The average cost for a gallon of diesel last week was $5.15, according to the Samsara Fuel Spend Index, a new analysis tool that tracks fuel spend of Samsara's commercial customers that was launched earlier this month amidst prices unseen since 2022. According to the index, that was down from the prior week, in line with the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which reported cost per gallon at $5.40 for the week of April 20.
Financial technology providers are throwing carriers a life raft to help ease the financial strain and ride the waves of uncertainty as the ongoing geopolitical conflict drives volatility in diesel costs.
C.H. Robinson, for example, is offering free discount fuel cards and free cash advances for fuel for its network of contract carriers. The card unlocks discounts on fuel at thousands of truck stops across the U.S., saving users up to $385 in one trip to the pump.
Super Dispatch, which provides technology for the auto transport industry, recently rolled out a new fuel card, offering carriers access to credit and exclusive fuel discounts of up to $2 per gallon. Super Dispatch CEO Matt Bradley said one customer using the new SuperCard reported purchasing 115 gallons of diesel with a 75-cent discount that ultimately totaled $83 in savings during one fill up a couple weeks ago.
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“We would have launched it whether the conflict had happened or not,” Bradley said. “We are accelerating it because of what's happening real time in the market.”
Super Dispatch also rolled out its new industry fuel impact report called Fuel and Transport Cost Tracker at the start of April in response to the sudden inflation of diesel prices.
Tim Hampton, senior vice president and general manager of Fleet at WEX, said the WEX app and fuel card activity jumped significantly since the conflict ensued in the Middle East. Fleet One EDGE, WEX’s fuel card for fleets with under 50 trucks, approved 78% more applications in March compared to the month prior.
In the same month, 10-4 by WEX, an app that provides fuel discounts for owner operators and small fleets, was used over four times more than in February with an increase of 317% in new signups.
“Small fleets and independent owner operators are desperate for fuel discounts,” Hampton said. “With diesel prices over $5.50 a gallon, it's essential for small fleets because their existence is being absolutely threatened because of the rising fuel costs.”
Fuel discounts may be top of mind for fleets trying to mitigate the impact of rising prices on their bottom lines, but fuel cards offer greater opportunities for cost savings with fuel management.
Element of control
Fuel cards have long moved beyond simply having a dedicated card for fuel and sometimes ancillary purchases. As technology has progressed, they have become essential for operations, providing data and insights … and control.
“The most important thing is to control and to give data and then, in our certain instances, offer fuel discounts,” Hampton said.
WEX OTR cards give fleets the ability to buy diesel fuel at 15,000 fueling stations across the U.S., but fleets have full control over everything about each transaction: where the driver stops, when they can buy it, how much they can spend, what products they can purchase and quantity, etc.
Hampton said some WEX customers use other technology to choose specific fueling locations and dictate to WEX where to allow the card to work. For example, a fleet may use a fuel optimizer to dictate where a fuel card can work.
“This truck can stop at this truck stop between 12 and 4:00 and buy 84 gallons, and we will put controls on that card to where that's the only way that card will work,” Hampton said. “That's the level of control that some fleets have to try to completely minimize fuel cost.”
Similarly, at digital payments provider Relay Payments, fleets can set “policies,” restricting how much a driver can spend on a time-based limit, and they can configure their “networks,” making only certain fueling locations visible to the driver.
Relay Payments CEO Ryan Droege said it gets to a granular level.
“If you're not my primary fuel provider, and I may not have the best net price at some of those locations, I will use a combination of what we call policies to say that, at certain locations, you can only fill up to a smaller amount, and I would really prefer you go to some of those other ones where I have better economics,” Droege said.
Mapping discounts
Relay, Super Dispatch and WEX each provide visibility into fuel discounts based on a driver’s route. Drivers can input their origin and destination, and the providers’ apps show available discounts at fueling stations along the way – whether that’s discounts offered through the fuel card provider or discounts the carrier has negotiated themselves.
WEX’s closed-loop network enables its fleet customers to control everything about a transaction, but the provider’s relatively new 10-4 mobile app works for open-loop cards like MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover. The provider designed the app for smaller fleets and owner operators who lack the critical mass needed to negotiate discounts directly with fuel vendors. Those drivers can input their personal credit card information and use the app to pay at the pump with a WEX discount of 46 cents per gallon on average.
WEX has expanded its mapping to Trucker Path, an app that offers a free load board and truck stop locator.
Trucker Path promotes WEX’s reduced fuel pricing within its mapping to its millions of users, and when one wants to take advantage of those discounts, they touch a button that deep links to the 10-4 app, allowing them to transact from there directly.
These mapping functions are essential, along with fleets’ ability to control within providers’ apps where their drivers can fuel, Droege said.
“If I go out and negotiate a discount – whether it's through Relay, direct or some other network – and you get really good discounts at a certain location, if your driver doesn't really know that, and they're not able to make that purchasing decision while they're out on the road, then it doesn't matter,” he said.
These providers’ platforms give carriers the ability to steer drivers to different locations based on their best economics, he said.
But it expands beyond the providers.
Fleet management and safety platform Fleetworthy also offers a tool for fleets using fuel cards. Fleets can create their own custom alerts within the Fleetworthy Safety Plus offering that notifies drivers whether to stop as they approach a fueling station, configured based on their specific discounted locations.
“Fuel is typically the No. 2 expense for a trucking company. Now, over the last two months, it’s the No. 1 expense for a trucking company,” Hampton said. “That's why having a fuel card is an absolute necessity, but in my opinion, having a closed-loop fuel card with that high level of control and the ability to capture whatever data you need to index back to your business is essential.”
