O/O-L/O Fueling: New Policy

NASTC - the National Association of Small Trucking Companies has a fuel discount program. I really don't know the details, but it may be worth looking into.

http://www.nastc.com/

OOIDA also has a fuel discount program that comes with their membership.

http://www.ooida.com/Benefits%26Services/Services/index.shtml

 

It's the power of TTR. No, really. WE made it happen!

 

I doubt that they can legally prevent owner operators or lease operators from buying fuel anywhere they choose unless Swift wants to start paying for the fuel.

If it were me and I was not getting a significant fuel discount using their card, I would either get my own fuel card or just get a PDCA card from Transportation Alliance Bank. The PDCA is a Mastercard debit card but acts like the TCH card when you purchase fuel. You can use it anywhere you can use Comdata. If other carriers get significant fuel discounts, you can bet that Swift is getting at least as much of a discount as these smaller carriers. Nearly all of them pass at least part of their discount along to their owner operators. Swift doesn't pay owner operators or lease operators very much anyway. You need to think of ways in which you can save money. Fuel is one of your biggest expenses running a truck. If you can only save $0.02/gallon it can be a significant savings over the course of a year. Bump that up to $0.10/gallon and that helps even more. If you drive 100,000 miles per year, at 5 mpg you would purchase 20,000 gallons of fuel. Even a few pennies savings would put several thousand dollars back in your pocket or savings account over a year. If you are a lease operator, multiply the savings over the term of your lease. It would go a long way toward buying out your lease.

 

G/MAN ... Swift wasn't going to restrict where we could buy fuel. I was simply going to restrict where we could use thier fuel card.

The up roar was most visible on Swift O/O Facebook page. It was pretty clear that this was going to be an impetus that would drive most O/Os to look at alternative fuel options.

Swift wasn't really fooling anyone. They were attempting to drive the O/Os to the suppliers where they get the deepest discounts. But it bit 'em in the butt. It became clear that one, a lot more owners were going to go completely off network and they would probably lose more than they would gain. Second, with Comdata, the IFTA calcs are pretty much automated. But off network/cash purchases require the fuel receipts to be scanned in and require more labor.

Swift probably saw the writing on the wall and they would be spending a nickel to save a penny.

 

I think all fuel cards will provide a summary for IFTA. Most owner operators can get their own fuel card with Comdata, TCH, or any of the other fuel card issuers. You may be able to get one even with bad credit. Most will issue a card if you prepay or put money into your fuel card account and they can recharge the card be a direct debit from a checking or savings account. If you have good credit you may qualify for a credit fuel card, but most will require the balance to be paid weekly. Personally, I like TCH. They have always been easy to work with over the years. I have also used FleetOne, but would not recommend them due to problems that I have had getting some documents from them. There are a number of options if you want to get your own fuel card. Even if you don't get a discount off the cash price, you won't be any worse off than using a carrier's fuel card where you don't get any of the fuel discounts.

Owner operators can also have their own IFTA account. Most don't realize that this is an option. You should check your lease contract to see if it is restricted if you lease to a carrier. I know a couple of owner operators who lease to other carriers and have their own IFTA account. Swift may restrict owner operators and lease operators from having their own IFTA account. The way some carriers calculate IFTA, owner operators can pay more fuel taxes than is necessary.

 

Typical BFI lease crap. Realize that with Swift providing you with the Comdata card they can skim all or part of the FSC legally. If you bought all your fuel without their card would they legally have to give you 100% of the FSC?

I am stunned that you don't get discounted fuel in some way.

My company has a Mastercard for each truck. I was told not to use it at T/A or Petro as they tack on extra charges for using it there. I fuel at Pilot, or Wilco.

If it was possible it would be interesting to see the "tissue" on your lease truck. Bet you couldn't demand that.

 

Other than the word fuel, FSC has no relationship to the purchase methodolgy.

G/MAN ... Looking at NASTC and thier card, I believe it is Fleet One, They also have some other services that I my avail myself of in the future. I've tried to go look at TCH's website, but my firewall, throws it off as an infected site.

 

Try the Transportation Alliance Bank website www.tabbank.com. T-Check also has a fuel card. I don't remember if they offer fuel discounts. T-Check is owned by CH Robinson.

 

Yep ... that's the site - Inavlid Security Certificate.