(Company Annoucements) To sustain a competitive advantage in today’s economy, professionals working in the logistics, freight, courier, transportation and interlink business have to manage their fleets with the utmost efficiency. That just got a whole lot easier thanks to the new TOTAL Card, a customisable fuel card that offers a comprehensive range of benefits that allows managers to drive their fleet from behind their desk.

Unlike other fuel cards, the new TOTAL Card offers a customisable solution that can be tailored to fit each customer’s specific requirements, including when and how payments are made; which products and services are included on the account; which dealerships and locations are used; how the account details are viewed and how crucial operational information is received. 

All this is driven by the card’s unique microchip, which is loaded with customers’ specific profile data. Each card also comes with a windscreen tag. Whenever a vehicle from that customer’s fleet pulls into a TOTAL fuel station, a card reader is simply held against the tag to record all the customer’s preloaded details – instantly and accurately. And any future changes to the profile are uploaded remotely to the chip by TOTAL.

At the same time, TOTAL Card customers enjoy interest-free transactions from the date of purchase to the payment date; zero finance fees; a selection of payment options (fortnightly payment, strictly 30 days, 30 days from statement, 45 days); diesel purchases at prices that are guaranteed to be lower than retail pump prices; lower than market monthly card fees; value-for-money transactional fees and the flexibility to refuel at any point in TOTAL’s network of fuel stations across using one card for payment in the countries South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland.  TOTAL Cards can be used for diesel, petrol, at TOTAL forecourt stores and to pay toll fees.  

Customers have access to all their transactional information along with daily invoicing and monthly statements either on the internet or emailed to them. In addition, they’re supplied with a comprehensive transaction history that details vehicles, drivers, fuel consumption and route costs, and that offers a menu of information detailing the service station used, date, time of purchase and odometer reading. Most importantly, it provides alerts to any purchases that customers have not pre-approved in their customised selection.

And because TOTAL has the best broad-based black economic empowerment rating in the industry, that’s one more thing fleet managers can cross off their list when using the new TOTAL Card.

“We understand that managing a fleet is a complex and very expensive business. Fleet managers work incredibly hard to keep their vehicles on the road and on time, and their operations, on budget. But the difficulty lies in the fact that out there, between point A and B, external factors beyond their control can have a negative impact on all three of those goals. In this world of uncertainty, the TOTAL Card puts fleet managers in total control of their fleet to ensure those goals are met, all from the comfort of their desks!,” says Jayson Abrams, TOTAL South Africa’s commercial manager.

Aside from its invaluable fleet management planning and monitoring tools, the TOTAL Card also provides a full programme of driver support, from safety information and cab enhancements to discounts and benefits.

All TOTAL Cards are issued with personal identification numbers; customers can also select driver identification by PIN for added security. The TOTAL Card security hotline is available 24/7 for the reporting of lost or stolen cards.