Bread and butter, peanut butter and jelly, ketchup and mustard, you get the point, cardlock fuel systems are made for businesses that operate company vehicles (trucks, cards, vans, cranes, etc.) If you are located within 3 miles of a cardlock fuel station, it’s probably the best fuel source for your company.
Why? Well let’s back up.
What Is A Cardlock Fuel System?
A cardlock fuel system is when a company uses a cardlock fuel card at a cardlock fuel station. I know you’re next question, what’s so special about a cardlock fuel card or cardlock fuel station when I could use a fuel card at a regular gas station or truck stop?
Why Are Cardlock Fuel Systems Better Than Regular Fuel Cards?
First off, cardlock fuel stations are specifically made for company vehicles (pictured above). Most large vehicles can easily get in and out without unhooking a trailer or making a 20 point turn, there’s not retail traffic, no c-store, just fuel and go.
So in short cardlock fuel stations are made to eliminate headaches, you don’t have to worry about drivers spending time in the c-store or getting caught in a huge line, or not to mention the liability of driving a huge truck into a regular gas station. Drivers also like these stations because they are so easy to use.
Secondly, cardlock fuel cards have tighter controls than regular fuel cards. For example, a cardlock fuel card has product controls where you can limit the card to only purchase gas or diesel. Sure regular fuel cards have this feature as well after the purchase to you where will get notified if the driver purchases the wrong fue,l but it won’t stop the driver from purchasing the wrong fuel in the first place. On the other hand a cardlock fuel card will not even turn on a gas pump if the card is restricted to diesel only.
Why does this matter, well most trucks are diesel and most people drive a gas car for their personal car so you can prevent people from filling up their own personal car.
Which Cardlock Fuel Network Should I Join?
There’s two cardlock fuel networks CFN (Commercial Fueling Network) and Pacific Pride. You can learn about all the difference between CFN and PacPride, however choosing between the two will probably depend on how convenient the locations are for your routes.
You can find CFN locations here and Pacific Pride locations here.