Fuel card issuers in recent years have consolidated operations through acquisitions. Norcross, Ga.-based
Now U.S. Bank is pushing consolidation through technology with a new fleet card that covers large and small vehicles in a single platform, streamlining operations for fleet managers with a mixture of different-size cars and trucks.
The new card is the first fuel payment system to cover all eight classes of fleet vehicles in a single card, said John Hardin, U.S. Bank Global Transportation Solutions manager in an Aug. 24 press release.
The new Single Voyager Fleet Card Solution automatically tracks drivers’ fuel usage and reprices fuel based on negotiated discounts for all sizes of vehicles, eliminating the need to support up to two separate card programs for large and small-vehicle fleets, according to U.S. Bank.
One example of the type of fleet operator that may benefit from a single platform for all types of vehicles is parcel-delivery services, a U.S. Bank spokesperson said.
"Express parcel delivery fleet operators have vehicles large enough to transport thousands of packages along the interstate and small enough to snake through neighborhoods, and until now managers of mixed fleets have spent a good deal of time logging in and out of the separate card program management sites," the spokesman said.
TravelCenters of America, which operates the TA and Petro Stopping Centers truck stops and Minit Mart convenience stores will be the first retailers to accept the new, combined-vehicle card beginning in 2017, and TravelCenters plans to issue U.S. Bank’s new card to its own employee drivers, said Tom O’Brien, TravelCenters’ CEO, in the release.
“Partnering with U.S. Bank on the first true single card solution means we can better serve the needs of mixed fleets," O'Brien said.
