Effective fleet management in the HVAC industry is essential for providing timely services and ensuring customer satisfaction. Few industries depend on fleet vehicles as much as HVAC contractors do. They must oversee everything from drivers and constantly changing schedules to the vehicles themselves — all of which can impact the fuel needed for efficient fleet operations. Unsurprisingly, fuel represents one of the largest expenses in an HVAC company’s budget. Increasingly, businesses seek ways to simplify fuel management, and one of the best methods to achieve this is through the use of fuel cards.
HVAC business owners can extend their control over fuel management well beyond simple rebates and discounts. With purchase controls, managers can control the who, what, when and where of fuel purchases.
Fuel cards offer HVAC owners a strategic approach to monitoring, controlling, and reducing fuel costs. Fuel cards offered fuel cards can assist HVAC contractors in managing their fuel expenses through features such as rebates and discounts, purchase controls, real-time data access, and comprehensive reporting and analytics.
Let’s look at how fuel cards can help manage HVAC fleets.
The Role of Fuel Cards in HVAC Fleet Management
Fuel cards are similar to credit cards in how they function. However, these fleet fuel cards are specialized payment methods designed for businesses operating vehicle fleets. Beyond being a streamlined payment method for fuel and fleet-related expenses, fleet cards have some significant advantages over credit cards. These additional benefits include:
- Cost Savings: Access to fuel discounts and rebates.
- Expense Control: Implementation of purchase restrictions to prevent unauthorized spending.
- Data Transparency: Real-time tracking of fuel transactions.
- Analytical Insights: Detailed reporting to inform decision-making.
These features can help HVAC businesses enhance operational efficiency and significantly reduce costs.
Fleet Cards and Fuel Management
At first glance, it’s pretty easy to conclude a fleet card can help with fuel management. But what does that actually look like? Let’s explore rebates, purchase controls, real-time data and reporting in greater detail.
Beyond consolidating fuel and fleet-related purchases, fuel cards provide several benefits, beginning with direct savings.
Maximizing Savings: Rebates and Discounts
Beyond consolidating fuel and fleet-related purchases, fuel cards provide several benefits, beginning with direct savings. Most fuel cards offer fuel rebates and some include discounts on fleet-related services. Valero fleet cards, for instance, offer tiered rebates based on monthly fuel consumption:
- 0-499 gallons: 1¢ per gallon.
- 500-2,999 gallons: 3¢ per gallon.
- 3,000-4,999 gallons: 4¢ per gallon.
- 5,000-6,999 gallons: 5¢ per gallon.
- 7,000-9,999 gallons: 6¢ per gallon.
- 10,000+ gallons: 8¢ per gallon.
These rebates can lead to substantial savings over time. Additionally, Valero’s Fleet Plus Card is accepted at 95% of U.S. gas stations and over 45,000 service locations, providing flexibility and convenience for HVAC businesses operating across various regions.
Beyond rebates and options for universal acceptance, Valero also gives users access to discounts on hotels, parts and services, and more.
Enhancing Control: Purchase Restrictions
HVAC business owners can extend their control over fuel management well beyond simple rebates and discounts. With purchase controls, managers can control the who, what, when and where of fuel purchases. Valero fuel cards empower HVAC businesses to set specific purchase controls, including:
- Spending Limits: Establishing maximum spending amounts per transaction or day.
- Product Restrictions: Limiting purchases to fuel only, preventing unauthorized expenditures on non-fuel items.
- Time and Location Constraints: Restricting fuel purchases to certain times of day or specific fueling locations.
- Volume Restrictions: Set maximum volume per fill-up or max volume that can be purchased during a specific time frame.
- Transaction Restrictions: Set the maximum number of transactions that can be made during a specific time frame.
When fleet managers and business owners align purchase controls with established fuel spending policies, drivers are constantly reminded of what responsible spending looks like. In addition to reducing unauthorized spending, purchase controls help promote a culture of accountability among employees.
Real-time Data Access: Immediate Insights
Access to real-time data is crucial for effective fleet management. Most fuel cards provide instant visibility into fuel transactions, enabling HVAC companies to:
- Monitor fuel consumption: Track fuel usage by vehicle or driver in real time.
- Detect anomalies: Identify unusual spending patterns promptly, such as excessive fuel purchases that may indicate misuse or theft.
- Optimize routes: Use data insights to plan more efficient routes, reducing fuel consumption and improving service delivery.
Many fleet cards include mobile applications that provide access to this real-time data from anywhere with internet access. Valero’s SmartHub app demonstrates this capability by allowing businesses to view and filter transactions, make or schedule payments, monitor available credit, and activate or deactivate cards, facilitating proactive fleet management.
Informed Decision-making: Reporting and Analytics
Comprehensive reporting and analytics are essential for understanding fuel consumption patterns and making informed decisions. Fuel cards offer detailed reports, including:
- Purchase Activity: Summaries of transactions by driver, vehicle or location.
- Exception Reports: Alerts for transactions that fall outside predefined parameters, such as purchases exceeding set spending limits.
- Financial Summaries: Overviews of total fuel expenditures over specific periods.
These insights help HVAC contractors identify areas for improvement, implement cost-saving measures and forecast future fuel needs more accurately. The combination of real-time data collection and reporting capabilities results in automated fuel accounting and expense tracking, eliminating the need to collect employee fuel receipts and simplifying financial management.
Implementing Fuel Cards in an HVAC Business
Consider an HVAC company with a fleet operating across a metropolitan area. Many such companies face challenges such as unauthorized fuel purchases, difficulty tracking fuel expenses and inefficiencies in route planning.
Implementing fleet cards from Valero could lead to the following benefits:
- Cost Savings: Valero’s tiered rebate structure allows companies to save as much as 8¢ per gallon, translating to significant monthly savings.
- Improved Control: The ability to set spending limits and restrict purchases to fuel-only reduces the risk of unauthorized expenditures.
- Enhanced Visibility: Real-time transaction data allows for better monitoring of fuel usage and quicker identification of discrepancies.
- Data-driven Decision-making: Detailed reports facilitate more informed fleet utilization and route optimization decisions.
Adopting fuel cards will likely lead to improved financial management and operational efficiency for an HVAC business.
Optimized Fleet Management
Fuel cards are valuable tools for HVAC businesses aiming to manage fuel expenses effectively. From rebates and discounts to purchase controls and real-time data as well as reporting and analytics, fuel cards help HVAC contractors optimize fleet operations and achieve cost savings. Embracing this technology can lead to more efficient service delivery and a stronger bottom line.
For more information or to apply for a Valero Fleet Card, visit Valero Fleet Cards.