What Is a Cardlock Station? (And How Can It Save Me Money?)
Cardlock stations offer over-the-road fleet operators the ability to keep their vehicles fueled at a contracted wholesale price without the need for a dedicated on-site fueling station. Through detailed tracking and accounting, a fleet account with a cardlock service like Fuel Pro from Walthall Oil Company allows you to take complete control of your fueling operations without requiring drivers to come back to base for fuel.
Fuel delivery is an excellent option for operators needing to keep heavy equipment rolling or a fleet of local-only vehicles running short routes day in and day out. But what if your fleet spends a considerable amount of time away from home base? How will you provide your drivers with the fuel they need to do their job without incurring retail markup and the delays associated with retail stations?
For over-the-road operations, cardlock fueling is the best way to ensure that you’re paying the lowest possible per-gallon price for fuel, that your team is spending their time behind the wheel and not waiting in line, and that you’re able to account for every drop of fuel purchased.
This month, we’re looking at this economical and convenient option for fleet operators and answering your pressing questions about cardlock stations – including our own Fuel Pro by Walthall stations.
What Is a Cardlock Station?
Cardlock stations (or cardlocks) is the name applied to non-retail fuel stations that are only open to vehicles operated by companies that have enrolled in a fleet fueling program with the station’s operators. There’s typically no convenience store associated with a cardlock station, and fuel prices aren’t advertised.
When a driver pulls into a cardlock, they’ll use a special fleet card that’s tied to their specific driver account. Each driver account can be set up with particular permissions or limitations, including:
- Product selection: If a driver only ever operates a diesel vehicle for work, they may only be able to purchase diesel at a cardlock
- Volume limits: Cardlock accounts usually specify a limit to the amount of fuel any one driver can purchase at one time, typically limited to the volume of their usual vehicle’s tank
- Time/Day limits: If a driver isn’t supposed to work over the weekend, they can be prohibited from fueling up on the weekends or other time/day limitations as needed
The cardlock card also controls the per-gallon price of the fuel dispensed. Cardlock customers enjoy negotiated pricing that allows them to leverage the volume of their fuel buys to obtain lower prices.
The company’s total fuel expenses are calculated and billed each month, allowing a single invoice to cover the entire fleet’s fueling for the month.
How Can a Cardlock Fueling Program Save Me Money?
There’s literally no part of a cardlock fleet fueling program that can’t save you money, but here are some of the significant ways that partnering with a cardlock operator can help your bottom line.
Cardlock Stations Unlock Big Per-Gallon Fuel Savings
Depending on how much fuel your fleet uses, you can get per-gallon prices that are approaching wholesale. When your drivers fuel up at a retail station – even a retail truck stop selling unbranded fuel – you’re paying a significant markup for your diesel and gasoline. At a cardlock station, you’re not tied to the current market price for fuel – you enjoy the same level of price stability and simple invoicing that fuel-delivery customers usually enjoy.
Cardlock Stations Unlock Major Time Savings
Fuel stops already eat up enough of your drivers’ time. Just the process of pumping gas or diesel at a retail station—particularly when you’re filling a large commercial vehicle’s tank—takes time away from covering miles and serving customers. Add to that the time the driver spends inside the convenience store, picking out a drink and a snack for the road, and then waiting in line to pay, and you end up with a lot of wasted time.
At a cardlock station, there are no distractions. Pull in, fuel up using high-speed, high-volume pumps that cut fueling time in half (or less), and drive out—no shopping for snacks or waiting for other customers to finish buying their lotto tickets.
Cardlock Stations Improve Driver and Vehicle Safety
Your drivers are (hopefully) professionals who operate their machines safely and correctly when they’re out on the roads. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the other drivers out there aren’t. Retail gas stations are prime sites for fender benders and other minor accidents that are just as time-consuming and almost as expensive as a full-bore road collision.
Cardlock stations eliminate all of that. Not open to the public, cardlock stations are only used by other professional drivers who have a job to do. There aren’t any family sedans in the way, blocking a pump or timid drivers holding up the flow of traffic back out onto the road.
Cardlock Stations Provide Accountability
You need to spend money on fuel to keep your company’s vehicles on the road. You absolutely do not need to spend money to keep your drivers’ personal vehicles on the road. With the customizable controls that you can apply to each driver’s specific account, you can minimize the chance that an employee will be tempted to “borrow” a little fuel on the company’s dime. When every drop of fuel is accounted for in a detailed invoice, showing who purchased precisely how much fuel at a given time, you’ll easily be able to identify any misuse and take appropriate action.
Cardlock Stations Simplify Your Back Office
Let’s do some math. Imagine you’re a fleet operator with twenty Isuzu NPR box trucks running deliveries for eight hours a day, five days a week. We’ll assume your drivers cover only a very conservative 300 miles in a day. With the NPR’s advertised 16 mpg and 38-gallon tank, that amounts to at least five fuel stops every two weeks per vehicle. Each month, that’s more than 100 fuel stops across your fleet.
Now, think about your back office. How much time does it take to cajole receipts out of your drivers? How long will it take to reconcile those purchases to your company’s credit-card statement? How many staff hours are needed to log fuel usage based on 100 individual fuel receipts?
With a fleet fueling program through a cardlock provider, those hundred receipts become one detailed invoice with fuel usage already calculated by driver, vehicle, or both.
Fuel Pro By Walthall: Cardlock Savings From a Trusted Partner
For fleet operators in the Savannah, Macon, and Atlanta markets, Fuel Pro by Walthall offers the incredible convenience and savings of cardlock fueling from a name you can trust. For more than 70 years, Walthall has been providing fleets across the Southeast with reliable, affordable fuel services. With the addition of Fuel Pro, our over-the-road fleet customers can see actual savings every month, plus added peace of mind, easier budgeting, and more complete control of their fueling operations. Give us a call today in Middle Georgia (478-781-1234) or Savannah (912-234-7231) to find out how Fuel Pro can work for you!