Motive Debuts ‘Missed Savings’ to Help Fleets Cut Fuel Costs

Fleet management platform Motive is offering its card customers a new way to cut fuel costs.

Missed Savings for Motive Card customers is what the company described as an “industry-first” feature that lets users reduce fuel costs by 5% or more, according to a Wednesday (June 26) press release.

“Fleet managers can now automatically pinpoint where drivers have missed savings and how much it is costing them,” the company said in the release. “This data-driven approach allows fleet managers to ensure drivers stop at the lowest-price fueling locations rather than stopping out of habit or convenience.”

Missed Savings is available solely to Motive Card customers and uses shared fleet and spend management data to automatically determine where fuel spending is being wasted, the release said. Assuming the 5% savings figure, a 1,000-vehicle fleet that spends approximately $1 million on fuel each month could potentially save $50,000 monthly or $600,000 per year.

“Businesses are wasting millions of dollars on missed fuel savings per year because they don’t have access to the data needed to make smarter fuel decisions,” said Hemant Banavar, vice president of financial products at Motive. “…With fuel expenditure for the trucking industry around $134 billion annually, we estimate the trucking sector alone missed out on approximately $6.7 billion in potential fuel savings last year.”

Motive introduced the Motive Card in 2022, marking its entry into the spend management world.

Elsewhere in the world of fleet management, the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Generation Instant: How Truckers Use Instant Payments to Support Their Lifestyles” examined the nationwide trucker shortage and revealed one possible reason for high turnover in the industry. In many cases, drivers are expected to use their own trucks and pay for maintenance and gas out of pocket, which can strain their finances.

While industry groups suggest higher wages could help woo new drivers and keep existing truckers behind the wheel, another incentive could be offering truck drivers a faster and more efficient way to get paid.

Forty-one percent of drivers now have their income and earnings delivered through instant payment methods, and 91% of those who do said they prefer the speed and peace of mind instant payments offer.

Additionally, more than one-third of truckers would pay to have instant payments.

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