We deal with thousands of fleet fuel transactions every day. Some fuel card companies are better than others when it comes to customer service, offering discounts, speed of acceptance and providing information. We see it all the time as we analyze fuel transactions for our clients. I'm sure you're all well aware of the transaction fees associated with using fuel cards. But what about the fees you pay when you use credit cards, instead of cash or a fuel card?

This issue pops up a lot more than most of you might think. If your company is not using fleet fuel cards, but instead opted to use traditional credit cards such as AMEX, Visa, MasterCard, or Voyager, you're probably paying more than that posted price at your favorite truck stop. The sign out front is ONLY for cash customers. The credit card price can be 5 to 20 cents more per gallon.

Your driver probably doesn't even know it because they only see what the big numbers posted out front and thinks that's the day's price per gallon. And the fleet fuel manager is normally only looking at the invoice for things like, what time the driver fueled or did the truck take the proper amount of gallons when compared to the distance travelled. It's not often the fuel manager has the time to check diesel fuel prices.

During a fuel analysis, if you were comparing posted diesel fuel prices to the price you paid, you'd probably see that you were overpaying with that credit card you were using as a fleet card. Most truck stops also charge a transactional fee for using fleet fuel cards. This charge is a pass through from the truck stop operator back to you from your fleet fuel card provider. Paying a couple of dollars or less on a transaction isn't terrible if you're buying 100 gallons of diesel. Now think about what it would cost you if you were using an AMEX card and you were paying 20 cents more per gallon. That fuel transaction just cost you $20. Yes, Mr. CEO or President getting points on that credit card - but have you doe the math on those points you're getting. If you have 10 trucks being charged $20 per fueling, those points are costing you $1,000 a week. Let's say diesel fuel prices are $3.00 and they rebate you 1%. That 1% works out to 3 cents…leaving you 17 cents in the hole.

It's not just at truck stops either. I found myself in New Jersey for the 4th of July weekend. Living in Pennsylvania, where we pay a lot more in gas taxes than they do in New Jersey, fuel appeared to be priced significantly lower than in my home state. However, things aren't always as they appear. The sign at this retail location, which I won't mention but will also not visit again, read $2.449. I pulled in and in New Jersey all stations are full service. Well, not really full service -- they just pump the fuel, no windshield wiping or any other service. After the attendant finished pumping the gas, I gave them my fuel card, which is a fuel card at truck stops and a MasterCard otherwise. To my surprise, the receipt the attendant handed me read $2.609 a gallon. Before he could walk away I said, “The sign says $2.449 a gallon.” “That's the cash price,” he informed me. I continued to plead my case, “It's not posted anywhere that the credit price is different than the posted price.” “Sorry and have a good day,” he mumbled as he walked away, ending the discussion. My car took only 10 gallons that day so, in effect, they only took me for a cup of coffee. The moral of the story is this -- if you're not watching every penny you spend on fuel, I can assure you you're paying way too much.