Bookmark Autopilot

Fuel cards can offer many different things to a lot of different people. For some it is the convenience and ease, for others it allows better tracking and discounts. One thing you will notice when it comes to using these cards is that there are many options that you can consider, and you need to take into account all of the possibilities that are out there in relation to these cards.

In order to be able to cut down on your costs with fuel cards, you need to look at many different options, and you will also need to do some comparison shopping. This is because you will not be able to make a good, informed decision without doing some homework. The first thing you need to do is look at the interest rate that is on the card you are considering for fleet options. You need to determine where the best rate lies and what it is you will do in order to be able to make a good decision and to be able to get the most for the money you will be spending.

You need to look at rewards and discount options that may be available for you to take advantage of as well. This could be in the form of discounts on fuel at certain places, or you may be able to use this to get various other rewards you could earn as a cardholder. These include things such as airline discounts or even limit increases. No matter what it is that they are offering you need to look at it and narrow it down to what it is that will give you the best options and will allow you to be able to get the best deal for your company.

You will also need to look at what else these gas cards will be used for. This could come in the form of repairs and upkeep to the vehicle or even travel expenses. No matter what the case is, you need to determine what it is that will work the best for you in regards to limits, rates as well as charges you may incur depending on where the card is used. No matter what you are planning to use the card for, the most important aspect is going to be paying for gas and that is where you are going to want to find the best deals. You may be able to get discounts on specific fuel carriers or you may even be able to get a percentage back from the card based on the number of purchases that you make.

When you are trying to pick fuel cards to use, you need to make sure you are looking at all of the best options out there so that you are able to decide which one will provide you with the biggest number of benefits. It is a matter of saving the most money on one of the most expensive things you will need to have. So shop around and consider all of the options before you settle on what you believe to be the best card for you and your fleet.

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One of the ways to manage a fleet is by looking at the costs associated to a specific driver. After all, the way a driver operates a vehicle really does play a role in the effectiveness of the business’s bottom line. Instead of guessing at this information or not even having a way of monitoring it, consider using the right type of fleet credit cards for gas. What you may find is that this is an easy way to improve the overall accountability and documentation for your drivers. It will improve your bottom line while also helping your drivers to remain completely aware of performance and needs.

Why do individual drivers matter? As you look at all of the options available to you when it comes to managing your fleet of drivers, have you ever considered the role that individual drivers play on your business? This is not often something that business owners take into consideration, but it should be.  Look at one of the simplest of ways that a driver can affect a business. That is in his or her ability to drive with fuel efficiency in mind. For example, if a driver is able to drive within the speed limit range and drives without accelerating too quickly, this equates to money savings for the business. That is just one way that your drivers are affecting your business.

When you are considering the various ways you can monitor what happens within your business, you may know that using a credit card is one of the safest and best methods to do so. The driver is able to use the card to make the necessary purchases and to make repairs as they happen. This gives you the flexibility to know that your vehicle is being cared for and your driver is able to easily track expenses related to the vehicle’s use. That pays off because it makes the accounting process incredibly easy. This is something you can do with most types of credit cards, but there is a reason to look for a specific fleet card instead.

There are many things you can do to manage the costs of fleet operation by the driver, but using a credit card for gas designed for fleet, is the route to go if you want more access. One of the ways these cards can help you is by tracking expenses and producing reports by driver, not just by vehicle or by trip. This includes getting comprehensive detailed reports that include all purchases made by the driver and the miles per gallon that the vehicle is getting. It also shows the nationwide fuel and maintenance locations available. These are just a few of the reasons that you do need this card.

The reporting aspect of this type of card is what makes it an ideal investment, even though it also provides you with access to lower cost fuel, too. These reports will show you miles per gallon, and gives you the option to generate exception reports that will flag any type of unauthorized purchase made. In addition to this, some cards are able to track odometer readings that will analyze the fuel purchase and its use. Use it to monitor after hours purchases or even daily transactions as they occur in real time. As you can see, there are many benefits to using fleet credit cards for gas. These cards give you access to what your driver is doing with your money no matter where they are on the road. This type of fleet management puts you in the driver’s seat.

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Golf, like any sport, requires a certain level of physical fitness in order to get the most out of your playing experience.  Though golf is not nearly as rigorous as some sports you still need to focus on a few muscle groups in order to play well.  Most of the successful golfers will tell you that muscle memory is one of the most important aspects of a consistent golf game.  Being able to reproduce shots will shave significant strokes off your round.  Repetitious movements train your muscles to react in a way that gives you better directional results.  For the novice golfer this is very important.

A good golf swing begins with a solid base from which to pivot your body through the entire range of motion.  By maintaining a singular pivot point from which to rotate, the club will follow the same arc time after time.  The best way to get this consistency is to select a safe location where you can swing a club and begin methodically rotating your core around an imaginary center line keeping your center mass as steady as possible.  The key is to begin slowly.  This allows your muscles to control the movement.

Patience at the beginning will pay dividends as you go through the process.  Limit your movements to just those that are absolutely essential.  Start small.  The smaller and the less movement involved, the greater the control.  The power of a golf swing comes from the proper rotation of the hips.  Swinging with just your arms will cause undesirable results.  Focus on the pivot point keeping your core centered on the imaginary line going through the center of your body.  Again, start small in order to get your muscles learning the path they need to take for when you ultimately hit the course.  The rotation should be steady but relaxed.  Having the proper balance, coupled with a comfortable swing, will be more productive that just gripping and ripping the club.  It doesn’t matter how hard you hit the ball if it doesn’t go where you want it to.

Stretching your major muscle groups will help in getting the comfortable easy swing necessary for a good round of golf.  Practice using progressively larger ranges of motion in order to gain the flexibility required.  Your game will improve exponentially and you will have less of a risk of injury.  Making sure your golf swing is properly aligned is important because failure to do so can result in chronic back and knee problems.  As you repeat your swing hundreds, if not thousands of times, always staying controlled, the club speed will improve naturally and in a more confident way.  Golf is as mentally challenging as it is physically.  Thinking about the muscle control upfront will allow you to focus more readily on the ball strike once you take to the course.

Vern Marker writes on behalf of a Golf College and frequently blogs about tips and techniques.  When Vern is not blogging or writing, he is an avid golfer who loves to travel the world.  Follow him on Twitter@VernMarker.

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Have you ever noticed that coffee seems to be the center of a lot of controversy?  On one hand, you have the people who are always telling everyone they know that they shouldn’t drink too much coffee — it’s bad for you or it’s addicting.  On the other hand, you have people who will swear by it.  Their daily cup of coffee gives them energy and helps them get through the morning. These same people also point out the drink’s many health benefits.

Though it may seem like this is a thoroughly modern issue, coffee has been controversial for hundreds of years.  Coffee originally came from the Middle East, where it faced some opposition from the very beginning.  As early as 1511, coffee was actually banned in Yemen because it was a stimulant, which seemed to go against orthodox Islamic values.  Over time, however, coffee became an acceptable alternative in a culture where alcohol was forbidden.

Coffee came to Europe during the 16th century through trade with the East.  At first coffee was opposed by many, especially some Catholics, who believed it to be created by the devil.  The Pope himself gave his approval of the drink in 1600, however, and by the mid-17th century, coffee was becoming quite popular.  Coffee houses, which had become popular in the Middle East in the previous century, opened for the first time in Europe in 1645.

It was around this time that the Dutch started building their own coffee trade.  Up until then, coffee had to be imported from the East, which was expensive and difficult.  During the mid-17th century, however, the Dutch started growing coffee plants in one of their colonies.  They even gave a coffee plant as a gift to the King of France in 1714, which ultimately brought the coffee trade to Central and South America via France’s colony of Martinique.

Around the same time as coffee was becoming popular in Europe, it was also introduced in the Americas.  Most of the colonists preferred tea at that time.  Just before the Revolutionary War, however, tea started to become hard to get, since most of the colonists were boycotting it because of steep taxes.  After the Boston Tea Party in 1773, when a group of colonists disguised as Indians threw a shipment of tea overboard while the boat sat in the harbor, coffee became popular as an alternative for tea.

Although we can easily trace the path coffee has taken throughout the world, we still don’t know much about its origins.  Legend has it that coffee was discovered in the 9th century by a gatherer named Kaldi, whose goats were eating some strange red berries.  Kaldi noticed that his goats had a lot of energy, tried the berries himself, and found that they were the cause.  He brought the berries to a nearby monastery, but holy man threw the berries into the fire.  When they smelled the beans roasting, however, they supposedly retrieved them, ground them up, and put them in hot water.

Although this story is popularly told as the discovery of coffee, in fact it’s doubtful that it is true.  We don’t know exactly when coffee was discovered, but at the very least, it seems to have happened several hundred years later than this fanciful story.  Pretty much everything about this amazing drink seems to be the subject of debate, its origins included.

About the Author
Vern Marker is a writer of a variety of topics including the history of coffee. She is well-versed on coffee’s origins as well as the development of coffee accessories over the years

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Driving a fleet vehicle can be a dangerous job in some ways.  Although robberies aren’t extremely common, they are still a risk that you, as the fleet manager, must try to take precautions against.

There are a couple of ways you can protect your drivers from the likelihood of a robbery.  One way to do this is to eliminate visible cash so that your drivers won’t become an obvious target.  Fleet gas cards make it easy to do this.  Instead of carrying cash, your drivers carry a card that works just like a gas or credit card, but allows you more control over purchases.  For instance, you can limit transactions to only fuel and maintenance purchases and even limit the number of purchases a day.  This makes the fleet card practically worthless to a thief and will eliminate the likelihood of your driver being robbed.

Of course, the challenge is that the thief doesn’t know this and could rob your driver anyway.  However, putting an obvious sign on the truck that says “driver carries no cash” can help. Also, fleet cards are becoming an industry standard. Before long, it will be common knowledge that fleet drivers do not carry cash.

Another way to protect your drivers is to install GPS tracking devices in all of your fleet vehicles.  In addition to other advantages when purchasing a fleet card, such as eliminating the need for written driver logs, driver assistance in determining the closest suitable gas station, corporate discounts on fuel purchasing, GPS tracking devices — also known as electronic on-board recorders, or EOBR, allow you to always know where your drivers are, so that if anything goes wrong, you can alert the authorities to the drivers’ last known location.

In addition, GPS tracking devices lend added security to the company.  If one of your vehicles is ever stolen, you will know exactly where it is located, using the EOBR.  Again, by alerting the authorities to the truck’s location, you can recover it quickly before the thieves have a chance to offload any of the cargo.

Remember, your job as a fleet manager is about more than just maintaining the vehicles, monitoring routes and keeping an eye on the trucks’ fuel economy.  It is also your job to provide as safe a working environment as you possibly can for your drivers.  Little things such as replacing cash systems with fleet gas cards and installing GPS tracking devices on the trucks can make a big difference in how secure your drivers feel!

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