Latest Fuel News

Fleet fuel tracking and management depends not only on vehicles and fuel cost, but also extends to the employees behaviour. Among the key benefits that are offered by a fuel tracking program are account management, vehicle and fuel maintenance and saving, roadside assistance. Fuel cards offer numerous benefits; some of them are as follows:

Pricing
Fuel cards program provides both competitive and customised pricing according to your organisation’s size and needs. By using fuel cards, additional savings can be made by creating sustained efficiency of the fleet.

Reporting
Fuel cards save both time as well as money with the help of demonstrated efficiency in reporting. Expenses on fuel can be reduced tremendously over a period of time. There is no need to keep a manual track on the fleet as everything is automated.

All in one billing
Companies can select a company that offers a comprehensive all in one billing. With this, you will realise not only financial savings but can also save on time. With weekly vehicle management reporting, monthly summary reports, etc. Fuel cards meet the need of any type of business.

Investing in a fuel benefits fleet operators considerably. Fleet managers get an advanced processing system which customises and even controls the fleet expenditure. It simplifies and provides a convenient access to 24 hour administrative support.

Fuel cards can be used by an organisation to avoid any sort of fraud or deceit. Account management is essential for every organisation that runs its business on vehicles. With so many vehicles running simultaneously, the cost of fuel and distance covered for company or personal use is difficult to monitor.

Therefore in order to keep up to date with all these details, fuel cards are used by organisations. There are employees who use the company’s vehicle for their private usage. This could pose a huge problem for the company, as not only the employee is disloyal to the organisation the company but also suffer from paying for extra fuel.

In order to monitor such activities fuel cards can be used in petrol stations instead of paying with cash. Fuel cards collects data on the amount of fuel consumed. These records help the organisation to monitor and observe the status of all its vehicle.

In fact, fuel theft is quite common nowadays, therefore an organisations needs to be on guard at all times. Another important feature of the fuel card is that it helps the organisation recover VAT and as the records are maintained frequently, an invoice is not needed. If you want to fight fuel fraud then apply for a fuel card today.

Organisations that operate using vehicles need to monitor them from time to time. Consider a fleet management company that is heavily dependent on vehicles for running its business. In such a company, the expenditure on fuel is bound to increase, not only because of the unstable fuel prices but also due to the lack of control on fuel consumption.

It is important that every organisation applies for a fuel card in order to safeguard its vehicles from fuel frauds such as fuel theft. Fuel is a commodity that is unpredictable due to its price changing day and night. If the company uses a fuel card, it will receive a particular discount every time it is used.

While the discount may not be significant enough for every transaction, it reflects drastically on the overall budget of the organisation. Fuel cards are easy to use and are applicable at almost every gas station.

The expenses of an organisation can therefore be brought under control with the help of a fuel card. A limit can also be set so that daily expenditure on fuel can be easily monitored. Setting an upper limit on the card would also keep a check on the employees, in case the fuel is being used for personal consumption. The benefits of a fuel card are many and the cost incurred to obtain one is quite small.

The Office of Fair trading (OFT) has been sent a request by the Road Haulage Association (RHA) to investigate the reason for diesel prices being so much more expensive than petrol. Roger King, the RHA Chief Executive, said that they were told in the beginning of the year that the reason for diesel prices being higher than petrol was because of the shortage of refining capacity and an increase in global demand.

The OFT are keen for some answers to this problem and many are looking for ways to cut down on the current fuel costs they are facing. Some fleet companies are finding it difficult to keep up with the current high fuel prices and managing the business. It seems like investing in fuel cards is a good idea to many transport company owners.

Many transport company owners are switching to the use of fuel cards as they provide savings for the fleet operators. These savings will be of some use when accumulated in the long run. The concept of fuel cards seems to be making things a little easier for transport company owners and many are learning about the benefits offered.

Fuel cards are used by a number of people and are fast becoming popular with many vehicle owners. These fuel cards look somewhat similar to credit cards in appearance.

The similarity between credit cards and fuel cards begins and ends with looking alike. Fuel cards can be only used to fuel at a filling stations; they cannot be used to buy any other items. They are very useful in saving valuable time and money at the filling stations.

The most useful feature of a fuel card is that you no longer have to use cash at the filling station. With the constant increase in fuel prices, another benefit of using a fuel card is the discounted fuel prices. If you buy your fuel using a fuel card, it is cheaper than buying fuel using cash. For this reason an increasing amount of vehicle owners are taking advantage of this price difference.

Fuel cards are easy to apply for and one can easily apply for one online. Along with the numerous benefits, they also offer you complete security. Unlike a credit card, nobody but you can use your fuel card. They are secure and offer you complete identity protection. The transactions done on a fuel card can be paid without any interest being charged.

Fuel cards not only offer you fuel at cheaper rates but also prevent fraud and provide security.

A leading Truck manufacturer based in Lancashire has made an appeal to the government to help them out of recession. Leyland trucks bosses have started urging ministers to extend their lending guarantees and also have asked to introduce a corporation tax so that they can easily jump start their vehicle manufacturing industry.

Jim summer, managing director of Leyland is leading the negotiations with Lord Mandelson, a business secretary on behalf of the truck industry for the UK. He said to LEP that he was very optimistic and confident that the government will understand the problems and difficulties that his firm is facing.

Leyland trucks, based in Farington, has laid off around 92 shop workers. They are also looking to shed a further 247 jobs. Mr Sumner has suggested two measures to the Government so that they can boost their truck manufacturing.

He wanted to have a special credit guarantee scheme from the government and also special liquidity from the Bank of England. Both schemes are specially designed to increase the lending and credit. However it only covers banks in the UK. Many truck manufacturers usually use their own finance companies that provide credit to the hauliers who buy their vehicles.

Hauliers and truck manufacturers are trying every trick in the book to cut down their expenses like using fuel cards and fleet management to survive in these troubled times.

Today everything is becoming increasingly expensive. Your car is an important source of expense and fuel costs are fluctuating constantly. Cutting on the fuel expenses is almost impossible, so if you want to save money for your business and its fleet on your fuel consumption, the best way is to use fuel cards.

Fuel cards can help to reduce your fuel expenditure. Several types of fuel cards are easily available these days. Some are geared for individual use while others are meant for organisations having a fleet of vehicles.

Maximum private fuel cards work just like credit cards. Different fuel cards offer different types of privileges to the card users. It is important to buy a fuel card which best suits your necessities and can give you maximum benefits.

There are several organisations selling such fuel cards with different types of offers. These cards can easily be bought online. To buy a fuel card all you have to do is search about the different types of fuel cards available, choose one and apply for it online. The fuel card will then be delivered at your home.

This saves you any hassle and helps you reap a lot of benefits. Fuel cards can help you to buy fuel at a lower rate than the market and also offer different types of additional advantages depending on the type of card you have chosen. Prepaid fuel cards are also available if you prefer to be on the safer side.

There is a buzz in the air for the UK’s road haulage industry as the industry is expecting an exciting 2009. Even with all the economic problems in the UK, people from the sector are getting ready for all the opportunities they are about to face in the forthcoming year. The overall road haulage market is in good shape currently as it is facing a 5.3 % growth in sales as compared to last year.

Plimsoll Portfolio Analysis predicts that there will probably be a little growth in the coming year. Regardless of the developments that have been predicted to take place next year; many companies will be keen on investing in fuel cards to decrease the financial burden and running costs on the company.

2009 could be the year for capitalising customers and business for a selected few companies since they will be offering low cost alternatives. If companies take measures to accept the current business activity level and reduce running costs, 2009 could probably be a profitable year for them. Fuel cards can contribute to the reduction in running costs and many haulers are expected to use fuel cards to help them cut down costs.

The haulage industry is facing serious problems with the increase in fuel prices. The drivers at McPherson’s Ltd of Aberlour have gone on a strike in favour of a pay claim. The situation has become more serious since Chancellor Alistair Darling raised fuel duty by 2.5% and is planning a 1.84p/litre rise in April next year.

In the light of these events, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been blamed of breaking his promise. On 16th July, the Prime Minister announced the government would freeze the petrol duty for the full year, just after hauliers had demonstrated against the rising fuel prices.

Now the nation is facing two consecutive fuel duty rises. When fuel prices keep rising in this way, opting for fuel cards can help hauliers save some money. Fuel cards help you to keep a check on your fuel expenses, thereby helping you save money.

Fuel cards also enable you to keep an eye on the drivers. Fuel cards ensure that money is not misused by drivers as they facilitate completely cashless transactions and maintain a clear record of the time and quantity of fuel purchased.

This helps fleet managers to monitor consumption and wastage of fuel. It also helps in reducing or even eliminating paper work.

The Freight Transport Association (FTA), one of the leading trade bodies, has already reacted to the move taken by the Chancellor in cutting VAT and increasing fuel duty. The FTA says that this is a shocking and suspicious decision to target commercial vehicle operators.

The FTA’s director of policy, James Hookham, said that the Chancellor, Alastair Darling, said that he wanted to support British businesses during troubled times. However, he had cynical disregard for the problem of cash flow that many medium and small sized commercial vehicle operators are experiencing across the country.

He also added that the Chancellor had reduced the VAT but subsequently increased fuel duty. With increases in fuel duty, the transportation bills of companies across every sector will also increase. This hurts businesses as well as customers. They will ultimately end up paying more in order to cover the cost of transportation required for items such as goods, clothing and food.

The Chancellor also further confirmed that there will be considerable increase in fuel duty in April 2009. The increase will be around 1.84 pence per litre.

James Hookham said that as far as the logistical point of view is concerned, the Chancellor is giving with one hand and taking away with the other.