Fleet cards are an excellent way to provide flexibility to your fleet while on the road while also having better control over your fuel costs. When looking through the different available providers, you probably considered Fuelman’s fleet cards.
But how can you know whether they are the right provider for your business? Read along to find out.
This article will discuss the Fuelman fleet card, including its different types, pros and cons, and who the card works best for.
The Fuelman fleet cards enable fleet managers to reduce costs, increase security, and manage their drivers, vehicles, and fuel usage by offering four cards.
Fuelman’s network (also known as the Fuelman Discount Network) consists of 20,000 maintenance facilities and 50,000 gas stations that accept the Fuelman fleet card. These Fuelman sites offer fuel, maintenance, and repair services and discounts on Fuelman’s fleet cards.
Image source: Fuelman
With a Fuelman fleet card, you can pay for gas, repair services, and other supplies at gas stations and convenience stores across the country. Using a Fuelman card, you can set customizable spending limits and access controls and top it up with regular money. Fuelman cards are ideal for fleets pumping between 1,000 and 5,000 gallons per month.
Fleet cards offered by other providers, however, have broader network coverage. For example, WEX cards are accepted at more than 95% of gas stations in the US, plus 45,000 service locations, while Comdata’s fleet card also enjoys a high level of acceptance.
Fuelman doesn’t publicly advertise its exact rates, like most other fleet card suppliers. You may pay anywhere from $0 to $10 per card per month, plus interest – usually between 15% and 20% APR (annual percentage rate). Late fees may also apply if you don’t make repayments on time.
While this is a general rate, you can expect to pay similar charges across various fleet cards.
Fuelman offers many different fleet cards to meet different needs. Let’s take a look at five types offered on their website:
Like any fuel card in the market, there are benefits and drawbacks to using a Fuelman fleet card. They have multiple options, good savings on refuels, and excellent rebates for nonprofits and government fleets, but they have a more limited network than other options. Let’s take a look at all their upsides and downsides:
This review would not be complete without looking at the opinions of people who use Fuelman cards, either positively or negatively.
So, what do Fuelman’s customers think about the company?
Well, there is a low level of satisfaction among Fuelman card users. There are far too many bad reviews on Fleetcor’s Trustpilot page, Fuelman’s parent company, and they are far from stellar.
The company currently has a 3.8/5 TrustScore, but most reviews are negative. There are 59% negative reviews, with many customers pointing out shady business practices. Complaints include that it’s impossible to reach a Fuelman agent by phone and that the company cancels credit cards without reason.
The company’s hidden fees, however, are the most egregious complaint. Fuelman, for example, charges a minimum quantity for “account maintenance” when gas prices fall below a certain amount, according to some reviewers. There is no mention of this fee when you sign up for the service, which shows a concerning lack of transparency on the company’s part.
There are 291 complaints on their Better Business Bureau page. Furthermore, Fleetcor has been sued for predatory fee practices, which raises major red flags.
Fuelman still offers some good features despite its low rating. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why you should choose a Fuelman fleet card:
If you fill up at one of the 40,000+ locations in Fuelman’s Discount Network, you can save between 5 to 8 cents per gallon, depending on whether you use unleaded fuel or Diesel.
In addition, Fuelman fleet cards also enable you to set up purchase controls to lower your overall fleet management costs. Fuelman helps you limit the excesses of your drivers by providing some of the most vital purchasing controls on the market. You can easily restrict where, when, and how much your team can spend with a Fuelman fleet card!
Fuel costs are so high that it is easy to burn through them quickly, which complicates budgeting for fuel costs. It’s even harder to stay within budget when drivers skim off the top or cook the books.
With Fuelman fleet cards, you can prevent driver theft and fraud by requiring your staff to enter their Driver’s Identification Number. Furthermore, Fuelman will send you an email or text alert at the first sign of suspicious activity, letting you know if any unauthorized activity occurs.
With Fuelman, you aren’t limited to a single type of fleet card. You can choose from various fleet cards to suit your unique business needs. Whether you need a mixed fuel card or a card for small fleets, Fuelman has a card to suit your needs.
However, the cards are still limited to the Fuelman network and come with monthly fees.
Fuelman also helps you save money by collecting the data you need to manage your fuel spending. In addition to streamlining your back-office processes, the mobile app makes keeping track of transactions a breeze, cutting out the administration of fuel spend analysis.
You’ll get everything all in one place, all digitized and ready to be interpreted, no more fumbling around with cash or worrying about lost receipts. However, it should be mentioned that the app does feel very dated by modern standards.
While Fuelman boasts good coverage and a wide selection of fleet cards, it suffers from an outdated mobile app concerning customer reviews and a transparency issue regarding their fees. Which begs the question, who should go for a Fuelman Fleet card?
Fuelman Fleet’s card will suit your business if you fit one of the following criteria:
You can go to Fuelman’s Site Locator to learn what services are available in your area. The tool also allows you to plan your trip by filtering stations by fuel type, state, facilities, and driver comforts.
Fuelman fleet cards offer various benefits and options, with excellent spending controls, purchasing flexibility, and reporting tools thanks to their app. However, the lack of transparency regarding all of their fees and considerably negative customer reviews make it difficult to recommend this option thoroughly. If you are interested in what they offer, inquire about all their fees as much as possible.
