Factoring companies with fuel cards: cover the fuel before the load pays
How much cash is stuck with brokers?
Invoiced each week
$8,800
On 30-day broker terms, about $37,700 is out at any time, waiting to be paid. EXAMPLE estimate.
We refer carriers to RTS Financial and may be paid for referrals. Disclosure
Advance vs card
Fuel advance or fuel card discount: which helps you more?
Enter a normal month: how much fuel you buy, the diesel price, how many loads you haul and the cash you usually have at pickup. Add the reefer unit if you run one. The readout compares what the card saves with what advances would cost.
Advance vs card: one month
EXAMPLE- Card discount saves
- $810/mo
- Fuel per load
- $855
- Advances would cost
- $80/mo
Your cash at pickup doesn't cover a load's fuel, so an advance keeps you moving. The card still saves $810; use both, and work toward not needing the advance.
EXAMPLE month. The default discount is the average a card provider publishes; your savings depend on where you fuel. Fees are illustrative.
The two aren't rivals. A discount saves money on every gallon whether you're short or not. An advance solves a different problem: not having the cash to fuel a load you've already accepted. If you can fuel each load from your own money, the card is the win and advances are a cost you can skip. If you can't, the advance is what keeps the truck moving.
Reefer carriers should test the reefer toggle. If the card doesn't discount unit fuel, a real share of your monthly fuel gets no saving at all. Estimate how much the unit burns with the reefer fuel burn calculator.
The first tank
The first tank of every trip
Fuel advances have a blind spot: they arrive after you're loaded. The fuel to get to the shipper, sometimes a long empty run, has to come from somewhere else. So does the fuel a reefer burns precooling the trailer before pickup.
That first tank is where a fuel card's credit line or a small cash reserve earns its keep. Carriers who rely only on advances often find themselves stuck at the delivery city, waiting for the next load's paperwork before they can fuel to reach it.
A practical setup: a fuel card for everyday fuel, advances only for the loads where the trip's fuel bill is bigger than the cash on hand, and a reload planned before you deliver so the empty miles stay short.
By truck
Fuel looks different on every truck
Reefers
Truck fuel plus unit fuel, including hours of running at a shed or through a 10-hour break. Check whether your card covers unit fuel before you count on it.
Flatbeds and step decks
Heavy loads and long runs mean big single fuel bills. Advances help most on the long hauls after a heavy pickup.
Hotshots
Smaller tanks and fast turns mean many small fuel stops. A card discount on every stop adds up; advance fees on short loads may not be worth it.
26 ft box trucks
Regional and multi-stop routes with frequent, smaller fills. A card with stations around your home market matters more than a national network.
Fuel card discounts
How fuel card discounts work, and what to check
A fuel card discount is a reduction on the price per gallon at stations in the card's network. It may show at the pump, on your statement, or as a rebate. The advertised figure is usually an average: the saving at any one stop can be higher or lower.
Before choosing a card, check where your trucks actually fuel. A large discount at stops off your lanes saves nothing. Check whether the card works as credit, as prepaid funds or both, what limits apply per truck, and whether it charges its own fees.
What RTS Financial publishes about its fuel cards
- Save an average of 45 cents per gallon at over 4,000 fuel stations nationwide.
- Three card options: Fleet One with credit lines up to $3,200 per truck weekly, Total Fleet for large fleets with extended payment terms, and a Self-Funded card loaded by debit or credit, available regardless of credit score.
- The RTS app offers card lock, fuel codes and spending limits.
- Bundle discounts are available when combining fuel cards with factoring.
Source: RTS Financial, fuel cards page, October 2026
Repayment
How fuel advances are repaid
A fuel advance isn't extra money. It's an early slice of the load's pay. When you deliver and submit the invoice, the factor subtracts the advance (and any advance fee) from what it pays you on that invoice.
That has a knock-on effect: the bigger the fuel advance, the smaller the payment after delivery. A carrier taking large advances on every load can find the delivery payments too small to cover the next trip, which leads to another advance. Use them to bridge gaps, not as the normal way to fuel.
Ask the factor how a fuel advance is handled if a load is cancelled after pickup or rejected at delivery. In those cases there may be no invoice to take the advance back from, and you could be asked to repay it directly.
EXAMPLE, not a quote
- Flatbed load pays$2,600
- Fuel advance after loading$500
- Example advance fee$10
- Advance on delivery at 90%$2,340
- Paid on delivery$1,830
The reserve, minus the factoring fee, follows when the broker pays.
Where cards work
Where fuel cards work, and the usual restrictions
The network
Cards are accepted at stations in their network, often a mix of national chains and independents. Discounts may apply only at some of them.
What you can buy
Many cards limit purchases to fuel, or fuel plus approved items like DEF. Reefer fuel may be treated separately.
Controls
Per-card limits, fuel codes and the ability to lock a card protect a fleet from misuse and a lost card.
Credit or prepaid
Credit cards bill you later; prepaid cards draw on funds you load. Prepaid options can suit a new carrier without credit history.
Who qualifies
Who qualifies for fuel advances and cards
Fuel advances usually go to carriers with an active factoring account, on loads from brokers the factor has approved, once there's proof the load is on the truck. The amount is normally capped at a share of the load's pay.
Fuel cards are a separate product and may not require factoring at all. RTS Financial states that its fuel cards are offered whatever your credit, including a self-funded option. Credit-based cards set a spending limit per truck based on your account.
Ask any provider how advances are requested, how fast they arrive, what they cost, and whether advances can be loaded straight onto the fuel card.
Source: RTS Financial, fuel cards page, October 2026
Records
Keep fuel receipts for more than the discount
Fuel receipts are also tax records. Interstate carriers usually report fuel bought and miles driven by state for fuel tax, so a card statement that lists every purchase by location and gallons saves hours each quarter. Ask whether the card's reports can be exported in a form your bookkeeper or fuel tax service can use.
Keep advance records with the load paperwork too. Each advance should match a load, so you can check that it was taken back from the right invoice and charged the right fee.
Avoid these
Common fuel advance mistakes
- Taking the maximum advance on every load, so delivery payments never catch up
- Forgetting the advance fee when judging whether a short load is worth it
- Assuming the card discounts reefer fuel without checking
- Fueling off-network because the cheaper stop was a few miles away
- Losing track of which advance belongs to which invoice
Dispatch too
Fewer empty miles, less fuel to pay for
The cheapest gallon is the one you don't burn running empty. Our dispatch desk plans reloads before you deliver and works for every truck from 26 ft box trucks to step decks. Nothing is booked until you say yes, and the broker sends the rate con straight to you. The fee is 5% of gross for one truck with authority older than 6 months. More on the factoring hub, or start dispatch.
Fuel advances and fuel cards: straight answers
Q01Do fuel cards cover reefer fuel?
Q02What is a fuel advance in trucking?
Q03Are fuel advances paid before pickup?
Q04Do fuel advances cost extra?
We refer carriers to RTS Financial and may be paid for referrals. See our disclosure.
Fuel today. Paid in days.
Short form. A quote from RTS Financial. No obligation.