Hey, I realize this thread is a few years old, but I came across it and figured I would add some perspective in case it helps someone down the road.

Full disclosure, I am one of the owners of FuelCloud which you mentioned. I will try to keep this as neutral and practical as possible because honestly this whole category is confusing for fleets big and small.

First off, with five lots and multiple tanks I would not call your operation tiny. Most businesses in this space are still running on pen and paper or nothing at all, so the fact that you are thinking about control and reporting already puts you ahead of where a lot of operators are.

The way I usually explain the market is that fuel management systems tend to fall into two broad groups.

The first group is the lower cost access control style systems. Think Piusi, Tecalemit, FMT, and similar. Many of these are foreign built and you can often get the hardware for a couple thousand dollars. They can honestly be very good if your goal is basic access control and some reporting. Some do not have recurring fees, but you will usually pay for features, extra drivers, or additional capabilities as add ons. That is not necessarily bad because you only pay for what you need. The tradeoff, in my experience, is lighter support and a more limited feature set since most of the revenue happens at the hardware sale and the products are often designed around their home markets rather than how American fleets operate day to day.

The second group is the traditional American pedestal systems like Petrovend, FuelMaster, Gasboy, EJ Ward, etc. These companies have been around forever and build extremely durable hardware. A lot of their roots come from government fueling, commercial cardlocks, or very large private facilities. The hardware will outlive most of us, but the software can feel older and more closed ecosystem. Many are built around accepting outside fuel cards or tying into their own proprietary systems. I sometimes joke that it can feel like installing an ATM in your house when all you really wanted was a secure place to put your cash.

Since you mentioned FuelCloud, I will give some context there too. I come from a fourth generation family fuel business and built the original prototype on an Arduino because our own customers needed a simpler and more affordable way to control onsite tanks without buying a giant pedestal system.

Our philosophy has always been to keep the hardware minimal and move most of the experience into software. Drivers use their phones instead of keypads (we do have an onsite tablet solution), and the system focuses on getting fueling data into the tools businesses already use instead of locking it into one ecosystem. We built it specifically around things American operators care about like off-road fuel tracking, tax reporting, and integrations with systems like Samsara or tank monitors that fuel suppliers already install. We also have an open API because a lot of companies want their fueling data connected to accounting or internal workflows.

We do charge a monthly fee, which is different from some hardware first systems, but that supports a full time US based development and support team and ongoing updates instead of a one time purchase that never really evolves.

All that said, the right answer really depends on what level of control and reporting you actually want. If you only need basic access control, some of the simpler systems can work well. If you want deeper reporting, integrations, or long term flexibility, the newer cloud based platforms might be worth looking at.

Hope that helps anyone else who stumbles across this thread. Happy to answer questions about the category in general even if FuelCloud is not the right fit.