We often talk about how much you can save when you have a discounted fuel card and percentages of 5% are often mentioned, but what does this actually mean in real terms.

It has been in the news a lot recently that the cost of fuel is again on the rise and that could potentially be a problem for fleets as they have numerous vehicles in use per day. What is it that fleets can do to help cut fuel costs? Is it the driving habits of staff, ensuring that they have good driving habits in order to save on fuel, or is it fuel cards? Well, actually, it is both.

Fuel cards can fix several problems. They can help to reduce paperwork by keeping all fuel purchases through the fuel card there is no need for lots of receipts. All transactions are visible live online and the bill is paid once a month all in one go. This is a much efficient way of doing things and saves time.

Fuel is a big cost and it affects the prices of everything. Think about it. Most products you buy if not all products you buy rely on transportation by car, van or lorries. Even if it is a service the people who run the service or the materials needed to provide the service need transportation.

Fuel cards are particularly secure due to several key factors. Firstly fuel cards are not such a target for thieves and fraudsters as their value to others is intrinsically nothing. Why is this?

Fuel prices are always going up. This is partly due to an increase in the overall oil prices which has forced the price of oil up, plus there are many other factors involved in forcing up the price of oil. Another reason petrol and diesel prices are so high is because the UK government sticks so much tax on the price of it.

Fleet businesses provide the fuel for all of the vehicles that they run. In order to do this the majority of businesses provide their employee with a credit or debit card for them to fill the vehicles up with. As we are all aware, credit and debit cards can be cloned are therefore targeted by thieves.

If you are running a fleet of vehicles it can be hard to budget the amount you will spend on fuel. The larger the fleet the more difficult it can be. This is not helped by the varying in price from petrol station to petrol station. Now this can be standardised by having a fixed weekly rate which does not vary from petrol station to petrol station.