HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwired - Jan 14, 2014) - FuelQuest, Inc., the leading on-demand software and services company for the global downstream energy industry, today announced a multi-year renewal agreement with FirstGroup America Inc. As the leading provider of surface transportation in North America, FirstGroup owns and/or operates over 60,000 school and transit buses, and maintains additional vehicles at over 1,100 locations in the United States and Canada. FuelQuest provides bulk fuel management services to FirstGroup that reduce fuel costs.

"Our relationship with FuelQuest began in 2006. We sought them out because of their expertise and their independent approach to fuel management," says Tom Warman fuel director at FirstGroup America. "Even with our top-tier fuel suppliers, leveraging a service such as invoice reconciliation provides us with critical oversight to a significant expense within our business. We look forward to continuing our long-standing relationship with FuelQuest and consider them a valued partner."

With its team of fuel experts and industry-leading Fuel Management System (FMS) software, FuelQuest Fuel Center® forecasts and sources fuel acting as a supplier-independent extension of the bulk fuel customer. Fuel Center assumes other critical fuel management activities including order management as well as fuel, freight, and tax charge reconciliation. These capabilities allow Fuel Center to provide its customers the following benefits:

  • Reduced invoice overpayments and administration costs,
  • Lower fuel costs and more efficient use of credit,
  • Greater predictability of fuel budget, and
  • Increased security of supply.

"FuelQuest is excited to continue our partnership with FirstGroup and appreciate the value they see in our services," says Ryan Mossman, VP & GM of Fuel Services at FuelQuest. "In today's highly volatile fuel market, gaining greater operational control is essential -- particularly in areas like invoice reconciliation where invoices are of a high dollar value, based on complex contracts, and frequently mistake-prone. Such control creates savings that impact the corporate bottom line."

ABOUT FIRSTGROUP
 FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP.L) is the leading transport operator in the UK and North America. With revenues of more than £6.5 billion and around 120,000 employees, we transport more than 2.5 billion passengers every year. Each of our five divisions is a leader in its field: First Student is the largest provider of student transportation in North America with a fleet of around 50,000 yellow school buses, First Transit is one of the largest providers of outsourced transit management and contracting services in the US, while Greyhound is the only national operator of scheduled intercity coach services across North America. In the UK, FirstGroup is one of Britain's largest bus operators running a fleet of some 6,500 buses, and we operate approximately a quarter of the UK passenger rail network, carrying over 310 million passengers a year. Our vision is to provide solutions for an increasingly congested world, keeping people moving and communities prospering. Further information can be found at www.firstgroup.com.

ABOUT FUELQUEST
 FuelQuest provides on-demand fuel management, tax automation, and compliance solutions for suppliers, distributors, buyers, and traders of petroleum products and other energy commodities. FuelQuest's solutions deliver operational and financial value to over 650 customers. These customers include leading global oil companies, international retailers, shippers and government entities. FuelQuest's fuel management solutions help customers manage the complexity, regulation and market volatility for more than 22 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel annually. Its Zytax solutions ensure compliance and accuracy for tens of billions of dollars of energy-related excise taxes per year. Learn more at www.fuelquest.com.