Fuel Cards Offer Ideal Solution for Police Vehicle Fleets

Police departments across the country are looking for new ways to cut their operating costs. According to a recent article from the Carroll County News, The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) has made a big step in making the vehicle fleet of New Hampshire’s third largest police force more efficient. CCSO employees will now carry fleet fuel cards that are linked to a specific officer and vehicle. In addition to receiving a one percent rebate for purchases made each month, the CCSO’s switch to fuel cards is a big upgrade over the previous system, where officers were forced to use one specific gas station to purchase gasoline for their vehicles.

The entire upgrade is expected to save the department over $6,000 each year, and savings like these are accessible to police fleets across the country. In fact, fuel cards may be the optimal solution to help your police vehicle fleet to cut its extraneous gasoline costs for good. Read on to learn more ways that this simple technology can have a positive impact on your fleet’s bottom line and help your department free up some extra room in the budget.

More options translate to greater efficiency
Many fleets are still purchasing fuel on credit via an agreement with a gas station or chain. As a result, officers must contend with the logistical issue of not being able to refuel at any pump. This limitation has impaired the ability of police officers to do their jobs, especially when the need to visit a specific gas station forces an officer to go out of his or her way to refuel. Fleet fuel cards are capable of collecting accurate fuel payment data anywhere an officer might otherwise use a credit card. This flexibility allows police officers to more effectively follow their pre-determined routes, and minimize inefficiency while driving. Cost-saving corrections to these behaviors is just a sample of the benefits that integrating fuel cards into your fleet can provide.

Data collection facilitates maintenance
Officer.com pointed out that fuel cards can be an essential tool for improving fleet maintenance as well. The organized odometer records collected by a fleet fuel card system provide exact records of fuel transactions, and as a result, fuel consumption. This data makes it easier for the fleet’s maintenance team to spot trends in how often parts break down based on trip mileage, then reconfigure the company’s repair schedule accordingly. Some fleet fuel cards even allow drivers to charge emergency maintenance repairs straight to the card. This flexibility helps eliminate redundancy in vehicle repairs and associated costs.

Accurate fuel reports make it easy to catch driver mistakes
Fuel data collected by fleet fuel cards can be used to help officers improve their driving behavior as well. After all, a good deal of your police fleet’s extra fuel costs are the result of over-braking and over-accelerating. Data collected by fuel cards can be used to track this information and identify spots where individual drivers can improve. You’ll be able to collect even more detailed information about officer driving habits by combining that data with information collected by a fleet telematics system.

Fleet telematics can be implemented easily alongside fleet fuel cards and provide in-depth information about real-time fleet positioning and highly specialized analysis of driver behaviors. In addition to confirming fuel use data collected by fleet fuel cards, fleet telematics can also be used to provide new performance goals for officers. Creating department-wide contests for safe driving is a great way to encourage officers to take efficient driving more seriously. Just don’t penalize officers for over accelerating when they do so in the name of the law!