You need to give your drivers something to use for fuel and service, but it’s hard to hand over a credit card without restriction. A fuel and fleet card with reporting, controls, and available to use in a wide range of locations is the unicorn you’re looking for.
As one of the biggest fueling stations around, BP’s fuel and fleet options could give owner-operators and enterprises solutions to control spending, manage savings, and ensure as little misuse as possible. Let’s look at whether the savings of a BP fuel and fleet card are worth it or fall flat.
Topics
The Overview
BP offers two card options, a Fuel Plus card and a Mastercard that behaves more like a credit card. It features savings per gallon but a monthly fee for businesses that purchase fewer than 5,000 gallons per month.
The Fuel Plus Card
BP’s Fuel card provides a safe way for drivers to fuel up at service stations. It offers spending controls and reporting with transaction reports tailored to your business. The card also ensures that you have all the tax reporting you need at the month’s end.
You can block cards in real-time or activate and request new cards as you need them. The driver reporting allows you to maintain your driver ID numbers for analysis and set purchasing limits and prompt for ID and odometer readings.
The Mastercard
To expand your drivers’ capabilities, the Mastercard is accepted at any fueling station that takes Mastercard. You’ll get the most significant benefit at a BP, but this could help handle any gaps that occur.
The Mastercard is also available for service and maintenance wherever Mastercard is accepted. You get enhanced account management options, and all the same reporting and security features of the original fuel card — just expanded.
The Benefits
If you operate where BP is a common station, you can receive up to six cents off per gallon using the fuel card or Mastercard. This cost savings provides a way for you to control and limit your spending with the fees waived for purchasing over 5,000 gallons of fuel at a BP.
The service options are also good, allowing you to get your drivers back on the road with little hassle. Since the Mastercard is accepted anywhere, you can also ensure your drivers have their fuel options even in a BP desert.
The reporting features are good for both options, with expanded reporting and customization for the Mastercard option. You can set spending limits and control activation or deactivation in real-time. Plus, with automatic prompting for driver ID and odometer readings, you’ll always have your logs.
You also have tax-exempt reporting done with a touch of a button, and online statements expand your record-keeping capabilities. You can also see data on mileage, cost, and other major contributing factors to cost-cutting and efficiency.
The Downsides
If you aren’t a massive operation, some of the fees can add up. $10 per month isn’t a ton, but it can add up if you have more than one card and still don’t purchase more than 5,000 gallons per month.
While BP has one of the largest networks of fueling stations, there are gaps on the West Coast and certain places in the south. These gaps may not matter much if you opt for the Mastercard and operate nationwide.
For local operators, you won’t save much if you don’t have BP stations readily available. Do your research to determine if you have enough access to BP stations to make the card worth it.
The fuel rebates work on a tier level that prioritizes larger operations spending for thousands of gallons per month. If you don’t break the 300-gallon mark in a month, you won’t enjoy any rebates at all.
What Others Say
The reviews are mostly positive, with some expressing disappointment in the lack of rebates for smaller operations. Reviews mention the ease of use and robust reporting as a positive, with a lack of perks for small businesses a considerable negative.
The Quick View
- Best for larger fleets and organizations
- BP has a larger network of stations
- Not suitable for west coast operations
- Two card options with one acting more like a credit card
- Extensive reporting, tracking, and security features
- Monthly fee waived for more than 5,000 gallons per month
The Final Verdict
The BP Fuel card is a simple way for fleets to manage spending and track costs. Those needing to expand for service stops can opt for the Mastercard, which also fuels up at any station accepting Mastercard.
The savings don’t add up to much for small businesses or single owner-operators. However, if you’re a larger company with nationwide operations or access to a network of BP stations, the reporting and security controls make it a worthy option.