Comdata Review: Is It the Right Fuel Card For You?

So you’re looking to buy a Comdata fuel card, but with all the different options available, it can be tough to decide which is best for you. We’re here to help save you time and reduce confusion, so you can make an informed choice on whether it’s an appropriate fuel card for your truckers.

This Comdata review contains everything you need to know about the company’s fuel cards. We take a close look at its four cards—highlighting their benefits, drawbacks, and pricing and comparing them to Comdata’s closest competitors.

Short on Time? Here Are The Key Takeaways

• Comdata offers four fuel cards primarily geared towards trucking businesses. The cards each have their own benefits and use cases, functioning on either the Comdata Proprietary Network or the Mastercard network (or both).
• Comdata’s fuel cards include software features such as spend controls, fraud prevention, smart analytics, and dual-network access for fuel and personal transactions.
• Comdata’s fuel cards cost $8 per month and can earn you up to $0.25 off per gallon at more than 8,000 truck stops across the United States.
• Compared to Edenred, Comdata is accepted at fewer locations but offers higher discounts. Compared to RTS, Comdata is accepted at more locations and offers more advanced software, but offers lower fuel discounts.

What Is Comdata?

Comdata is a leading provider of payment and operating technology solutions for the trucking and transportation industries. The company offers a wide range of services, including fuel cards, fleet management, payroll cards, and corporate payment solutions.

The Comdata Fuel Card Explained: Is It Any Good?

Comdata offers four different fuel cards, each designed to help businesses with heavy fleet operations save money through high cash rebates per gallon, spend controls to keep drivers within limits, in-depth expense tracking, and more.

Four fuel cards, two networks

Each of Comdata’s four fuel cards comes with its own set of benefits, and functions on either the Comdata Proprietary Network, the Mastercard network, or both.

The Comdata Fleet Card is Comdata’s standard fuel card offering. It provides:

• A line of credit through the Comdata Proprietary Network, accepted at more than 8,000 truck stops in the United States
• Fuel discounts of up to $0.25 per gallon
• Advanced fraud control and spend limits through Comdata’s iConnect Data software
• Special savings on hotels and scale weigh-ins for truckers.

The Comdata Connect Card provides the same benefits as the Comdata Fleet Card, except it doesn’t come with a line of credit. Instead, you must link it to an existing credit or debit card and draw the funds from that card or preload the funds beforehand.

The Comdata OnRoad Card is a two-in-one Mastercard solution designed to reduce administrative burdens for both company management and drivers. It allows drivers to use the Comdata Proprietary Network to purchase fuel with all the same benefits as the previous two cards and use the Mastercard Signature Debit network to access their own balances and make personal transactions.

The card can be customized to allow drivers to access:

• Only company funds
• Only personal funds
• Both company and personal funds

The Comdata Mastercard helps you and your company’s supervisors manage the operations of your entire fleet. It runs on the Mastercard network, which means it’s accepted nearly everywhere. It comes with a host of benefits for fleet expenses, including:

• Truck repairs
• Truck maintenance
• Fuel
• International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) tax services

As a bonus, if you purchase the Comdata Mastercard, Comdata will give you access to the OnRoad Card as well. This means you can maximize your savings by using the Mastercard for general fleet purchases and the OnRoad card for fuel.

Comdata fuel card software

Comdata provides software that enables you to monitor your drivers’ spending and make better decisions for your fleet.

• iConnectData: This is Comdata’s 24/7 online account management system, available for free with any of Comdata’s four fuel cards. It offers detailed reports on spending and card statuses, tools for managing your drivers’ profiles, and more.
• Comdata FleetAdvance: This is a mobile app that automatically prepares fuel-efficient routes for drivers and highlights the cheapest gas stations that accept Comdata’s fuel cards. Unfortunately, the app has only 1.3 out of 5 stars on the Apple App Store.
• Comdata OneLook: This is Comdata’s smart analytics software. It takes your spending trends and turns them into steps you can take to save money on fuel and overall fleet operations with your Comdata fuel cards. This is where you can spot misuse and inappropriate purchases by your drivers, monitor discounts to maximize savings, and view price trends by region.
• Comdata ComChek: ComChek allows you to send funds directly to anyone who holds a Comdata OnRoad card, using the Driven for Comdata app.

Price of the Comdata fuel card

You’ll have to pay a one-time, $50 setup fee to open a Comdata fuel card account. After that, each card costs $8 per card per month.

Using a Fleet Card, Connect Card, or OnRoad card, all gas you purchase will be at cash price (usually $0.05 to $0.10 lower than credit card price). You’ll also get significant discounts per gallon, depending on the truck stop:

• TA Petro: up to $0.25 off per gallon
• Pilot Flying J: up to $0.10 off per gallon
• Love’s, 7-Eleven, Speedway, and AMBEST: up to $0.08 off per gallon
• Sheetz: up to $0.07 off per gallon

How Does the Comdata Fuel Card Compare?

Let’s see how Comdata’s fuel cards stack up against those of its two closest competitors: Edenred and RTS.

Edenred vs. Comdata

Edenred offers similar services to Comdata, but its Edenred Essentials Fuel Card focuses on general fleet operations rather than just truckers.

There are two service tiers:

• The Fuel Only plan: offers rebates and spend controls for gas and EV charging
• The Fuel & More plan: adds the ability to pay for maintenance, parking, tolls, car washes, and more

The Edenred Essentials Fuel Card costs only $3 per month compared to Comdata’s $8 per month. But the rebates are lower as well—where Comdata offers up to $0.25 cents back per gallon, Edenred maxes out at $0.04.

In terms of software, Edenred offers much the same feature set as Comdata: real-time spend controls, automatic reporting, declined transaction review, and more. Perhaps Edenred’s biggest benefit is that it’s accepted anywhere a Visa is.

Choose Edenred over Comdata if you want card acceptance at most gas stations, you prioritize lower monthly payments, and your fleet operations include more than just trucking.

Check out our full Edenred review for more information.

RTS vs. Comdata

RTS is similar to Comdata in that it’s a payments and services platform focused mostly on benefits for trucking businesses. It has three fuel cards to choose from:

• Fleet One Fuel Card: includes discounts for both fuel and maintenance
• Self-Funded Fuel Card includes the same, but it works only with prepaid funds (RTS’s version of the Comdata Connect Card)
• Mixed Fleet Fuel Card is geared towards larger fleets, with discounts for diesel and regular fuel.

RTS doesn’t provide prices for its fuel cards on its website, but the company states that users will get an average of $0.25 off per gallon of gas purchased—a pretty hefty discount. In comparison, Comdata offers discounts that can go up to $0.25 off per gallon, though the average discount is typically lower. The trade-off with RTS is that its fuel cards are compatible with only about 3,000 truck stops across the US, whereas Comdata’s network includes over 8,000 locations.

Additionally, RTS’s website only mentions a few basic software features, like a card lock to prevent fraud and an app for route optimization and finding the cheapest gas stations, like Comdata FleetAdvance.

Choose RTS over Comdata if the high average rebate of $0.25 per gallon justifies only having 3,000 compatible truck stops, and if advanced software features like real-time monitoring and automatic reporting aren’t a huge priority.

If you want more details, check out our full RTS review.