Fleet Sustainability Made Easier With FLEETCOR®

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This month FLEETCOR introduced an updated version of their industry leading Fuelman® and Comdata® payment card systems that are designed specifically to improve fleet sustainability and meet the changing needs of fleet managers in a battery-electric future.

In the past, the Fuelman and Comdata payment card systems helped businesses track and control fuel expenses with customizable controls and real-time alerts and reporting. The payment cards could also be pre-approved for certain types of expenses and limits, similar to a per diem amount for meals at approved restaurants or rooms at certain hotel chains, so those purchases could be made and tracked without the need to collect, record, and file receipts. This new version of the Fuelman card keeps all that great functionality, but adds new features that are critical to managing a fleet of EVs.

“As businesses increasingly look to adopt electric vehicles, the fueling landscape becomes more complex, which in turn makes fleet management more difficult,” said Alexey Gavrilenya, Group President of North America Fuel at FLEETCOR. “We are at the forefront of the energy transition by providing an enhanced, comprehensive management and payment platform to help customers efficiently manage fleets with any fuel mix.”

That last bit, about “any fuel mix,” isn’t just talk – Fuelman and Comdata could track gas, diesel, and CNG, of course, and now it tracks electric fuel. Crucially, it can distinguish between electric fuel from public chargers and home chargers.

Driven by a need for businesses to reimburse employees who charge their company EV at home, FLEETCOR is partnering with Motorq, a connected-car data and analytics company, to capture charge event data directly from electric vehicles. The new platform tracks every charging event, at every charger type and location, and calculates costs and manages expense reimbursement for company vehicles charged at employee’s homes. Even better, the system does it all automatically, without the need for accountants or bookkeepers. 

Image courtesy FLEETCOR

REDUCE HASSLE, SAVE MONEY

Recently, CleanTechnica had a chance to sit down with Keagan Russo, President, Fuelman & North America Local Fleet, to talk about Fuelman and how FLEETCOR is evolving the product to keep pace with the current trends of electrification and reduced carbon emissions. The irony of an EV fleet management solution going by the name, “Fuelman” is not lost on Russo.

“It’s wild to think of a product that was really born in Louisiana in 1985, and that’s called ‘Fuelman,’ leading the way when it comes to greening up a fleet,” he says, with a smile. 

Russo knows this industry and understands the needs of his customers perfectly. He’s also made a career out of solving their problems. “The Fuelman payment card controls spending, eliminates reimbursement hassles, and automates record keeping and reporting,” he explains. “Our customers love it because their employees can only use the card at pre-approved locations and on pre-approved product types, so there’s never a question of whether or not a purchase was OK or not OK later. The card already ‘knows’.”

Automating that process can save a company a lot of time and serious money. “We have this on our website, but businesses make $170 trillion in payments every year,” explains Russo. “Most of the time fleets use outdated and inefficient methods, collecting receipts, stapling them all together, submitting them to a bookkeeper to verify the purchase, double-checking the amounts requested — we get rid of all of that with our payment card.”

REDUCE CARBON, SAVE THE PLANET

For businesses that want to reduce their carbon footprints even further, Fuelman offers the Fuelman Clean Advantage. “The Clean Advantage payment card is the easiest way for any fleet to ‘go green’,” Russo explains. “And I don’t mean ‘go green’ when they buy their electric trucks this summer or next summer, but now. Like, right now. You can get FLEETCOR for your business, get this payment card, and start neutralizing your fleet’s tailpipe emissions through certified carbon offset projects today.”

Image courtesy FLEETCOR

For every $0.05 per gallon of fuel purchased using the card, Fuelman Clean Advantage invests in carbon offset programs meant to neutralize the climate effects of harmful carbon emissions – programs that are independently audited by Ernst & Young. “It’s not just $0.05 that doesn’t go anywhere or do anything,” Russo adds, reiterating the FLEETCOR mantra that managed spending cards can help reduce company spending by as much as 15% while reducing bookkeeping and reporting headaches significantly. Then he said something that really made us pause: “we’re trying to make the right thing to do, the easy thing to do.”

Well said, Keagan. We’re glad you guys are here.

 


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