You'll be surprised at how many companies are still not taking advantage of the petrol card to enable their mobile workforce to fill up with petrol or diesel. It’s possible they are aware of the existence of the fuel card, but with so many fuel card options, they are overwhelmed with the choice. Another possibility which is very common is they simply fear the change from their current system to a new one.

The common system of staff paying for their petrol in advance, and submitting the fuel receipts in order to be reimbursed in their pay cheque at the end of the month seems to work well, so why change it?

The simple answer is it’s costly and messy. Usually a member of staff will have top spend time checking all the fuel receipts and adding up the totals for each employee and a total fuel expenditure for the company. Fuel receipts are sometimes lost, leaving either the employee out of pocket or the employer paying for fuel with no proof of purchase.

What also goes overlooked is the fact that utilising a ‘fixed rate’ petrol card as a means of paying for fuel is often cheaper than pump prices, saving up to 4-5p per litre. This, coupled with relieving an employee of the task of sorting all the receipts and costs could save a considerable amount on overall expenditure.

Some petrol cards are limited to certain petrol stations such as Esso or Shell only, whereas others allow a variety of petrol stations and some supermarkets to be used, adding greater flexibility and convenience to its user.

Other petrol cards are aimed at HGV or LGV fleets, allowing only diesel to be purchased and with a minimum monthly spend. These are ideal for freight or logistic companies with large fleets of wagons and cover many miles every month, however for smaller companies who may not always use the minimum monthly spend, other fuels cards are available.

Whichever petrol card you choose to adopt for your mobile work force, you will more than likely be pleasantly surprised at how easy they are for your drivers to use and no doubt your mobile work force will find using the card more convenient than their own cash. This, coupled with the savings they can offer in both reduced fuel prices and saving administrative staff time, freeing them up to do other tasks. You'll be happy you opted to use petrol cards.