SMBs Reap Savings, Shed Headaches by Outsourcing Fleet Vehicle Fuel and Maintenance

This year has been a busy one for commercial fleets. Consumers want everything delivered, and businesses have had to re-engineer their business models to accommodate their demands. In the process, those companies are taking a harder look at line items that many haven’t even had to consider before: the cost of keeping all those vehicles running.

Consumers’ thirst for convenience doesn’t show signs of slowing soon, and all the resulting thirsty vehicles have companies looking around for solutions that will help minimize pain at the pump and cut down on maintenance costs.

“Even businesses where in the past, managing the fuel expense line item never jumped off the [profit and loss statement], are starting to take more and more notice,” Keagan Russo, senior vice president of product at Fuelman, told PYMNTS. “We’ve been really excited to provide a solution that seems to resonate.”

Fuelman, a FLEETCOR company, provides a fuel expense-management solution for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with local fleets. On Nov. 23, the company announced a strategic partnership that combines its programs with CarAdvise’s digital vehicle maintenance and repair marketplace.

Helping With Both Fuel and Maintenance

Fuel and maintenance are the two biggest fleet-specific operating costs. Fuelman knows that its customers use more than 2 billion gallons of fuel a year, and it estimates that they spend more than $1 billion a year on maintenance. It also found that for between 85% and 90% of the new business that is coming its way, the owner of the company is also the manager of the fleet.

“Not a lot of florists got into the business of delivering flowers so that they can manage a fleet, so they start running the business and realize that there’s some complexity to it,” Russo said. “It makes a lot of sense to find a partner who can help with both the fuel and the maintenance.”

He added that the top issue for small business owners is finding the right people, and that’s especially true today. As a result, the owners have been taking more and more responsibility onto themselves.

“One of the things that I continually stress with our team is that we need to build products and services that can take the place of the half a person who was managing the fleet and allow them to spend 20 minutes a week and quit it,” Russo said.

Russo added that when it comes to vehicle maintenance, SMB owners and fleet managers are less concerned with saving 10% or 20% than they are about solving the challenge of keeping up with all the preventative maintenance.

Collaborating on a Roadmap for Additional Services

CarAdvise simplifies not only scheduled maintenance, but also unexpected repairs. Russo said he experienced this himself when his car got a flat tire. The service helped him find a location, book an appointment and send a text with the information the shop needed. Later, while he was at the shop, CarAdvise texted Russo to ask if he had authorized the work that the shop was beginning.

“It was an awesome experience and one that I’m really, really excited that we’re going to start delivering to our customers for events just like that,” Russo said.

With the new partnership, he added, vehicle maintenance will be linked to the fuel card — meaning that SMB owners can not only simplify the management of vehicle maintenance, but also save money.

Moving forward, the companies will be working to add more services. Another feature that will soon be part of their combined offering is a “digital glovebox” that will help SMB owners and fleet managers track inspections, registrations and recalls.

“I’m particularly excited about some of the things that we’re going to get to work on together,” Russo said. “We invested in CarAdvise along with the commercial partnership and we’re collaborating on a roadmap.”