only have one card to offer, they’re going to tell you that it’s perfect for you, whatever your needs.
Next, ask how you will be treated after you’ve signed up. Will the sales person you deal with remain as your dedicated account manager, showing their commitment to you rather than just being in it for a quick sale? With nearly every supplier, you’ll find that when you want to raise a query or make a request, you’ll have to ring a call centre. If you’re happy to queue for an anonymous operator who has never heard of you, that’s up to you, but you might prefer always to deal with the same person, who knows and understands your business. Ask about online management and reporting. If it is offered, check that it’s there to support a real account manager, not to replace them. If you can have 24/7 internet access to your account, check that it’s provided as standard, not an optional extra.
Check their security features. At the most basic level, you certainly need a card that’s linked to either a specific vehicle or a named driver, so that it’s useless to a thief. If a supplier can’t offer this, walk away, whatever else they may say.
Finally, and this might sound obvious, don’t forget to ask about discounts. If you want to make significant savings, there are suppliers to avoid, because some expect you to pay pump prices. At least one tries to get around this by saying that it matters more to be able to use one card at any service station. Don’t be taken in by this nonsense. It might matter if you think that your routes won’t be on roads served by the major brands, but how many roads do you know that don’t have a BP, Esso, Shell, Texaco and so on? Remember that your aim is to save money and don’t be pushed into a non-discount card.
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