Fuel Cards? What do you guys think about them?

Fuel card #1 is safer than paying with cash or a credit card considering you can set it up with codes to unlock the fuel pump. It makes fuel tax filing very easy as it adds up fuel per state and a myriad of other data. Average price per state, some even give a list of fuel stops and prices.

I use efs. I prepay just like paying an online bill. I have an account I can login to and I get a daily email with fuel prices and discounts attached. I get .045 at ta/petro/loves. Flat .10 at Pilot flying j. Better floating discounts at sapp or kwik trip, sometimes as high as .40 per gallon. It is accepted pretty much everywhere. I don't much care for the major chains so it works well for me. Preparing for fuel works for me because I never fall behind like I could with a credit card. Credit card will never get you a discount below cash price.

I burn about 20,000 gallons per year and even if the average is .15 per gallon that's 3,000$. It is a wise way to buy fuel. The popular choice around this forum is NASTC fuel card they offer cost + fuel pricing at all ta and petro locations. It comes with strings. You must buy 80% from ta/p, you need to go to a seminar in Tennessee to be eligible for the card. They can boot you out if you buy too much out of network. $250/year account fee. Probably save some more than I do on fuel but the added strings cramp my style.

 

We just got signed up with NASTC. Been using the card for about a month. I like being able to turn on the card at the pump instead of guessing how much fuel you need so they can run it ahead of time.

 

Pretty easy. Let's say you come to the TA in Morris, IL. The pump price is $2.60. You check Nastc fuel prices and it shows $2.30. Pump 150 gallons and you save $45, next day you get a receipt, which looks like this, showing you how much you saved compare to the pump price

 

Yes the receipt I get at the store, if I even get one, I just wad up and toss. Then when I get home I print mine off. Between that and a toll pass i carry no receipts unless I have to buy a part somewhere. Food and other incidentals are cash.

I never heard of having to buy 80% of fuel at ta/petro to keep nastc @gokiddogo . I stay in the network but only buy like 50 gal a week from a petro just to get a shower and get me back to the small places I like to go.

 

Maybe they changed it. I looked into nastc a few years ago and that's what they told me.

 

Nastc for me the savings are worth it. I run fairly local rarely would I need fuel and not have a network stop near. If I had to fuel out of the network it probably would be a small amount and cash.
If you have interest in the Nastc card shoot them an email they will give you any information you want.
I just finished up the books for last year. I joined Nastc the first of March 2016. My price per gallon for the year was $2.43, this year is $2.40. Ohio Kentucky Indiana and Michigan.

 

Any good one for Canadian carriers?

 

EFS website says this:
The Fleet One EDGE advantage:

• Largest nationwide fuel discount network at over 3,600 sites – average savings of 12 cents per gallon1
• No fuel transaction fees in network2
• Universal acceptance at over 8,000 truck stops nationwide
• Nationwide discounts on major tire brands – save an average of $40 per tire
• Thousands of additional savings on wireless, equipment, maintenance, parts, breakdown, hotels, and more
• Credit to fund your operations and financing solutions to help you grow

12 cents average per gallon
I can get that by sticking with smaller fuel stops with 3-4 pumps. Pay with creadit card that gives me .02 on every dollar. That's another .06 at $3 a gallon.
I was just in Stoney Ridge OH, pilot, TA, petro $3.30. I bought at the fuelmart for $3.12 and get another 6 cents with my credit card. Grand total $3.06

Where is the savings?

I'm still looking into the Nastc, But it's a long way to Tenn from here.

 

I use EFS card. The major benefit for me (as a Canadian) is the savings up here. It works out to about the same .40 or so per gallon you often save. And the network is now Esso and Husky combined so it's all the same. I prefer Husky up here over FJ (only other national chain). FJ does not want to give anything worth mentioning for a discount and they are also very high to start with on the fuel price.

In USA it gives me .10 off p/j and ta/p and .045 at Loves. I don't buy much from any of the big chains. The real savings on EFS is through the smaller chains, I use Kwik Trip and Sapp bros the most. They have a lot of deals with many of the AMBest stops where you see good discounts also. The swipe fee is $1 and that's it for fees. $1 even if you get truck and reefer and def it's all the same they only hit you once. I do pretty good buying fuel on the IN and OH toll roads as well. For me and the routes I run, it works well. I do not run much of the south or south east or far north east.