Forty per cent of 25 plus fleets not using fuel cards, finds MIB

Forty per cent of fleets with more than 25 cars and vans are not using fuel
cards, according to research into fuel buying by MIB Data Solutions.

The company asked 616 companies how they acquired fuel and received the
following responses. The results do not total 100% because some use more
than one method of purchasing:

Fuel card 60%
Driver pay and reclaim 18%
Bunkered fuel 17%
Credit card 11%
Local account 4%

Nick Boddington, Managing Director, said: "While prices have fallen slightly
in recent months, fuel has been the fastest rising cost facing fleets in
recent years, so the lack of managerial attention the subject receives from
some fleets is difficult to explain.

"Those using fuel cards have the highest degree of control over their fuel
spend while those with bunkered fuel and local accounts have at least some –
but that still leaves around one in four or one in five fleets who abdicate
responsibility completely.

"Fleets using credit cards or pay-and-reclaim have no way of easily seeing
where fuel is being bought, how much drivers are paying, who is using excess
fuel and even whether fraud is occurring."

Boddington added that, from anecdotal feedback recorded during the research,
fleets that did not use fuel cards simply appeared unaware of their
advantages.

He said: "Many seem to be of the opinion that fuel costs are not something
that can really be managed, that you just have to pay whatever the retailer
wants to charge you. However, once the advantages of fuel cards in terms of
tracking and controlling spending are explained, they do often respond
positively."