HUNDREDS of thousands of pounds risk being wasted by fleets which give up fuel cards as they lose control of drivers' spending, a leading fleet management company has claimed.

CitiCapital Fleet believes there are misconceptions about fuel cards, which are encouraging fleets to drop them.

Firstly, that only drivers who get free private fuel should have them, secondly that fuel cards are not relevant to cash-for-car drivers, and thirdly that pay and reclaim schemes produce the same results as up-front cards.

Having seen a rush of fleets ditching fuel cards, CitiCapital Fleet managing director Colin Tourick said: 'Those companies that are pulling out of fuel cards are not looking at the bigger, long-term picture.

'They are forgetting that fuel cards bring tight control of fuel consumption, whoever is using them.

'We are concerned that a lack of knowledge about how fuel cards work is playing a big part in this move away from them.'

He continued: 'Fuel cards give control over fuel buying, right down to type - unleaded or super unleaded for example - which can make a significant difference to fleet running costs when looked at over a whole year.

'As driver BIK becomes a major issue, so companies that have drivers in so-called 'gas guzzlers' are going to want to look more closely at fuel issues. Fuel cards give them the tool to do that, while at the same time enabling them to cut their employees' exposure to personal taxation.' And he called on leasing firms to be more active in promoting the benefits of cards to customers.

'Leasing organisations should work to educate fleet managers about how best to employ fuel cards, otherwise we are going to see hundreds of thousands of pounds wasted on fuel through a complete lack of control over purchase.'

ARVAL PHH, owner of the AllStar fuel card, has been running a long campaign to explain to fleets the benefits of retaining fuel cards for all staff.

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