Stand-Alone Fuel Tax Solutions Roundup
Updates are crucial for efficiency.
JOHN BENDEL
TECHNOLOGY EDITOR
Perhaps the best fuel tax solutions come with broader management systems. Fuel tax modules often use data already gathered by other system modules and require no manual data entry.
Indeed, most truckload enterprise solutions contain a fuel tax module or interface with a third-party fuel tax service. Similarly, most providers of mileage and routing software offer fuel tax products as well.
But not every fleet that files fuel tax reports needs enterprise software. And while mileage software can almost always be helpful, there is still a place for free-standing fuel tax programs. They help organize information and fill out documents, defined by entities such as the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA), the International Registration Plan (IRP), the Single State Registration System (SSRS) and others. Stand-alone fuel tax programs require manual data entry, but they can still make things easier. If you are responsible for your fleet's state fuel tax reports the stand-alone technology products listed below might help.
While these products can all turn out basic fuel tax forms, they differ substantially beyond that. Some offer more functionality and potential value to any given operation.
Also, fuel tax programs are efficient only as long as the tax rate information they work with remains current. Not all vendors included updates in their pricing information, but all listed products will eventually require updating.
In other words, there's a lot more to consider than the buying price.
The products listed here alphabetically all run on PCs in Microsoft Windows. Network versions are noted where applicable.
FUEL FASTAX
ALT Group Incorporated
P.O. Box 185
Miramichi, NB,
Canada, E1N 3A6
(877) 275-4338
www.efueltax.com
This solution is free, at least for the time being. It's the first of an anticipated suite of ASP (Application Service Provider) trucking software from a Canada-based developer of Internet-based software.
Go to the web site at www.efueltax.com, register and download a small piece of software that will reside on your computer. Using that software you enter data while off-line. When that job is done, you log on to the Internet. Fuel FasTax Online —the ASP portion of the program — then calculates the IFTA Quarterly Fuel Use Tax and generates reports ready for printing. Fuel FasTax is recommended for fleets of up to 100 trucks.
Fuel Manager 2000
Easy Trucking Software
3120 S Business Dr Suite 296
Sheboygan, WI 53081
(920) 459-9511
www.2omni.com
This software is available with or without other company products such as Profit Per Mile, an owner-operator, small-fleet accounting program.
The freestanding version of Fuel Manager 2000 for fleets of six and more trucks costs $349.95 on a CD. However, you can download the software from the company's web site at a cost of $295.
FUELWIN
Pro Series Software
Trucking Software Div.
10026A South Mingo
Tulsa, OK 74133
(888) 808-8899
http://cpipro.com
FuelWin is one of a suite of Pro Series Software trucking products including MileWin, which enables FuelWin to interface with ALK's PC*MILER software.
According to the Pro Series web site, FuelWin is currently on sale at $299 for a single user. It normally costs $495. The multi-user version of FuelWin costs $499. Both versions come bundled with MileWin.
PC*FUELTAX
ALK Technologies, Inc.
1000 Herrontown Rd
Princeton, NJ 08540
(609) 683-0220
www.pcmiler.com
PC*FUELTAX interfaces with ALK's PC*MILER mileage and routing products in both PC and network environments.
ALK Technologies is currently offering a limited-time price of $995 for PC*FUEL TAX — approximately $200 below regular price. That's for a single user for one year. Thereafter a $295 annual maintenance fee applies.
PC*FUEL TAX is available through resellers as well as through ALK.
PROMILES FUEL TAX
ProMiles Software Development Corp.
1900 Texas Avenue
Bridge City, Texas 77611
(800) 324-8588
www.promiles.com
This program interfaces with ProMiles mileage programs and costs $595 for a single fleet license. Unfortunately, a July special price of $395 may have expired by the time you read this.
Updates cost $49.50 a quarter or $198 a year.
Road Fuel Tax
Frontline Software Technology, Inc.
1990 59th Avenue Suite E
Greeley, CO 80634
800-483-7668
www.gofrontline.com
Frontline Software offers a suite of trucking programs bundled in its Professional Edition or individually in their Tool Box Edition. Road Fuel Tax, which interfaces with the Professional Edition, is available in a stand-alone Tool Box Edition. The single-user version costs $349; the multi-user version costs $449.
RoadTax
Rand McNally, Inc.
8255 N. Central Park Ave.
Skokie, IL 60076-2970
(800) 234-4069
http://trucking.randmcnally.com
RoadTax software was developed by Operating Tax Specialists, Inc., Alpharetta, Ga., and is jointly licensed and marketed with Rand McNally.
RoadTax will accept manually entered data. However, Rand McNally recommends it be used with Rand McNally's Intelliroute mileage software and offers bundled software packages starting at $1,995.
Purchased separately — for those who already have Intelliroute, in Rand McNally's view — RoadTax costs $995.
TAXTALLY
Prophesy Transportation Solutions, Inc.
204-C West Newberry Road
Bloomfield, CT 06002
(800) 776-6706
www.mile.com
TaxTally fits in an array of trucking software from Prophesy Transportation Software and comes in a number of versions, including one specifically for fuel tax consulting services and another for multiple fleets.
Prices vary accordingly and begin at $695.
TDS FUELTAX
TDS Inc.
P.O. Box 11215,
Rock Hill, SC 29731
(803) 327-1111
www.tdsvision.com
A two-to-five truck version of TDS FuelTAX costs $89, the six to 25 truck version costs $139. The "unlimited" version goes for $179.
TDS FuelTAX comes in versions for network use and a package that includes ProMiles mileage software. It is also available as a module of TDS FleetMaster bundled trucking software.
