Fuel economics · Owner-operators

Fuel Card Savings Calculator

Compare two fleet card offers against paying the regular pump price. Adjust eligible gallons, station price, advertised discount, every listed fee and the miles driven out of your way to refuel.

Step 01 / Your route

Enter your fuel baseline

Monthly fuel usage (gallons)Gallons you expect to buy on your regular route, before additional detour fuel. Comparable no-card pump price ($/gal)Use a current price for stations you would otherwise actually visit. Truck fuel economy (MPG)Used only to calculate extra gallons burned on detours. Other detour cost ($/mile)Incremental wear / maintenance; exclude fuel to prevent double counting.

Step 02 / Card terms

Compare offer A and offer B

Use your actual written terms. “Station difference” is the pump-price difference before the advertised card discount, compared with your no-card alternative. Use a negative value if the network station is cheaper.

Offer A Example: wider access Advertised discount (¢/gal) Network pump-price difference (¢/gal) Gallons bought at network price (%) Network fills / month Extra miles per network fill (round trip) Fee per network fill ($) Monthly card / account fees ($) Annual card / account fees ($)

Offer B Example: fewer locations Advertised discount (¢/gal) Network pump-price difference (¢/gal) Gallons bought at network price (%) Network fills / month Extra miles per network fill (round trip) Fee per network fill ($) Monthly card / account fees ($) Annual card / account fees ($)

Only network fills entered above incur the modeled per-fill fee. Gallons outside the usable network are assumed to cost the regular no-card pump price. Add any extra non-network or finance fees to the relevant monthly or annual fee input.

Live comparison / Annualized

True savings after costs

Lowest modeled total cost—Compared with no card and both offers.

No-card annual fuel spend—

Best net savings / year—

Identical baseline volume, separate card terms
Annualized measure	Offer A	Offer B
Net savings / year	—	—
Equivalent savings / month	—	—
Fuel gallons at network price / month	—	—
Gross advertised discount / month	—	—
Station-price difference / month	—	—
Extra detour miles / month	—	—
Fuel + other detour cost / month	—	—
Transaction + monthly fees / month	—	—
Annual account fees	—	—
Discount needed to break even	—	—
Total annual fuel + card costs	—	—

Enter your own network and fee terms to evaluate each offer.

Annual figures assume twelve similar months. Break-even discount is the per-network-gallon discount needed to offset station-price differences, modeled detours and fees. It may exceed the advertised discount.

Method and limitations

Count the actual money saved, not just the cents advertised

Monthly pump savings = eligible gallons × (card discount − station pump-price difference). This compares the price after card discount with the station you would otherwise use.

Monthly detour costs = network fills × extra round-trip miles × (reference fuel price ÷ MPG + incremental nonfuel cost per mile). Detour fuel is estimated at the reference price and is additional to base-route gallons.

Annual net savings = 12 × (monthly pump savings − monthly detour costs − per-fill fees − monthly fees) − annual fees. A negative number means that offer is more expensive than purchasing fuel without a card under these assumptions.

Excluded: interest, credit terms, late fees not entered, IFTA tax effects, redemption caps, tiered discounts, changed pump prices, and the value of the driver's time. If fees vary, use a realistic monthly average. Verify terms, receipts and station coverage before switching providers.

The EIA diesel survey provides a market reference, not a quote for any truck stop. The FTC's fuel-card enforcement announcement illustrates why promised savings and disclosed fees warrant scrutiny.