Fuel cards for truckers are payment cards that buy diesel below the pump price at a negotiated network of truck stops. These seven are ranked for fleets of one to twenty trucks on discount, fees, network size and credit requirement.
By Small Fleet HQ | Updated
| Provider | Network | Typical Discount | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TCS Fuel CardBest Overall | 2,300+ discount locations | 59¢/gal average | 4.5/ 5 | See Card BenefitsNo annual fee on most cards |
| AtoB Fuel CardBest Modern Experience | 4,200+ discount truck stops | Avg 45¢, up to $2.00/gal | 4.5/ 5 | See Card BenefitsNo annual fee on most cards |
| Comdata Fuel CardBest for TA/Petro Routes | 8,000+ locations | Up to 40¢/gal at TA/Petro | 4.0/ 5 | See Card BenefitsNo annual fee on most cards |
| WEX Fleet One EDGEBest Network Coverage | 16,000+ locations | 12-15¢/gal average | 4.1/ 5 | See Card BenefitsNo annual fee on most cards |
| MudflapBest No-Fee Option | 2,800+ truck stops | Up to $1.00/gal | 4.5/ 5 | See Card BenefitsNo annual fee on most cards |
| RTS Financial Fuel CardBest Factoring Integration | 3,000+ locations | 25¢/gal average | 4.0/ 5 | See Card BenefitsNo annual fee on most cards |
| Motive Fuel CardBest Platform Integration | 35,000+ partner locations | Up to 21¢/gal | 4.2/ 5 | See Card BenefitsNo annual fee on most cards |
*Featured prices and terms can be updated. Free offers may include additional terms.
A fuel card has two numbers that matter: what it takes off the pump price, and what it charges you for the privilege. Four of the seven cards here have no monthly card fee. AtoB, Comdata and WEX do, at $2 to $15 a month. Motive is one of the four with no card fee, but its card only works alongside a paid Motive platform subscription. Quick Compare at the top of this page shows each card's network and typical discount, and every review below sets out the full fee schedule and the credit requirement.
Treat the discounts as typical ranges. What you actually save depends on which stops are on your lanes, whether the location is in the deep-discount tier or the standard one, and how much diesel you buy in a month.
The Energy Information Administration's weekly on-highway series reached $5.967 a gallon in the week of 7 September 2026, the highest reading in the history of the series, and the 2026 average across 36 weekly readings stands at $4.894. At $5.967 and 6.5 miles per gallon, fuel alone costs 92 cents a mile. A 25-cent discount takes about 4 cents off that mile. A truck running 10,000 miles a month and buying 1,540 gallons keeps $385 in the month at 25 cents, or $1,540 at a dollar.
The American Transportation Research Institute, led by president and chief operating officer Rebecca Brewster, put the average cost of running a truck in 2025 at $2.336 a mile in its 2026 operational cost analysis, the highest in the report's history, with $1.854 of that excluding fuel. Fuel is a cost you can cut this week without changing how you operate, which is the case for carrying a card. Our Fuel Card Savings Calculator: Estimate Discounts and True Savings for Truckers works out what a given discount is worth against your own gallons and fees.
Work out the fee across the cards you actually run. A card charging $8 a card a month costs a one-truck operation $96 a year, which two fills at a deeper discount can cover. The same fee across twelve trucks is $1,152, and at that size the fee schedule deserves as much attention as the cents.
Every card is scored on the same four criteria used across this site: user reviews and reputation, pricing and value, features and tools, and the factors specific to the category. For fuel cards those specific factors are the size of the discount network against real lanes, the fee schedule in full, whether the card needs a credit check, the quality of the IFTA reporting, and the fraud controls. The weights are set out in How We Rate Trucking Services: Methodology and Scoring Criteria.
Network size can matter more than the discount. A card averaging 45 cents at 4,200 stops beats a card averaging 55 cents at 2,300 stops if the second card's stops are not on your lanes, because an out-of-network fill pays the posted price and sometimes a fee on top. Map the network against the routes you actually run before you compare the cents.
Every card here captures fuel purchases by jurisdiction, which is most of the work in an IFTA return. The hours that saves each quarter count toward a card's value alongside the discount. Our IFTA Reporting: Step-by-Step Filing guide covers the filing itself.
These cards are built for small operators. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, led by president and chief executive Todd Spencer with executive vice president Lewie Pugh, represents 150,000 members who operate more than 240,000 trucks. Most of them buy diesel a tank at a time with their own money, which is why a few cents a gallon gets argued over.
Pull your last three months of fuel receipts and count the stops by brand. That list tells you which network to pick. A card that discounts deeply at chains you pass twice a year is worth less than a card that takes a little off the stop you use every week.
The number decides whether a monthly fee makes sense and whether a volume rebate scale is worth anything. Below about 500 gallons a month the rebate tiers barely start, and a no-fee prepaid card usually wins. Above a few thousand gallons the tiers and the negotiated contracts become the whole conversation.
These are separate products sold together. A prepaid card gives you the discount with no underwriting and no float. A credit card gives you days between fuelling and paying, which is worth something when your invoices settle in 30. Decide which one you are buying before a salesperson decides for you.
Ask what happens when a driver fuels at a stop that is not on the list: whether the discount simply disappears, and whether a transaction fee applies on top. On a long run through thin coverage that answer matters more than the headline cents.
Before you hand a card to a driver, know how fast you can freeze it and who is liable for what happens before you do. Every card here has app controls and PIN protection. The liability terms behind them are not identical, and the agreement is where they are spelled out.
A carrier fuelling almost entirely at one chain with a good direct account is already getting the volume price and may do better staying put. A carrier buying under a few hundred gallons a month will not recover a monthly fee, and should either take a no-fee prepaid card or skip the category. And a driver on a company card is not the customer here at all, because the fuel program belongs to the employer.
A card takes a few percent off diesel. It does nothing about a truck that burns 5 miles to the gallon, a lane that pays below cost, or 30% empty miles, and each of those can cost more than the discount saves. Run Cost Per Mile Calculator: True Operating Cost and Break-Even Rate for Truckers first. If fuel is a quarter of your cost per mile and your rates are thin, the discount is the smallest lever you have.
For the longer version of how the discounts are built and where they leak away, our Fuel Card Strategy: Savings and Discounts for Owner Operators guide covers retail against cost-plus pricing, stacking a card with a loyalty program, and the fees that undo a good rate.
The same side-by-side view for factoring, insurance, ELDs and load boards is in Compare Trucking Services 2026.
Our owner operator starter stack covers fuel cards, factoring, insurance and load boards, organized into three budget tiers.
Owner operator starter pack →Typical discounts run $0.10 to $1.00 a gallon depending on the card, the location and your volume. Put that against the price of diesel: the EIA weekly on-highway average hit $5.967 a gallon in the week of 7 September 2026, a record for the series, with a 2026 average of $4.894. A truck buying 1,540 gallons a month keeps $385 at a 25-cent discount and $1,540 at a dollar. Fleets save in proportion to their gallons, less whatever the card charges in monthly fees.
On headline numbers, AtoB quotes the biggest figure, an average of 45 cents and up to $2.00 a gallon. Mudflap quotes up to $1.00, and TCS averages 47 to 57 cents. The card that saves you the most is the one whose discount network matches the stops on your lanes, because an out-of-network fill pays the posted price and sometimes a fee on top. Compare the network first, then the cents.
Requirements vary by program. Many trucking fuel cards look mainly at your business customers and freight relationships. Prepaid options require no credit check at all, so a prepaid card is still open to you if a credit program has turned you down.
Universal cards work at multiple truck stop chains, so you can fuel wherever your routes take you. Brand-specific cards discount only at one chain but may discount more deeply there. Universal cards suit most truckers better unless you consistently fuel at a single brand.
Common fees include per-transaction charges ($1-3 typical), monthly account fees, card replacement fees, and paper statement fees. Count your monthly transactions and add up the fees for each card. High fees can cancel out a bigger per-gallon discount.
Most trucking fuel cards offer purchase controls. You can typically restrict to diesel only, set daily or per-transaction spending limits, limit approved locations, and receive alerts on purchases. Fleet-focused programs offer tighter controls.
Fuel cards automatically track purchases by state, including gallons, location, and date. Most card platforms generate an IFTA-ready report you can download for each quarterly filing.
Yes, many truckers carry cards from different programs to widen network coverage and pick up more discounts. Just track your spending across cards for accurate IFTA reporting. Some truckers use a universal card as primary and a brand-specific card for their most-traveled routes.
Report it immediately to your card provider. Most offer 24/7 phone support for card emergencies. Liability protection varies, so understand your exposure before you need it. Many cards can be frozen instantly through mobile apps while you sort out a replacement.