Choosing your fuel supplier is all about coverage, coverage, coverage
You know what they say in real estate: it's all about location, location, location. The same mantra applies to choosing a fuel supplier for your fleet – but in a slightly different version: coverage, coverage, coverage. We asked Joe Carreira at MSD to explain why.
As Fleet Manager EMEA for pharmaceutical multinational Merck, Sharp & Dohme (MSD), Joe Carreira is responsible for just under 9,000 vehicles, close to half of the group's global total of around 20,000 units. That number is spread out over a wide variety of markets, both geographically and on the maturity spectrum.
How do you choose your fuel suppliers?
“There currently aren't any international fuel suppliers that can give the coverage we need for all our countries, including the remote and extreme geographies of specific countries”.
So you work with local ones?
“For each country, we use the supplier with the best coverage for each particular country. This of course makes it quite difficult to consolidate our fuel suppliers, but the business needs to have a local fuelling process available to all staff. That need means we have to balance the differences across various markets to find the optimum solution”.
Do you provide fuelling services via the leasing companies?
“Not in our larger markets, but smaller ones we frequently use this option, yes”.
And what about fuel cards?
“We use fuel cards in all our markets, except in the Middle East and in Africa”.
So, how do you monitor fuel use?
“Via country-based reporting, and by following up certain occurrences with appropriate action – for example, if we see that premium fuel is used to fill up the car, when there is no specific need to do so”.
Suppose I'm an international fleet manager looking for an international fleet supplier. Where do I start?
“The question you have to ask of potential suppliers, is: Can they provide coverage for your teams that are spread throughout the various countries where your company is present? So, go speak to suppliers and compare maps: check where they provide coverage, and where you need coverage”.
What should I look for when setting up a fuel tender?
“Again, the key criterion is to establish whether your potential supplier can provide the coverage you need – only then to you need to establish what are the commercial terms to deliver that coverage”.
So international fleet managers need to strike a balance between, on the one hand, geographic coverage via fuel networks that are present where needed, and on the other hand the advantageous prices and bonuses that come with scale advantages. How do you do that?
“The coverage needs are paramount; they need to be satisfied before the project gets off the ground. There is no point asking a busy sales rep to travel and extra five kilometers to fuel up at a branded supplier network station, in order to save two eurocents a litre when it cost considerably more in time and fuel to get there”.
“So, the fuel supply with the best coverage is the one that is cost competitive... and meets the coverage needs. Bonuses are nice, but only relevant if coverage is satisfied”.
When deciding on fuel cards, is it best to go for a corporate fuel card, a multibrand fuel card or a single-brand fuel card?
“Again, the decision will be based on the best coverage offered and the commercial terms to deliver that coverage”.
Fuel cards can sometimes be used for fuel fraud. How to avoid or eliminate this?
“Most fuel suppliers have reporting capability to report 'unusual events' to their clients. In addition, chip and pin cards are becoming more common and this also helps to better secure the process”.
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