Convenience was probably the main reason why you setup a mobile fueling program for your company. I mean it all sounds good at the start. A fuel truck comes to your office, fills up your trucks, and your drivers just hop in at the start of their shifts and drive.
No wasted time at the gas station, you’re tanks are always full, and you don’t have to worry about fuel. Mobile fueling works this way for some companies.
But chances you are reading this, because mobile fueling isn’t working for you. But why? It sounds so good.
It’s probably because your fleet is the wrong fit for mobile fueling. Check out these 5 reason why mobile fueling isn’t working for your company.
1) Your Trucks Are Never In The Yard During The Same Time
A typical mobile fueling company needs a four hour window to fuel your trucks because the mobile fueling truck can hit traffic, take longer at a previous stop, etc.. If you can’t guarantee that all your trucks will be at your yard for 4 hours a day on a daily basis mobile fueling will quickly become a headache.
What happens when you have a driver or two miss the fuel truck window? It kinda throw a wrench into your daily operations especially if this happens on a daily or weekly basis.
2) Your Company Operates 24/7
A lot of trucking companies have two to three shifts per truck a day which means the truck is always on the road. If you operate 24/7, you need 24/7 access to fuel and mobile fueling won’t be able to do that for you.
3) You Take Less Than 1,500 Gallons Per Fill
Mobile fueling pricing varies by each delivery quantity. The price goes down the more gallons you buy and vice versa. If you’re only taking a couple hundred gallons for every time the mobile fuel delivery truck comes out, chances are you are getting charged an arm and a leg for fuel.
It will probably be a lot cheaper just to send your driver to a gas station with a fleet card.
4) Your Fleet Also Has Gas Vehicles
In some states, you can’t legally deliver gas. It’s goes without saying, but if a large portion of your fleet it gas vehicles, you’ll have to have another fuel program on top of your mobile fuel service to accommodate those vehicles.
Two fuel programs equals more headaches.
5) Your Trucks Can’t Make It Back To The Yard On One Tank
This is probably a more rare problem for companies that have local routes and their trucks return to the yard every night, but it does happen. Especially for those new bobtail trucks with the single tanks. The fuel range sometime doesn’t cover a long local route.
The Alternative To Mobile Fueling
If you’ve decided mobile fueling just isn’t the right fit for your company, you may want to look into fleet fuel cards. Company fuel cards will help you track and control your fuel purchases at regular gas stations, truck stops, and cardlock fuel stations.
It’s an alternative that gives you the control of mobile fueling but the 24/7 access and scalability of a fuel card.