Join Coast and Fleetio for a live event October 17 on how to make better data-driven decisions for your fleet.Register
place-hero

12 Ways Fleets Can Save Money With the Coast Fuel Card

Looking for ways to reduce your fleet’s total cost of ownership? The best way to do that is to start by reducing your fuel consumption and your fuel cost. Fuel is the one of the largest ongoing costs for fleets today.

1. Ensure That Drivers are Filling Up With Gas and Nothing Else

Corporate credit card misuse is unfortunately common and can account for 3-5% of total fuel cost, which for many companies is hundreds of dollars per month.  Sometimes drivers make unnecessary purchases, like soda or tobacco, with the company card. Not only is this probably against your employee guidelines—it also hurts your bottom line.

Be sure your fuel card company puts you in control of spending. Coast’s easy-to-use dashboard puts you in control of all card permissions, allowing you to set the rules tailored to your business, quickly issue, assign, and reassign cards, and authorize payments with just a few clicks.

2. Fill Up at the Least Expensive Station

Most major fuel cards require you to purchase at in-network gas stations. Not only does this cause your drivers to waste time trying to find a station in their network, it also may cause them to spend more at the pump. That $0.05 to $0.30 difference in price at different stations can really add up!

Coast’s open-network fuel card can be used anywhere Visa is accepted. That means your drivers can pick the station with the cheapest fuel.

3. Get a 2 Cent Rebate at Any Gas Station

Most of the rebates large fuel card companies offer can only be unlocked by high fuel consumption or end after a short promotional period. Instead of choosing a fuel card with confusing rebate structures that you’ll rarely receive, partnering with a fuel card company that provides a flat  rebate on every gallon can help you save money, no matter the size of your fleet. 

Coast is focused on small-to-medium fleets, and we want to make sure you feel our gratitude. We offer $0.02 off per gallon at any gas station.

4. Save on Card Fees

Some major fuel card companies have hidden fees, providing unwelcome surprises on your invoice. These fees may include:

  • Usage and transaction fees
  • Per gallon fees
  • High credit risk fees
  • Processing fees
  • Out-of-network fees

Excessive late fees are some of the most common. Many major fuel card companies have payment cycles as short as 7 days. If you aren’t actively managing your fuel payments , you can rack up quite a few fees.

Fortunately, Coast’s fleet fuel card is working to change this lack of transparency in the industry. We charge $2 a month per active user. That’s it. This fee gets you access to the Coast card, our fuel expense management software, and our rewards program.

5. Leverage Our Rewards Program

A fleet fuel card with a great rewards program doesn’t just help you save money on fuel—you can also save money on other top fleet expenses, like maintenance and software.

Just like our rebates, any fleet can take advantage of our rewards. We’ve partnered with some of the top vehicle maintenance companies and fleet software solutions to help you save money. 

Get perks like 8% at Discount Tire, 10% of every oil change at Jiffy Lube and more.

Our previous vendor was charging us $1600 every month in fuel card fees. After we moved over to Coast, those fees weren’t there anymore.
Christian C, CAM Energy

6. Maximize Vehicle Efficiency

Keeping your vehicles in prime condition is essential to avoiding downtime or major repair costs. Coast’s fleet fuel card is the perfect tool for managing your fuel, but it’s also great for improving your overall vehicle efficiency. 

Not only can you track mileage in our robust dashboard to determine when your vehicles need routine maintenance like oil changes and tire rotations, but our rewards program also helps you save money on maintenance with some of the top maintenance providers in the industry.

7. Save Time on Assigning and Reassigning Cards

You know what they say, “Time is money.” Fleet managers are extremely busy, and taking time out of your day to deal with menial tasks wastes time and keeps you from focusing on actively managing your fleet.

Instead of having to assign or reassign cards to specific drivers or vehicles, Coast’s fleet cards are simply tied to your company. Anyone on your team can use any card. You can still track which drivers filled up which vehicles—this just streamlines the process and gives you back valuable time in your workday.

8. Avoid Time-Consuming Tasks

Speaking of saving time, Coast allows you to save even more time and frustration by streamlining processes for both you and your drivers.

Instead of manually checking odometers in each of your vehicles, you can get accurate odometer reports in your dashboard when drivers fuel up. Drivers also don’t have to keep up with receipts. Everything is tied to the card and automatically shows up in your dashboard. No more number crunching or tracking down lost receipts!

9. Get $100 Just by Opening an Account

Coast lets you start saving instantly. You’ll see your sign-up bonus appear on your statement after you complete your first $1,000 in purchases in your first 3 months, as a thank you for partnering with us.

10. Monitor and Improve Driver Behavior

Bad driving behaviors like harsh braking or speeding, or leaving engines idling at a job can result in both poor fuel consumption and poor vehicle performance over time. These behaviors eventually cause a negative impact to your bottom line.

Coast’s fuel expense management dashboard allows you to track and analyze MPG and fuel consumption over time, allowing you a granular view of consumption trends for different vehicles in your fleet. Fleet managers can identify these issues and bring them up with their drivers to discuss better driving habits.

11. Save on Replacement Card Fees

While some fuel card companies charge hefty replacement fees, our team understands that these things happen. 

Coast offers free card replacement — but you don’t have to wait to get a new card in the mail to get your driver back on the road. Because our cards are printed with your company’s name and a unique Card ID instead of being issued to specific drivers or vehicles, you can always have a few spare cards on hand so that you can easily provide your driver with a new card when the need arises.

12. Prevent Fraud When Cards are Lost or Stolen

Lost or stolen cards always cause stress, but you can relax a little more with Coast. 

Not only can you lock a card in just one click, but your expense management software will alert you to suspicious transactions, allowing you to freeze a card or pre-authorize the next purchase attempt to further track activity.