Has Partnered With Comdata To Re-Invent Its Fuel Card To Offer Lower Fuelling Costs To Its Customers.

Oct 26, 2016 - 8 years ago

The new co-branded fuel card, PacFuel, leverages the Comdata proprietary network and is accepted at all major truck stops and service centres, plus many independent stations. “More than 5,000 fuel locations are in the network throughout the United States and Canada,” said Michelle Harry, PacLease’s director of marketing. “And by using the card, our customers will receive cash prices with deferred payments. The PacFuel card can provide better-than-cash prices through PacLease and/or customer negotiated prices.”

When the card, coded with a specific vehicle, is “swiped” at the fuelling station, a proprietary prompt on the fuel screen lets the driver enter the truck’s odometer reading and trip report number. An optional RFID tag – Smart Q – can be placed in the truck to get the prompt without having to swipe the PacFuel card. For those running reefer units, the RFID tag is placed near the refrigeration unit so that fuel can be recorded for that unit. Fuelling transactions could automatically be sent to PacLease and its fuel tax department if the customer utilizes PacTrac. This streamlines fuel tax reporting and takes away the need for customers to submit fuel receipts and mileage, which provides more accurate reporting and can help customers when facing an audit.

In addition, customers will receive Comdata's FleetAdvance solution, which allows for the management of fuel purchases. Through the web “console,” driver fuel purchases can be reviewed and rated via an easy-to-interpret dashboard. “This is an exciting tool that lets the fleet manager rate each driver against other drivers within the same company,” said Harry. “Managers can see where the drivers are purchasing fuel, and if they’re purchasing at the lowest price in the area. Each transaction is then rated and, at the end of the month, the fleet manager can see how proactive each driver is in seeking fuel with the best prices. This will allow fleet managers to work individually with drivers who could do better with their fuelling purchases.”

Comdata also offers a FleetAdvance mobile app that allows drivers to find fuel stops with the best cash prices. After drivers log into the app, which can be downloaded for free on IOS and Android, they can find fuelling locations and automatically display the company-negotiated fuel discounts. Comdata studies show that by using the app drivers are able to find fuel at a lower cost 54 percent of the time.

The PacFuel program allows PacLease customers the option to utilize the card in other areas as well. Through their Comdata admin tools, customers can enable other ancillary services they’d like to pay for through PacFuel. That could include paying for scale services, lubricants – even hotels. More than 12,000 hotels – including major chains that cater to truckers – are included, and through Comdata, PacLease can guarantee nightly discounts of at least 20 percent off of lowest published rates.