Fuel Card vs. Credit Card: Which is Best for Trucking?

How fuel purchases without requiring mileage or driver ID input like fleet cards.

Drivers can use credit cards to cover other work-related expenses like repairs or truck stop fees. While this sounds convenient from the driver’s perspective, credit cards have downsides.

The biggest drawback for fleet owners or managers is that they offer virtually no pre-purchase spending control. Unscrupulous drivers may also use them to pay for personal expenses.

While some business credit cards offer spend tracking and reporting tools, they typically lack the granular driver- and vehicle-level data fleet operations require.

Before you choose between fuel cards and credit cards, consider these factors:

Vehicle Assignment

Fuel cards can be assigned to a vehicle and a driver. When using this approach, drivers must enter their employee ID number or vehicle number at the gas pump before they can buy fuel.

Tracking the vehicle’s mileage and diesel costs will help you gauge your fleet’s fuel efficiency. From there, you can take steps to increase the fuel efficiency of your vehicles.

Credit cards can be used to buy just about anything, not just fuel, which makes it harder to reconcile purchases and prevent unauthorized spending. The fuel card is the clear winner here.

Savings

Cost savings are a top priority for fleet managers and business owners alike. Fuel cards win this category as well.

While most credit card providers offer some form of rewards program, the perks aren’t significant enough to lead to major savings for fleets. Using the best fleet fuel cards allows your drivers to access fuel discounts at major truck stops and gas stations.

Spending Control

If you set clear rules for using credit cards and your drivers follow those rules, you can maintain a fair amount of spending control. However, documenting and monitoring spending patterns might be challenging.

Unlike fuel cards, which limit spending to fuel and related purchases, credit cards cover various expenses, making tracking difficult. Fuel cards provide superior controls on driver purchases and deliver better data on aspects like gallons filled, MPG, and expenses per driver.

This enables you to optimize your fleet management capabilities and streamlines the process of filing IFTA taxes, making fuel cards a stronger choice for cost and compliance management.

Approval Odds

Securing high-limit credit cards for entire driver fleets can be difficult, especially if you have substantial business debt. Fuel card programs provide larger spending power and are more accessible for most trucking companies.

Comparatively, your odds of getting approved for fuel cards are much higher. For most businesses, the fuel card approval process is quicker and more accessible. Based on these criteria, fuel cards tend to outperform credit cards for fleet-specific use cases.

Many fuel cards, including options like Fuelman Deep Saver and Comdata, offer no-credit-check or soft-pull applications, making them more accessible to newer or subprime businesses.

IFTA Tax Reporting

Fuel cards simplify IFTA (International Fuel Tax Agreement) compliance by automatically capturing gallons purchased, state of purchase, and transaction dates. This data streamlines quarterly fuel tax filings and reduces the manual effort required for recordkeeping.

Credit cards require more work to separate personal vs. fuel purchases, and they don’t categorize fuel types or jurisdictions without you manually inputting them.

Tracking

Credit cards are effective at tracking general expenses, but fuel cards offer a more comprehensive solution by adding mileage and fuel consumption tracking, which ultimately results in enhanced cost control and operational efficiency.

Data

Fuel card management systems provide trucking companies with a significant amount of data, which can be used to enhance fleet management. Fuel card users can gain valuable insights into fuel spending patterns and make changes to reduce total costs.

Credit cards provide little actionable data. Business credit card statements closely resemble those sent to everyday consumers, with a larger volume of transactions and higher spending thresholds.

Bottom line — fuel cards are the clear solution for fleet owners interested in saving money, improving spending control, and streamlining the fuel purchasing process.

Many fuel cards report to commercial credit bureaus and help you build credit. Timely payments can improve your company’s Paydex score and increase your ability to secure other lines of business credit or financing.

However, this benefit only applies if the fuel card issuer reports payment activity, so it’s worth confirming this before applying for a fleet card.

For most trucking companies, fuel cards are the better option. Not only can they build credit, but they also give you better control over your drivers’ spending habits. If you choose to, you can authorize drivers to make nonfuel purchases with their gas cards.

Most credit cards don’t give you the same level of control over buying habits, which means drivers might use these cards for unauthorized purchases.

If you need a way to distribute funds more efficiently to drivers while keeping spending in check, fuel cards are a great option.