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What’s the Difference Between a Fleet Card and Credit Card?

Working in the trucking industry can be incredibly rewarding, especially as a business owner or owner-operator. These roles aren’t without serious expenses and time spent analyzing logistics, however. Trucking companies looking to save on fuel spend, simplify fleet management, and track cash flow easier typically turn to two primary options: fuel cards and credit cards.

About Business Credit Cards

“Cash is king” isn’t always true. Sometimes specialty payment cards, like credit cards for businesses, make more sense.

Business credit cards offer a simple solution for trucking businesses to get rebates and cashback offers on fuel costs and other eligible purchases. While this payment option can be incredibly easy to use and offer significant cost savings, the interest rates on these cards may be higher than other payment methods, like fuel cards.

About Fleet Fuel Cards

Fleet fuel cards—also known as gas cards, fleet cards, and fuel cards—are specialty payment options for truckers and owner-operators.

Like business credit cards, fuel cards cannot be used for personal expenses and can offer significant savings for truckers compared to cash.

The key difference between credit cards and fuel cards is that fuel cards are industry-specific cards that unlock trucking-relevant discounts (like savings on fuel and maintenance) in addition to other perks like detailed reports for fuel expense management, real-time alerts against fraud, ability to set spending limits, and other tools that simplify fleet management. In short: fuel cards provide benefits beyond simple savings on fuel purchases.

How Do Fleet Fuel Cards Work?

Fleet cards are easy to use.

It all starts when truck drivers pull up to a fuel station pump. From there, truckers enter a PIN along with other information like vehicle mileage, depending on the program. Drivers then fill their vehicle, pay, and take a receipt.

This simple process allows owner-operators to track expenses, unlock savings on fuel prices, monitor drivers, and fight fraud.

Is It Better to Use a Fuel Card or Credit Card?

Cash is hard to monitor and cannot unlock the same benefits as specialty payment options like credit and fuel cards. These two options make it easy to monitor drivers and track expenses, but which is better for truckers?

We can’t answer the fuel card vs credit card debate for you. The needs of your business are varied and unique, which means you need to explore all of your options to make an informed decision that best benefits your situation.

Many owner-operators appreciate the familiarity of business credit cards. Many others, especially small business owners, however, enjoy the simplicity and benefits of fleet cards. Members of Motor Transport Alliance’s Fuel Card Program enjoy a truckload of benefits thanks to our fuel card provider, QuikQ.

Our program offers perks like:

If you’re looking for one of the best fuel cards in the business, contact Motor Transport Alliance. We’re here to help.