As an owner-operator of a trucking company whose fleet regularly transports freight, there are many expenses you need to keep track of, fuel costs being one of the major ones. Fuel is generally the highest variable cost for truck owner-operators and, hence, can significantly affect your bottom line. Applying for a diesel fuel card is a simple yet effective way for trucking company owners to save money. Most fuel cards come with valuable discounts and cashback offers. Over time, this cashback amount adds up and can help save a substantial amount of money. Beyond cost savings, there are several other benefits trucking company owner-operators can enjoy by using fuel cards for their business.
Ensure transparency
One of the biggest challenges associated with managing a trucking fleet is the sheer geographical distance between office personnel and drivers on the road. While you and your team would be managing the operations from the central office, your drivers could be on the other side of the city, state, or even country, doing their job and delivering freight. In such a setting, you would want to have better visibility into on-road activities, and using fuel cards would be a good way to achieve this transparency when it comes to monitoring the fuel purchases made by your drivers.
After a fuel purchase is made by any of your drivers via the card, its details will be instantly updated on the fuel card platform. These details would allow for better expenditure monitoring, reporting, and expense analysis and help avoid the delays and ambiguity often experienced when fuel purchases are made with cash or traditional credit cards. Fuel card transactions are well documented and immediately accessible, making it easy for you to understand your fuel spending and plan future trips.
Improve business operations
The amount of fuel consumed by your trucks can tell a lot about the daily operations of your fleet. As a trucking company owner-operator, you should proactively monitor your business's fuel card statements and pay particular attention to the number of times your drivers fill up. This can help you identify areas for improvement in your operations. Owner-operators of a small trucking fleet would know that a lead foot equals more diesel consumption. A good way to evaluate the performance of the drivers in terms of fuel efficiency is to monitor their transactions via the fuel cards.
Fuel expenses keep climbing up and can take a big chunk out of the bottom line of your trucking company. Gaining a better understanding of these expenses would help you to price your services better.
Make fuel purchases convenient for drivers
If your trucking company is not using fuel cards, then there is a good chance that your drivers would be responsible for covering the fuel costs, submitting receipts, and then waiting for reimbursement on their paycheck. This process can be pretty inconvenient for the truck drivers and create additional overhead for the trucking business. Trucking fuel cards would help avoid all such issues.
Today, fuel cards are provided by many financial institutions in India. These cards allow for cashless purchases of diesel and lubricant from any BPCL, HPCL, or IOCL outlet across India.