Simple tips to save money on Petrol and Diesel costs

Hopefully, you’ll have recognised by now that whilst we are a fuel card provider we are always encouraging drivers to save as much money as they can in as many ways as possible. At Forecourt Fuels we recognise that the cost of fuel has hit many businesses hard in an economic recession. Whilst our business is growing many people are looking to save money to survive.

Here we have another two tips to save fuel costs:

1. Unusually, we recommend that you don’t fill your vehicle right up with fuel each time. Fuel is
    heavy so having a full tank of fuel feels good but the reality is that you are around 4% less
    efficient with a full tank of fuel.

2. Remember that having your foot hard on the accelerator doesn’t always mean the car is
    travelling faster. It may be that a heavy right foot can be delivering unrequired fuel, so ease
    back on the pedal a little.

Fuel Consumption

We all know in reality, that driving more sensibly will improve the fuel consumption of the vehicle. Driving at a constant speed with fewer gear changes makes motorways the most fuel efficient place to drive. It is estimated that with actual driving changes you could save up to 10% on fuel costs alone.

In addition, the following two suggestions will save around 10%

1. Turn off the air conditioning unless you really need it. Air conditioning uses as much as 8% more
    fuel, although having a single window open can also increase fuel consumption by around 3%

2. Taking the roof rack off a car when not needed will decrease overall fuel consumption by around
    2%

Savings on Fuel Costs

It's actually possible to cut your annual petrol or diesel cost by up to a third, saving potentially hundreds of pounds a year, just by making a few driving changes. The highest proportion of the actual cost of fuel goes in tax as a deliberate result of successive government’s environmental and anti-congestion policies. Saving money on fuel is not just about finding the cheapest forecourt price; we can do that for you. We mean saving even more money by driving your car in a more efficient way.
The first two tips may be fairly basic by design, but simply work:

1. Keeping your tyres correctly inflated will not only help with the overall safety of your journey but will also increase your miles per gallon fuel consumption by up to 3%

2. Having the boot full of junk will increase your fuel consumption by around 3%. Just have a look at what you genuinely need and you’ll be saving collectively 6% by just inflating your tyres to the correct pressure and emptying the boot.

Fuel Tax in the UK

Fuel tax in the UK has constantly changed over the last decade and has risen steadily over the last 15 years. From 1993 to 1999 there was a rapid increase with duties on fuel consistently increasing by above annualised rate of inflation. This was as a result of a major change in petrol taxation in 1993 when the government of the time introduced the Fuel Price 'escalator'. This was legitimised as a way of the government helping to protect the environment by discouraging people from using their cars. Naturally, it produced a new source of revenue for the government in the process.
The fuel escalator forced prices to rise from one of the lowest in Europe to now, certainly one of the most expensive. When it was first introduced fuel prices rose by 3 pence a litre and tax contributed to 72.8% of the total cost. By 1997, just four years, the escalator had added 11.1p to the cost of unleaded petrol and was at 75%.

What is a Fuel Card?

A fuel card is similar in principle to a credit card, except its entire expenditure is transport related. Fuel cards have other characteristics that make them invaluable for managing company fuel costs. In days gone by, fuel stations would have an arrangement with a company and would write down a customer’s name and company information and then invoice the company at the end of each month. These were normally referred to as petrol accounts and most companies operated them at a very local level with their local petrol station.

As business developed and transport became essential the use of fuel cards for companies became the norm. Monthly sales meetings attended by employees armed with envelopes stuffed with receipts to be reclaimed, became less fraught. Now a fuel card can be used to purchase fuel and agreed items in the same way as a credit card would be used by an individual motorist. With over 4000 petrol filling stations available throughout the UK having a fuel card for business use is now the easiest and safest way of paying for fuel.

How To Save Money On Fleet Fuel Expenses

If you own a business where you have high fuel expenditure or if you manage a vehicle fleet, you will be painfully aware that increases in fuel costs are a regular feature these days. Unless you are already constantly reviewing your fleet and fuel costs to ensure that you are getting the most from your expenditure, we are here to help you.

At Forecourt Fuels we understand the need to balance the savings in fuel costs against the need for a full range of petrol stations in all the areas that you cover geographically.

A single call to one of our friendly front line staff and we can tell you just how much you could be saving and without any set up costs or monthly management charges, you can have a fuel card for all of your vehicles within a week.

Fuel Cards and Security

Fuel costs are a pressing issue for businesses; fuel consumption is likely to be a major concern and possibly your main business expense. With fuel prices consistently high and always changing, fleet managers have found it necessary to use alternative methods that will help conserve fuel costs.

A fuel card can save you money, but most businesses don’t realise how much more they have to offer. It is estimated that up to 40% of a fleet manager's time is spent purely on managing the reporting of fuel costs and variances. At Fuel Card Solutions, we provide a vehicle and driver specific report on a monthly basis enabling you to see any abusive usage and even an indication of potential poor drivers at an early stage.

A fuel card’s primary security is to protect the company from fraudulent use. It achieves this by making the cards both driver and vehicle specific so that only purchases made by the driver nominated can be authorised.

Fuel Cards as a way to save money on company vehicles

It seems that almost every day, fuel prices go up! I drive the same route to work each day and go past the same filling stations. There are times when the actual price hike takes your breath away. Imagine what it’s like if you are multiplying that price increase by a hundred or two hundred vehicles? We’re still in a recession, every penny counts and we at Forecourt Fuels have some of the answers you are looking for.

If you need a fuel card that will save you 3p per litre week in, week out, provide you with a full set of usage reports, provide you with up to 30 days credit and not cost you a penny to set up or administrate then why not give us a call?

Best Fuel Card Comparison

If you are looking after a fleet of vehicles of any size, you need a custom fuel management program which allows you to control expenses, monitor drivers and generally, simplify your operations.

Once you have decided that you need to use a  fuel card, you must ensure that you take a good look at your business and identify your exact needs before finding a fuel card business that can meet your precise requirements.

The savings available from fuel card usage are probably in the region of 3p per litre. The savings in time, administration and practicality are huge. We provide you with a fully itemised report every month on the usage of each and every card. This helps to analyse each vehicle as a separate cost centre and has been known to identify drivers whose driving style is abusive.

Best Fuel Card Supplier

Once we have determined your fuel management needs, you can find out which fuel card companies can fulfil all of your requirements. We have a long list of fuel card providers, most have programs that will allow fleet managers to purchase fuel at favourable rates. In general, they  will allow you to manage your fuel purchases and monitor driver efficiency. What we do on your behalf is to whittle them down to a few  fuel card providers that provide the extent of filling stations that your drivers need.

As is normally the case, it’s rare for one fuel card to be the best for all businesses and where we believe that we provide the best fuel card service on the market, is by refining the many choices into a tailored match for your business.

If you would like us to find out which fuel card is best for your business, please give us a call and we’ll spend just a few minutes making suggestions that will reduce your fuel costs considerably.

Fuel Cards How Do They Work

In its simplest form, a fuel card is very similar to a credit card. Each fuel card has a wide network of petrol/diesel filling stations where it can be used, right across the UK and Europe should you so wish. When you open an account with Fuel Card Solutions, we ensure that you have the widest selection of petrol/diesel filling stations available for your fleet.

The fuel cards will then be issued to the individual driver or specific vehicle and are available to use immediately. The savings on fuel costs normally equate to around 3p a litre, but some of the real savings are to be found in the reduced administration and reduced fraudulent usage. All your driver has to do is to present the fuel card at a petrol station and the charges will be automatically directed to Forecourt Fuels who will in turn invoice you for all expenditure on the card on a monthly basis. The invoiced amount is then collected by direct debit.

Credit Card and Fuel Cards, which is best to combat fraud

Credit card companies continue each year to improve their fraud prevention measures with more and more emphasis on technology. Chip and Pin machines are forever being updated and still we hear on a regular basis of the amount of credit cards cloned at petrol stations and the months of grief that individuals go through to get their money back from their own bank!

Whilst the banks and merchant card providers promise us that their transactions are more secure than ever, this would of course be true if the actual fraudsters were not also increasing their capabilities. Thousands of motorists who buy their petrol or diesel on credit cards are still being attacked by the fraudsters and are losing millions collectively every year.

The only way to effectively protect your fuel expenditure and your bank accounts from fraudulent transactions is to get a fuel card. A Fuel Card Solutions fuel card is not a credit card, it does not operate through a credit card terminal and a combination of driver and vehicle identity make it safer to operate.

Our card limits are as high as credit cards and the ability to spend is similar but with a dedicated driver or vehicle fuel card the protection against fraud is much better.

Fuel Management Advice

Fuel management is essential in today’s economic and environmental climate; it involves minimising expenditure on fuel and the administration of fuel cards for all of your company vehicles. We achieve this by ensuring that you pay the lowest possible price and making the greatest number of petrol/diesel filling stations available to your drivers. No more driving miles to find a fuel station that takes your fuel card. Thereby minimising fuel consumption as well as only paying for fuel used for correctly authorised purposes.

We do also provide what we believe is helpful advice to all drivers to conserve the amount of fuel used. Where this advice is fully taken, we have seen as much as a ten per cent decrease in the amount of fuel used by a company. When you add this to a saving of around 3p per litre on fuel you can see that the effect of having access to a fully administrated fuel card does help protect the environment as well as helping businesses to keep their transport costs as low as possible.

Fleet Managers and Fuel Card Savings

Fleet managers are facing an ever increasing role in controlling company petrol and diesel costs as fuel prices increase. The spiralling cost of fuel at the pumps and the rapid price changes means that fleet managers face a front-line and increasingly difficult task in all companies.

Every day we speak with fleet managers who are constantly under pressure to cut costs on transport. If you are a fleet manager and you’d like someone to help take some of the stress out of cost saving on fuel, we’d like to help. All we need is one call to assess your needs and give you a comparative quote. Our fuel cards are free, that means no set up costs, no monthly administration fee, no renewal cost, just a free fuel card that will save you money every time it’s used. We will send you a full breakdown of all of the fuel card expenditure, broken down by individual vehicle or driver. We’ll even alert you to unusual buying trends to reduce potential card abuse.

If you’re too busy to call us, why not drop us a quick email and we’ll show you what we can do to help.

Petrol Prices and Fuel Card Benefits

Most major hauliers will have fuel cards that they use for their entire fleet. It may be that some of the actual filling stations provided by the card are quite sparse in certain areas of the country and result in ‘emergency’ refuelling by drivers as a result. Fuel Cards reduce the error levels associated with reclaiming fuel expenses by drivers, insufficient coverage of filling stations has the same effect where a driver faces either running out of fuel or the driver puts his own hand in his pocket.

By establishing exactly what you need at the outset, we can make sure that you have the required location of filling stations for all your driver’s journeys as well as the huge savings on actual fuel costs. Our haulier fuel card is specifically designed to provide free administration of fuel cards for hauliers as well as incredibly low pump prices.

If your customers are still squeezing last years delivery rates out of you regardless of the hike in petrol and diesel prices, it may be time to speak to Forecourt Fuels, we’ve still got last year’s head on too!

The Benefits of Using Fuel Cards

The main benefit across all fuel cards is the administrative advantage that they offer. Some fuel cards give a fixed weekly rate for fuel, which will normally save companies around 3 pence per litre. If you just stop for a moment and try and work out how many litres are being spent each month on fuel you’ll see that even with a relatively small fleet of vehicles that you could save a significant sum.

Where we might be more helpful is in spending a few minutes on the phone comparing your current expenditure on diesel and petrol and then estimating the savings over a month, quarter and year. At Forecourt Fuels we have a range of fuel cards that provide very real cost savings on fuel. It may be that the area of the UK that you cover is better serviced by particular filling stations over others, so we always try and find the best combination for you. All you need to do is give us a call or drop us an email and we’ll do the rest.