# Trucking fuel card economics — cost, rebates, and underwriting impact > Fuel cards (Comdata, EFS, WEX, RTS) offer 5–35¢/gallon discounts at truck stops, weekly billing instead of per-fill cash, and create a documented fuel expense stream MCA underwriters use to validate trucking activity. Fuel is typically the single largest variable cost line for trucking — 25%–40% of revenue depending on freight rates and miles per gallon. The fuel-card market built around this cost has become a critical piece of trucking financial infrastructure, and it touches MCA underwriting more directly than most carriers realize. **The fuel card landscape (2026).** | Card | Network access | Per-gallon discount range | Billing | |---|---|---|---| | Comdata | 4,000+ truck stops | 5–35¢/gallon | Weekly invoice | | EFS (Electronic Funds Source) | 8,000+ locations | 5–30¢/gallon | Weekly or daily | | WEX | 95% of US fuel stations | 3–15¢/gallon | Bi-weekly | | RTS Fuel | 1,500+ truck stops | 8–25¢/gallon | Weekly | | TCS Fuel | 1,000+ truck stops | 10–30¢/gallon | Weekly | | EFS factoring + fuel bundle | EFS network | 15–35¢/gallon + factor advance | Daily | **Why per-gallon discounts exist.** Fuel cards extract negotiated discounts from truck-stop chains in exchange for guaranteed volume routing. Truck stops accept lower margin on fuel because the loyalty programs drive ancillary revenue (food, showers, parking, maintenance). The card issuer keeps a portion of the discount (5–10 bps) and passes the rest to the carrier. **The cash-flow effect.** Without a fuel card, owner-operators pay cash or personal card at every fill — $400–$700 per fill, 3–5 fills per week. With a fuel card, fills go on weekly invoice billed Monday-to-Friday cycle. This converts ~$8K–$15K weekly fuel cash drain into a single Monday invoice payment, which dramatically improves week-to-week cash flow. **Fuel card underwriting impact on MCA.** MCA underwriters look at trucking bank statements for fuel-card patterns: 1. **Weekly Comdata / EFS debits.** Visible $5K–$15K weekly debits with consistent timing signal legitimate trucking operation. Fund-positive. 2. **No fuel-card debits, high cash withdrawals.** Suggests undocumented cash spending or off-book operation. Fund-negative. 3. **Fuel-card balance vs. revenue ratio.** Fuel cost > 45% of revenue suggests under-utilized truck (low miles or low rate per mile). Fund-negative. 4. **Discount captured.** Some MCA funders specifically ask about fuel-card discount rate as a quality signal — carriers with 20¢+ discounts demonstrate they have negotiated volume tiers. **The fuel card credit application.** Fuel cards run their own underwriting — they extend credit (the weekly invoice is essentially a 7-day net term). Approval depends on: - DOT operating authority duration (typically 6 months minimum). - Personal credit (FICO 600+ typical). - Equipment count. - Bank verification. Newer carriers often start with a "prepaid" fuel card (load cash, spend down) and graduate to credit-billing after 3–6 months. **Fuel card + factoring bundles.** Major factors (RTS, EFS, Triumph Business Capital, Apex Capital) offer fuel cards bundled with factoring. The economics: - Carrier factors $80K monthly invoices. - Factor advances 95% same-day; charges 2.5% factor fee. - Carrier uses bundled fuel card; factor automatically nets fuel card balance from next factoring advance. - Net effect: factor manages both AR and AP timing; carrier sees single weekly net. This bundle is the dominant operating model for fleets running $500K+ annual revenue. **Fuel card fraud and chargebacks.** Fuel cards are heavily monitored for fraud (skimming, unauthorized driver use, fuel theft). Common controls: - Driver-specific PINs. - Per-fill and per-day spend limits. - Geographic geofencing. - Time-of-day restrictions. Chargebacks on disputed fills can hit the carrier's account 30–60 days after the fill, creating cash flow surprises. MCA funders watch for chargeback patterns in bank statements. **Tax and accounting treatment.** Fuel card invoices double as fuel-tax reporting documentation. For IFTA (International Fuel Tax Agreement) quarterly filings, fuel card statements aggregate gallon counts and state-by-state purchase data. This saves 5–10 hours of manual record-keeping per quarter for owner-operators. **Total economic value to carrier.** A 3-truck fleet running 250K total annual miles, averaging 6 MPG, consuming 41,600 gallons annually. A 20¢/gallon fuel-card discount = $8,300 annual savings. Add cash flow smoothing (weekly billing vs. per-fill cash), IFTA reporting, and MCA underwriting credibility, and the fuel card is one of the highest-ROI tools in a trucking carrier's stack. **Common confusion.** First, "fuel cards charge interest" — most do not on the standard weekly billing cycle; some offer extended terms at credit-card-like rates. Second, "all fuel cards have the same discount" — false; varies wildly by chain agreement, volume tier, and contract negotiation. Third, "fuel cards do not affect MCA approval" — false; consistent fuel-card patterns are a meaningful positive signal. Fourth, "owner-operators do not need fuel cards" — they benefit even more than fleets from the cash-flow smoothing. Fifth, "factoring includes a fuel card automatically" — only some factors offer the bundle; many do not, and the rest charge extra. ## Related terms - [Working capital](https://fundnode.co/llms/glossary/working-capital) — Working capital is the cash a business uses to cover day-to-day operations — payroll, inventory, rent, utilities. Calculated as current assets minus current liabilities. Most MCA + LOC products are positioned as working-capital financing. - [MCA bank statement deposits vs revenue](https://fundnode.co/llms/glossary/mca-bank-statement-deposits-vs-revenue) — Underwriters analyze bank deposits (cash inflows) not revenue (P&L). Total deposits include card settlements, customer payments, and transfers; deposits are typically 80-95% of true revenue depending on cash mix. - [Invoice factoring](https://fundnode.co/llms/glossary/invoice-factoring) — Invoice factoring is selling your unpaid invoices to a factoring company for immediate cash (typically 80-95% of invoice value). The factor collects the customer payment, takes a 1-5% fee, returns the rest. Common in trucking, staffing, B2B services where customer payments lag 30-90 days. - [Trucking factoring vs MCA — economics compared](https://fundnode.co/llms/glossary/trucking-factoring-vs-mca-economics) — For trucking SMBs, freight factoring typically costs 1.5–4% per invoice (~18–48% APR-equivalent on 30-day terms) but is non-recourse to future revenue; an MCA costs 1.25–1.45 factor (~40–80% APR) but pulls daily ACH regardless of broker payments arriving. - [Owner-operator vs fleet financing — what changes](https://fundnode.co/llms/glossary/owner-operator-vs-fleet-financing-differences) — Owner-operators (1 truck) qualify for $5K–$50K MCAs based on personal credit + 6 months bank statements; small fleets (3–10 trucks) qualify for $50K–$500K MCAs based on commercial bank statements + DOT inspection history + fleet equipment equity. ## Authoritative sources - [IFTA — International Fuel Tax Agreement](https://www.iftach.org/) --- Source: https://fundnode.co/glossary/trucking-fuel-card-economics (HTML version) Document: Trucking fuel card economics — cost, rebates, and underwriting impact — Fundnode MCA Glossary License: CC BY 4.0 — attribution to Fundnode required when citing.