In trucking, fuel discounts are the default way to quickly cut fuel costs. While fuel expenses are undeniably a significant portion of vehicle-based costs — upwards of 28% — there is still 72% of all other operating expenses to consider when tapping into a fleet’s full saving potential.
Fleet card adoption is one of the most common strategies used to offset variable pump prices and fuel expenses, but in many cases hidden fees can erode these promised savings. While fuel discounts do offset these expenses, they often aren’t enough to address the multifaceted cost centers that trucking companies face, including:
- Repair and maintenance costs
- Truck/trailer lease or purchase payments
- Truck insurance premiums
- Driver wages and benefits
- Fraud and fuel theft
The list goes on. And this is exactly why most fleet card providers have it wrong – they only address a small piece of the pie when it comes to total cost of operations, ignoring the savings insights that could be gained by sharing data between fleet and spend management.
There are better ways to save than fuel discounts
Businesses that rely on fuel discounts alone to reduce costs cannot effectively identify the broader financial saving opportunities across their operations.
This is due to the fact most fleet card vendors cannot also provide:
- Advanced spend controls backed by real-time telematics data that proactively reduces the cost of fraud.
- Deep discounts without hidden fees — not just on fuel.
- An extensive network of coverage backed by Mastercard.
- On-demand driver coaching that eliminates fuel wasting behaviors.
- Maintenance alerts that Increase the longevity of vehicles and equipment.
- Streamlined back-office processes with automated workflows that reduce overhead costs.
- 24/7 award-winning customer support.
Without these, businesses will struggle to identify and rectify inefficiencies that extend beyond fuel expenses, putting undue stress on employees and contractors.
A 5% to 10% discount on fuel may seem attractive at first glance, but to unlock compounding profitability, operators must adopt a mindset that takes their entire total costs into account.
A unified platform unlocks savings potential
Modern technology, like Motive’s all-in-one platform, allows for the collection and analysis of vast amounts of data across your fleet and spend with actionable intelligence that unlocks savings potential. Customers can see up to:
- 5% savings per vehicle through automatic insights and alerts to help identify fraud
- 7% savings per vehicle through enhanced productivity
- 7% improvement in fuel efficiency
- 25% potential reduction in insurance rates using dash cam footage in litigation
- 10x ROI in the first-year of using personalized, on-demand, video-based coaching
By combining these savings with the operational efficiencies in Motive’s all-in-one-platform businesses can leverage shared data between their fleet and spend management that grows savings without having to rely on discounts alone.
See how Architectural Surfaces realized their full potential with the Motive Card >
Traditional fleet card providers can only offer a minimal respite from the burdens of fuel costs, and only provide visibility into a single facet of the complex operational expenses that trucking companies face. Often, fleet card integrations that connect to existing fleet management platforms lack the data-sharing capabilities that allow fleet managers to act on cost-saving opportunities.
To ensure sustainable success, businesses need comprehensive solutions that encompass data-driven insights, holistic fleet management tools, proven safety solutions, and insights that identify a wide range of savings potential across operation expenses.
Adopting an all-in-one platform like Motive Card that marries fleet and spend management, can help save time, uncover valuable insights via a 360-degree view of all your data, and help drive smarter spending decisions.
Discover the only fleet card that connects to your business, the Motive Card. >
