There's little to choose between the Texaco fuel card and the Euro shell card. Both are aimed at making fuel transactions and purchasing easier and more cost effective for fleet and mobile workforce managers and both the Texaco and Shell fuel card offer diesel at a weekly fixed wholesale related price. i.e. prices can change week by week, but are fixed within each 7 day period. One notable difference between the two fuel cards is the petrol prices. Texaco cards charge petrol at the displayed pump price, whereas the Euro shell card charges petrol at the Platts related pump price.

As with diesel prices, petrol purchased using the Shell fuel card is charged often at a lower rate than the displayed pump prices, which can mean significant savings on fuel costs for a non-diesel mobile workforce. Prices can be emailed prior to drawing fuel so depending on current fuel prices, you can advise your drivers whether it's best to fill up the tank, if prices are favourable, or to use fuel more sparingly when prices are higher.

The Texaco fuel card can be used at around 1500 nationwide sites in the United Kingdom, with Shell offering around 2000 nationwide sites. However wholesale rates for diesel is only available at 400 of these 2000 sites. Detailed invoices are available with both cards and can be accessed online, twenty four hours a day, every day of the year using secure access so your data is not available to all and sundry. Shell also offer miles per gallon (MPG) reports, and bespoke reports of fuel expenditure and usage on request.

Fuel cards are far more secure than having your drivers using cash for fuel purchasing. All transactions using the fuel cards are restricted to diesel, petrol and lubricant purchases, which not only gives tighter control over driver spending and reduces the risk of fuel fraud as each card is either 'tied' to the driver, or the vehicle. This means that in the unlikely event a fuel card is lost or stolen, the card cannot be used unless the vehicle's registration number tallies with that stated on the fuel card, or the user cannot produce ID which tallies with the name on the fuel card.

Both the Texaco and the Euro shell card offer significant advantages over cash purchasing and offering fortnightly credit can certainly help many companies budget their fuel expenditure more efficiently. On the surface, the Shell fuel card appears to be a good choice for largely petrol fleets due to the petrol being charge at Platts related prices as opposed to pump prices, whereas the Texaco fuel card seems to be more suited to diesel fleets. Discussing the finer points of each with a fuel card provider will help you decide which is the best choice for your fleet and your budget.