After writing the first in the series of ‘Misconceptions of the fuel card‘ my head started to spin as the list of things to write about grew. Today’s topic is a very important one that companies seem to just assume they know when applying for a fuel card. You should always be aware of when your bills become due and if possibilities exist to help float your money for a longer period of time. Fuel cards often do not have an A.P.R. tied to them, so every day you can let it float the better it is for your company.
When it comes to heavy trucks, or eighteen-wheelers, the payment terms tend to be a lot closer than with the universal cards around. This isn’t because the trucking industry isn’t trusted, in fact quite the opposite. The trucking industry tends to use a lot of fuel, upwards of 100 gallons per day per truck! Multiply that by the number of trucks that are running for a fleet, and the bill goes sky high in a hurry. This leads the industry to have a typical seven day billing. This means that the fleet gets billed daily, but have seven days to pay that bill.
The small business and local cards that we have to offer allow for a little more flexibility. Discounts aren’t the only benefit with our universal fuel card as we can offer bi-weekly billing terms so that you can spend more time directing your fleet and less time paying the bill. Our local program allows for two options of either paying bi-weekly or monthly. The monthly option helps smaller companies who typically have to wait on payment from their customers before they can pay the bill along with maximizing cash flow.
What are some things you look for in a fuel card when you are making the big decision?