Core & Non-Core Networks
If you use that site it will be this price, but if you use this site it will be this price & if you use that site on a Tuesday with the full moon out and it’s Autumn it will be another.
Fuel card pricing structures can be overly complicated, nothing is more complicated than core/ bunker and non-core/non bunker networks. You receive one card and receive one price, yet you pay something else?
So let’s try to de-bunker it for you……
Most branded Fuel cards in the UK work on a fixed weekly price for diesel.
The network is also usually split into two sections – “Core/ Bunker” and “Non-Core/ Non Bunker”. For any diesel purchased at a “Core/Non Bunker” sites you will pay a fixed weekly price. This price is the one that you should be receiving every Friday. Diesel purchased at “Non-Core” sites is charged at the fixed weekly price plus a surcharge. Now this surcharge can range, usually it is between 2-3 pence per litre. However the majority of fuel card resellers in the UK add their own additional margin onto this to further boost their margins.
To give an overview on the coverage of sites across the two types, the Shell CRT card has around 1,100 sites on its network, of these 35% are Core and 65% are Non-Core. On the BP Bunker card they have access to around 1,200 sites, of these 48% are Bunker and 52% are Non Bunker.
Hopefully this explanation shed some light, but it is confusing.
There’s a couple of things that Driving Down can do to help:
Driving Down only works with pre-approved partners, that have agreed to treat our members in a specific way. This means that your non-core/non bunker surcharges are matched to the distributors costs, not increased to build additional margin.
Use our Fuel Management Partner service
We also offer a service which takes the time and effort of managing your fuel card, from your business. We call this Fuel Management Partner. So instead of you taking valuable time away analysing your invoices for these surcharges or having to work out which sites are more expensive, we’ll do the work and give you instructions for your drivers. No need to change supplier, no need to get new cards, simply just making savings.
