Fuel card savings calculator for trucks

How fuel card savings are calculated

The calculator works in four steps:

• Gallons a month = miles per month ÷ miles per gallon.
• Discounted gallons = gallons × the share you buy at in-network stations.
• Gross savings = discounted gallons × the discount per gallon. A percent discount is turned into dollars per gallon at the pump price you enter.
• Net savings = gross savings − card fees. Yearly is the monthly figure times 12.

The per-mile figure divides net savings by your miles, so you can compare it with your cost per mile and with what loads pay.

Worked example EXAMPLE

A truck runs 10,000 miles a month at 6.5 mpg, so it buys about 1,538 gallons. A card offers 20 cents a gallon, and the driver fills up in-network 80% of the time: about 1,231 discounted gallons, worth about $246 a month and about $2,954 a year, or roughly 2.5 cents a mile.

Add a $15 monthly fee and the savings drop by $180 a year. Fill up in-network only half the time and they fall to about $154 a month. The network share often matters more than the headline discount.

Truck fuel card discount types

• Cents per gallon off the pump price. Easy to check on your receipt.
• Cost-plus or retail-minus pricing. The network sets the price from its own cost or a posted retail price. It can beat the pump price, but compare actual receipts.
• Percent off. Worth more when diesel is expensive and less when it is cheap.
• Rebates. Paid back later, so the money arrives weeks after you buy the fuel.

Fuel card savings depend on your routes

A discount only helps at stations that honor it. A carrier running Interstate lanes past big truck stop chains can buy almost every gallon in-network. A local dump truck, a livestock hauler on rural roads or a 26 ft box truck working city routes may find fewer participating stations near the job and fill up wherever it is closest.

Before you choose a card, look at where you actually bought fuel last month and check how many of those stations are in each card's network. Set the in-network share in the calculator to match.

Diesel fuel card discount: what to check first

• How the discount is calculated, and whether it shows on the receipt or comes as a rebate.
• Monthly, per-card and out-of-network transaction fees.
• Whether it is a credit card, with a credit check and payment terms, or a prepaid or debit card.
• Fuel tax reporting: many cards produce the state-by-state gallons report you need for IFTA.
• Spending controls if you have drivers, such as limits on fuel type and amount.

Fuel card discounts for small fleets

With two or more trucks, a card does more than save money at the pump. Each driver gets a card with limits, so a tractor can't be filled with the wrong fuel or a personal pickup topped up on the company account. Reports by truck show which unit is burning more than it should, often the first sign of a maintenance problem. Run the calculator once per truck, because a regional reefer and a local flatbed in the same fleet can save very different amounts.

When a fuel card isn't worth it

If you run few miles, rarely pass in-network stations or would pay a monthly fee bigger than the discount, the net figure above will be small or negative. That is a real answer, not a calculator error. A card is also a poor deal if chasing the network adds empty miles: driving 20 miles out of route to save a few cents a gallon can cost more in fuel and hours than it saves.

Fuel savings beyond the card

A fuel card lowers the price of each gallon. Burning fewer gallons lowers the bill more. Every empty mile costs fuel and pays nothing, so a load plan that keeps you loaded saves more than most discounts. Speed, idling and tire pressure also move your miles per gallon. See what fuel does to a single trip with the trip fuel cost calculator, and check a load's real pay on all miles with the rate per mile calculator.

When you dispatch with us, we plan each load around your next one to keep empty miles down, and you approve every load before it is booked. See our dispatch for owner-operators or send an application.