Why Discount Calculators Don’t Tell the Whole Story for Fuel Card Programs

In the trucking industry, every penny counts. Many fleet managers and owner operators use fuel card discount calculators to estimate potential savings, and while these calculators can give a general sense of how much a fuel card might save you, they don’t tell the whole story.

Focusing purely on the discount per gallon can cause you to overlook the actual price being paid. Additionally, limited network coverage may not provide a complete picture of fuel and fuel price availability. Not to mention the hidden fees that come along with some programs. Relying solely on discount calculators could lead to missed opportunities for savings and efficiency.

What Fuel Card Discount Calculators Measure

Fuel card discount calculators are designed to provide an estimate of potential savings. They typically ask you to input the number of gallons your fleet uses. The calculator then applies a proprietary multiplier to estimate how much a fleet could save on their program. That multiplier might be based on the highest discount available in their network or an average of the discounts available across their network. It might be a snapshot of their highest-saving customer’s performance or an average savings of all customers. It may include all transactions in that category or only the subset of transactions where there were actual discounts applied. The options are numerous and the insight is actually very limited.

While a savings calculator sounds convenient, the results are often oversimplified and certainly represent no commitment to performance for you as a potential customer.

Discounts Don’t Hit the Bottom Line – Costs Do

The first thing to keep in mind about a fuel discount program is that just because some providers boast about having the biggest discount, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are providing the lowest final price. For example, some travel centers will provide fuel card programs with cost-plus pricing to their fleet customers. These discounts are substantial but cannot be communicated as clearly as a retail price minus discount since costs are constantly changing, impacting the variance between “discount price” and “retail price”.

Other merchants use a pricing strategy that is meant to avoid the hassle of discounts altogether by providing their lowest possible retail price as their listed cash price. In this case, a $0.00 discount may still lead to $0.20 / gallon savings compared to the best discount price available locally, but it will show as no value in a typical discount calculator, which leads to the importance of network coverage.

Finding your most cost-effective fuel option in 2024 is more about transparency than published discount. With the new Multi Service Fuel Card mobile app, you can see your final price to be paid at the pump for all merchants within your search area. This allows you to simultaneously plan your fuel while you plan your route or search for the best option when you are ready to stop.

The Importance of Network Coverage

Another critical factor that discount calculators don’t consider is the breadth of the truck stop network associated with the diesel fuel card.

For many fleets, the network's coverage area can make or break the benefits of a fuel card. If drivers are forced to go out of their way to find a participating truck stop, the cost of fuel savings is quickly lost to inefficiency and extra miles. A discount is only valuable if you can take advantage of it where and when you need it.

Alternatively, some fleets choose to pump a majority of their gallons at a specific truck stop brand in exchange for deeper discounts, but if they choose to move from one brand to another, they can find themselves caught choosing between their pricing deal and their fuel card, if their provider doesn’t work with certain merchant brands.

Multi Service Fuel Card is accepted at a vast network of 8,900 diesel truck stops nationwide, including Love’s, Pilot Flying J and TA Petro. Likewise, we’ve spent 46 years building out a strong network of regional and independent locations with dedicated fuel lanes. This ensures that no matter where you or your drivers are, they can find a participating truck stop nearby, reducing downtime and eliminating out-of-route miles. The convenience of having fuel available at all major locations is something discount calculators can’t — well – calculate - but it is a key advantage that Multi Service Fuel Card provides to its customers.

Hidden Fees Aren’t Factored In

One of the biggest drawbacks of discount calculators is that they don’t account for the hidden fees that can accompany many fuel card programs. Fees like network access fees, billing fees, card issuance fees, customer service fees, transaction fees are often left out of the equation, but they can add up quickly, diminishing the savings a fleet gains.

At Multi Service Fuel Card, we believe in transparency. We make it a priority to provide clear information about fees so fleet managers know exactly what to expect. By focusing only on the discount-per-gallon savings shown by fuel savings calculators, many businesses miss out on understanding the actual cost of using a fuel card—and how much they might lose to hidden charges.

When you speak with a fuel card specialist at Multi Service Fuel Card, they will ask you to walk them through your typical lanes and preferred fueling locations. They will discuss the types of discounts they can provide for you based on your unique requirements and walk you through the standard fees associated with the Multi Service Fuel Card program.

Beyond Fuel Savings: Additional Advantages of MSFC

Fuel savings are important, but they’re not the only benefit of choosing the right fuel card. Multi Service Fuel Card goes beyond the pump to offer a suite of additional advantages that discount calculators completely overlook. Through alliances and partnerships, Multi Service Fuel Card customers enjoy discounts on services like maintenance, repairs, and other essential fleet operations through strategic alliances. This can lead to significant savings across the board, making your fleet more efficient and helping you stretch every dollar further.

Moreover, Multi Service Fuel Card offers unmatched customer support. Every trucking company understands that time is money. When your drivers spend 30 minutes or more waiting on hold for support just to get fuel, it's costing you valuable time and profit. Our service team ensures that hold times to speak with a representative are less than 30 seconds—an often overlooked but invaluable feature for fleet managers who need quick, reliable, human assistance. These are the types of benefits that a discount calculator does not factor in, yet they play a huge role in the overall value of a fuel card program.

Why Discount Calculators Alone Aren’t Enough

Discount calculators may be a quick and easy tool for estimating savings, but they don’t tell the full story of what a fuel card program can offer. They fail to consider hidden fees, network coverage, and additional benefits like discounts on maintenance and free access to exceptional customer service. To truly evaluate the value of a fuel card, you need to look beyond the discount-per-gallon savings and assess all the elements that impact your fleet’s overall cost and efficiency.

Multi Service Fuel Card is committed to providing fleets with a comprehensive solution that includes, but also goes far beyond fuel discounts. Our extensive network, transparent pricing, and strategic alliances make us the go-to choice for fleets of all sizes. So, before you rely solely on a discount calculator, consider the bigger picture and open a conversation with one of our fuel card specialists.