Fleet owners on a quest for cheap fuel

FuelQuest Advices Fleet Operators In Light Of Surging Petrol Costs. FuelQuest, Inc., the leading on-demand software and services company for the downstream energy industry, today issues advise to fleet operators in light of the sustained fuel price increases. With a number of lorries taking to the streets of London to protest the soaring petrol costs, FuelQuest is advising fleet owners to implement a comprehensive approach to fuel management that provides security of supply and improves the economics of fuel buying and consumption.

Rapidly increasing fuel prices and price volatility are not short-term economic variations. These issues will affect the fleet industry for years to come. Fuel costs represent a greater percentage of overall operating expense and are increasingly difficult to transfer entirely to downstream customers. Likewise, price volatility undermines business predictability from an earnings and investment perspective. In this difficult environment, fuel cost minimisation is a critical factor in business viability for fleets.

Operating under the current climate, fleet owners need to implement comprehensive strategies to ensure significant savings and improved efficiency are achieved in the following key areas:

Spend analysis – determine market-by-market, site-by-site and route-by-route

Benchmarking – baseline and compare to published market metrics and established industry best practices

Supply strategy – balance supply security with cost and margins

Contracting – coordinate operations, accounting and legal teams to maximize opportunity

Execution – automate to ensure rigorous compliance to the fuel program.

FuelQuest has assisted companies as diverse as UPS, Wal-Mart, YRC Worldwide and U.S. Foodservice among others to minimise fleet costs.

“Fleet operators need to implement technologies and processes to minimise fuel sourcing costs, optimise routes, and ensure billing accuracy. A comprehensive approach to automation will marry solutions at both a strategic and tactical level,” says FuelQuest's Director for Europe, Tim Napper. “Fuel supply optimisation solutions enable sourcing at the lowest cost by geography among suppliers and automate financial reconciliation and tax compliance In developing an overall automation plan, it is important to map the value delivered by a solution back to both the opportunity baseline and supply portfolio options.”

About FuelQuest

FuelQuest provides on-demand, web-based supply chain management and tax automation technologies for suppliers, distributors, buyers, and traders of petroleum products and other energy commodities. FuelQuest solutions deliver operational and financial value to over 750 customers. These customers include leading global oil companies, international retailers, shippers and government entities. FuelQuest solutions help customers manage the complexity, regulation, and market volatility of billions of litres of unleaded and diesel fuel annually. ZyTax solutions process tens of billions of dollars of motor fuels excise taxes per year. FuelQuest has offices in Houston, Texas and Manchester, England. To find out more visit www.fuelquest.com