TA Fuel Discount is no more

[Bruno]

I have used TA for the last few years because of the discount. But the discount is so small that the Flying J is looking better for our trucks now that they take Comdata. If you are still paying more at the Ta with the discount than the cash price is at the Flying J why go there.

 

[x06col]

A really profound question there Bruno? Or statement? Or......

 

[ConfusedMuse]

Not only is their fuel more expensive, you get to spend more on their coffee.
When enough people stop going, they may perhaps return to older ways.

 

[Bruno]

I just made a call to to there customer service line in regards to there so called fuel discount. With nine trucks leased on with Panther and having a owners comdata cards I can see the discount we get. It's not worth getting fuel at the TA anymore if they only give you a .08 fuel discount off the pump price when other places are .08 at the pump then give you .05 more off the pump price. We have bought almot 13,000 gallons of fuel the last 30 days. So I'm not happy with the TA right now.

 

[Turtle]

When did this discount go away? They removed the carrier discount showing up on the receipt printouts a couple of months or so ago, but I'm still getting mine. Got it today, as a matter of fact.

At the TA in San Antonio, the (non-cash) pump price is $3.09, and the Cash Discount price at the pump is $3.02. The receipt says $77.27 paid for 25.536 gallons, which is $3.026 per gallon.

But, a phone call to Comdata shows that I paid $2.851 per gallon, as a $72.80 transaction was withdrawn from the card for that fuel. Those figures also match exactly the PDF of the Panther Discounts for that location for today.

Of course, it's also a buck-fifty every time I use the card (which is borderline criminal if you ask me), so what I really paid was $74.30 @ $2.9096 a gallon. So the 17.5 cents a gallon discount was really only 11.6 cents. That's more of an issue with cargo vans with smaller tanks than it is the bigger trucks, tho. The $1.50 a pop for 20 or 25 gallons hurts a little more than it does when you're buying 100 or 150 gallons.

 

[Bruno]

Some of the TA truck stop only give .04 a gallon. I had one truck get $1.80 off for 57 gallons. I can go to the Pilot and get it .10 cheaper, then still get a .05 discount and get a .15 total discount verse getting .04 total from the TA. So where is the discount really.

 

[Turtle]

So where is the discount really.

At the places that have the higher discounts. True enough, those are becoming fewer and farther between. Many have 0.000 discounts, some have just 0.002 of a discount (which comes to a nickel total off a 25 gallon fillup). The discounts in IL are still decent, but nowhere near what they used to be. In Illinois, at least currently, they're all but gone. The 40 and 50 cent discounts all seem to be gone, tho I haven't looked at today's PDF all that closely.

For me, at least, in a van and getting 20-25 gallons per fillup, I can take 6 cents off whatever discount there is for 25 gallons, and 7.5 cents off for 20 gallons, because of the $1.50 Comdata fee. The free shower is still worth 20 cents a gallon on two 25 gallon fillups. So the fuel at another truck stop would have to be more than 20 cents cheaper. If I did it as 20/20/20, then the 50 gallons would cost me $3.75 in Comdata charges, and the free shower would make the overall discount closer to 13 or 14 cents. Still a better deal, for me. Not so much if I'm buying more than 50 gallons at a time. At that point you'd have to go with the cheaper pump price, since you'll get a free shower, anyway.

 

[Bruno]

At the places that have the higher discounts. True enough, those are becoming fewer and farther between. Many have 0.000 discounts, some have just 0.002 of a discount (which comes to a nickel total off a 25 gallon fillup). The discounts in IL are still decent, but nowhere near what they used to be. In Illinois, at least currently, they're all but gone. The 40 and 50 cent discounts all seem to be gone, tho I haven't looked at today's PDF all that closely.

For me, at least, in a van and getting 20-25 gallons per fillup, I can take 6 cents off whatever discount there is for 25 gallons, and 7.5 cents off for 20 gallons, because of the $1.50 Comdata fee. The free shower is still worth 20 cents a gallon on two 25 gallon fillups. So the fuel at another truck stop would have to be more than 20 cents cheaper. If I did it as 20/20/20, then the 50 gallons would cost me $3.75 in Comdata charges, and the free shower would make the overall discount closer to 13 or 14 cents. Still a better deal, for me. Not so much if I'm buying more than 50 gallons at a time. At that point you'd have to go with the cheaper pump price, since you'll get a free shower, anyway.

Yes your right it's worth it for you, but not for the fleet owner who pays for fuel.

 

[TeamCaffee]

Our discount has still be very good at the TA's and we have no complaints. The discount has been like always some places we get a very good discount and at others the discount is only .04 cents.

We made the mistake of paying for a shower at the Pilot in Fort Worth, TX and we figured out quickly how the new TA shower heads have spoiled us. We will not make that mistake again. First we had to wait in line for a shower and then had a crappy shower with a thread bare towel and no floor mat.

 

[jjoerger]

This must be a Panther thing.
Our discounts were:
Greer, SC $.182
San Antonio, TX $.186
Lake Station, IN $.172
Lake Park, GA $.204
No fees to use the T Chek card.

 

[aileron]

....
No fees to use the T Chek card.

Sorry to go off topic, but how do you manage not to pay a fee? My t-chek has a $0.5 fee every time I use it.

 

[Brisco]

COMDATA:

Of course, it's also a buck-fifty every time I use the card (which is borderline criminal if you ask me)

Do what???

I haven't had a Comdata Card in my wallet since I came off the road back in 2007. If I remember correctly, fees were in the .35 cent to .60 - .75 cent range. I know dang sure my fees were NOWHERE near the $1.50 range.

Has Comdata Fees really gone up that high within a 2-3 year time period???

 

[LDB]

My Comdata fee was always $1.50 so on a 50 gallon get a shower purchase that was 3 cents a gallon. My TChek fee is 50 cents so it was a penny a gallon on a shower fill. It's been about 13 months since I was buying diesel but the discounts at T/A were usually very good with a dozen or so locations that were not good at all. I don't remember now which ones those were but overall never had a complaint about the price and overall wouldn't have done as well anywhere else.

 

[TeamCaffee]

We do not have a load fee and our usage fee is .50 per each purchase of fuel.

 

[greg334]

My comdata fee is a buck to load and free for anything else.

Wonder how much the companies are making on the contractors who have to pay for all these transactions.

 

[Turtle]

At Con-Way NOW it was 50 cents to fuel (and I think it was $1 per Comcheck). Four years ago when I went to Panther, the Comdata transaction fee went from 50 cents to a dollar, and since then it's gone up to $1.50. For a Comcheck it's $2. If you get a Cash Advance with fuel, it's $2.50.

My comdata fee is a buck to load and free for anything else.

You have the best deal in the history of Comdata if you can get fuel, ATM withdrawals, and use the card at a Walmart POS without a fee.

This must be a Panther thing.
Our discounts were:
Greer, SC $.182
San Antonio, TX $.186
Lake Station, IN $.172
Lake Park, GA $.204

Well, the discounts change daily, and it is different for each carrier, but as of yesterday the Panther discounts were...
Greer, SC $.157
San Antonio, TX $.175 (today it's .212, so I'm glad I filled up yesterday <snort>)
Lake Station, IN $.158
Lake Park, GA $.114

 

[jjoerger]

Sorry to go off topic, but how do you manage not to pay a fee? My t-chek has a $0.5 fee every time I use it.

If there is a fee for making a fuel purchase I was not aware of it. I am always so happy with the discount that I never noticed. There is a $.50 charge for authorizing a T Chek.

 

[dancorn]

An added bonus with fueling at Pilot or Murphy's is not having to drive my diesel van into the dirty T/T fueling areas. Filling up at most truck stops results in diesel on the shoe soles then diesel on the floor mats. Same problem at most truck stop related motels. Get out of the shower, walk across the carpet (that truckers shoes have trod) and the soles of your feet are instantly black.

 

[Dynamite 1]

i guess you have to look but i have not noticed more than a couple of pennies difference in price between t/a and p/fj at the ones we fuel at. when i take into account the 3 to 5/10 better fuel mileage i get with t/a fuel it seems to work out. i was solid flying j b4 the merger and would not believe i would get better mpg and never checked it but now that i boycott p/fj all together i have noticed a difference. we have fleet one for fuel only no extras dont need them and there is no transaction fee for fueling.

 

[highway star]

i was solid flying j b4 the merger and would not believe i would get better mpg and never checked it but now that i boycott p/fj all together i have noticed a difference.

Ditto, pretty much. I knew my truck was capable of 12 given the right circumstances and it finally happened.