Sponsored content by (Shell) Multi Service Fuel Card
A fuel card company that has been in business since the late 1970s is enjoying a major renaissance thanks to a strategic partnership, a history of disruptive innovation, and a decades-long commitment to providing truckers with the highest levels of customer service.
How it started: Former OTR Trucker’s fuel card solution changes the industry forever
CDLLife recently had the opportunity to sit down with CEO Aaron Decker to learn about how this company has evolved over the decades to meet the needs of a transforming trucking industry.
Decker told us that the Overland Park, Kansas-based Multi Service Fuel Card got its start in 1978 as a major revolutionary in the trucking industry. Decker explained that in the late 1970s, credit card transactions were conducted using the old-school “knuckle-buster” card and card swiper, meaning it often took days for a fleet to notice of a problem.
When the Multi Service Fuel Card began providing trucking companies with near instant access to fuel transaction information, it dramatically changed the trucking industry and enabled companies to better connect with drivers while cracking down on fraud on the fuel in a way that seemed almost magical at the time.
Over the course of four decades, Multi Service Fuel Card has continued to chart a unique path. While other fuel card companies grew and merged in the early 2000s, offering truckers fewer choices and reduced access to customer service, Decker says the Multi Service Fuel Card remained connected to its trucking roots and looked for ways to continue to shake up the status quo in the fuel card market.
The future of fuel paper is brighter and cleaner
In September 2021, the Multi Service Fuel Card was acquired by global energy powerhouse Shell USA to provide customers of both companies with enhanced product and service offerings. The acquisition of Shell will enable them to provide additional fleet solutions to their North American commercial trucking customers via one of only three major closed-loop networks in the industry.
Additionally, partnering with Shell, a company strongly committed to alternative fuels and clean energy solutions, gives Multi Service Fuel Card customers an edge with access to cost savings and efficiency while fuel markets and technology they adapt to the challenges of the future.
Multi Service Fuel Card is a non-integrated portfolio company of the Shell Group which will continue to operate on an autonomous basis. This essentially means that, for the most part, the company will continue to operate as it has been, allowing it to be close to its customers and be able to respond quickly to their needs.
Diesel is expensive. Here’s how this fuel card can help.
Fast forward from 1978 to 2023. Trucking companies are currently facing unprecedented challenges, including rising interest rates, a roller coaster freight market, and staggering fuel costs. With skyrocketing diesel prices squeezing carriers or all dimensions, it’s more important than ever to save money when possible.
The Multi Service Fuel Card uses a closed-loop credit system that allows drivers to pay “cash fare” at the pump at more than 8,900 truck stops throughout the United States and Canada. Because the cash price for diesel is typically $0.02 to $0.06 less per gallon than the “credit price,” fuel savings can add up quickly.
Through relationships built with truck stops over many years, the Multi Service Fuel Card also provides fleets with access to fuel discounts negotiated below the cash price that are not available to cash or card customers of credit. Drivers can also access the company’s mobile app to locate truck stops with the lowest fuel prices along their routes. Additionally, all customers are supported by a dedicated account management team to promote personal discounts on their behalf and help maximize fuel economy.
The “intimate” customer service experience sets the fuel card company apart
Decker said what sets his company apart is that it provides fuel card users with customizable, 24-hour access to customer service. While other large fuel card companies force truckers to wait for a fix, costing them time and money, Multi Service Fuel Card can protect customers from disruption by providing access to an active US-based customer service team 24/7/365 to solve problems fast.
Truckers have a choice when it comes to fuel cards
So what does the Multi Service Fuel Card team want truck drivers to know?
- Fleets have choices when it comes to fuel cards and financial solutions.
- Multi Service Fuel Card is passionate about providing honest, timely and personable support to the men and women in the trucking industry who keep this country moving.
- Through decades of consolidation and change, they’ve endured through hard work, constant innovation and a little luck, and now Multi Service Fuel Card is uniquely positioned to become stronger than ever in the months and years ahead.
Whether you are an owner-operator or a small, medium or large fleet in need of low cost fuel card services, the Multi Service Fuel Card team is ready to help you succeed – click here to connect.
This is sponsored content.
