Little break from the norm today with a corporate announcement from our parent company, FleetCor:

FleetCor Technologies Inc., a leading global provider of fuel cards and parent company to Knaresborough-based The Fuelcard Company, has today announced its acquisition of AllStar Business Solutions Limited from The Arval Group for £194 million.

At present, AllStar has approximately 40 thousand customers and about one million cardholders, a large portion of who are small and medium sized enterprises. AllStar serves both business clients directly and strategic partners like Arval leasing who in turn serve their customers. AllStar fuel cards are accepted by all UK major fuel brands, including the leading supermarket chains.

In addition, Arval and FleetCor have entered into a strategic relationship where Arval will provide fuel card payment solutions to its customers through AllStar. Existing AllStar customers will see no immediate change to their service provision.

The Fuelcard Company and AllStar will continue to run as two separate businesses for the foreseeable future with The Fuelcard Company continuing to resell its existing Shell, Keyfuels, Texaco, Esso and European products. The Fuelcard Company will remain based at its North Yorkshire head quarters.

“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of AllStar, which is consistent with our global acquisition strategy of identifying attractive assets with performance upside. We believe that we can help AllStar realise its full potential, as we have in previous acquisitions, by bringing our best practices, technology and commitment to this portfolio,” said Ron Clarke, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, FleetCor Technologies, Inc.

“We believe that this sale is a positive move for AllStar employees, partners and customers. FleetCor brings global fuel card expertise, best practices and experience to AllStar, which, we believe, will enable us to improve the products and services available to its customers,” said Andrew Blazye, Chief Executive Officer, FleetCor Europe. “The [AllStar] brand will be retained.  Our intention is to run AllStar as an independent, separate business for the foreseeable future.”

“The Arval Group strategy is to offer a bundle of funding and fleet management services based on risk retention, whilst the business model for AllStar is very different as it delivers transactional fuel services. As a result, we favour a long-term partnership with a global card expert. This will allow us to focus on our core business for the benefit of our customers while continuing to deliver fuel management solutions by working with a provider that can further enhance the value proposition,” said Bart Beckers, Chief Executive Officer, Arval UK.

FleetCor financed the all cash acquisition with available cash and financing through its existing credit facilities. FleetCor expects the acquisition to be accretive to revenues and earnings in 2012. The Agreement for the sale and purchase of the entire issued share capital of AllStar Business Solutions Limited was entered into and consummated 12^th December 2011 between FleetCor Technologies, Inc., its wholly-owned subsidiary, FleetCor UK Acquisition Limited, and Arval UK Group Limited, as described in FleetCor’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC today. FleetCor intends to notify the U.K. Office of Fair Trading of this acquisition and comply with customary undertakings during the review process.

Ever get the feeling you’re being watched? The truth, of course, is that you are – and in a major way. As if the CCTV cameras on every street corner were not enough – the UK has more than any other country in the world – turn the ignition key and it won’t be long before your vehicle is photographed or filmed by the speed camera on every footbridge and flyover.

And now the Home Office has begun trials of a new speed camera which combines number plate reading technology with GPS data from satellites.

The SpeedSpike system will use the satellite readings to calculate the average speed of drivers under surveillance by assessing the time it takes them to travel between two points.

It is currently being tested at sites in Southwark, London and in Cornwall.

A spokesman for the AA reacted calmly to the announcement, telling the Daily Telegraph: “It is a natural evolution of the technology that is out there.”

Undoubtedly true. Once an upmarket technical novelty, GPS has made the journey to becoming humdrum and every-day in just a few short years. Many mobile phones now feature built-in GPS.

How long will be it before satellite surveillance of traffic becomes humdrum and every day? Don’t bet on it being very long.

Achieve added control over your fuel purchases with a fuel card.  We will help you to manage your account and transactions for optimum efficiency and convenience.

Yesterday (April 22) the second of three televised debates took place between the three party political leaders contesting the 2010 election: Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg.

A largely unexpected surge in Liberal Democrat support over the last week has attracted plenty of media attention – much of it brazenly hostile – and led some commentators to predict a hung parliament.

The last time we saw a parliament with no political majority was as long ago as 1974: some people reading this blog were not even born 36 years ago.

Will this happen – and what, if anything, will it mean for the haulage industry? It’s pretty hard to tell, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) claimed this week, as none of the three main political parties supposedly displayed a clear commitment to the logistics sector in their election manifestos.

While the manifestos do refer to some “vitally important areas affecting the logistics sector”, including aviation tax, a third runway at Heathrow and road pricing, none, says the FTA, display a clear commitment to improving the country’s transport infrastructure.

In a newly published ‘logistics manifesto’, the FTA has called on whichever party comes to power to make such an investment, which it claims will benefit both the economy and the environment.

Here at The Fuelcard Company, we have long believed that the haulage industry is an unheralded hero of the British economy. Britain’s lorry drivers keep UK retail and industry on the road, quite literally. If there’s one sector that deserves some firm expressions of political support, it’s haulage.

Let us show you the best deals on fuel cards based on your individual requirements, from your estimated fuel spend to the size of your fleet.

There are two different ways of looking at new poll findings announced this week by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) – apparently three in four people (73 per cent) would not hesitate to report elderly friends or relatives if they felt their driving was not up to scratch.

Grassing up Granddad or protecting him from a potentially fatal accident? Of course many older people are highly competent drivers – with decades of road experience behind them. It is also true that accelerator-happy young males are far more likely to be involved in accidents than older motorists.

But the years catch up with everyone and after a certain number of birthdays, older motorists are more likely to suffer from impaired hearing or vision, have slower reactions or other ailments which might make them a danger to themselves or others on the road.

An online poll conducted by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) also found that 68 per cent of people think roads would be made safer by the introduction of a mandatory test for drivers over 70 years old.

That’s pretty unlikely to happen – it would be a logistical nightmare, not to mention a significant financial imposition on the limited budgets of retirees.  Many would need to take lessons to practice test manoeuvres they may not have carried out in the required way since they passed their test however many years before.

But the Government does require all motorists aged 70 or over to officially renew their licence every three years and to declare any medical conditions likely to affect their driving. But does every pension-drawing motorist do so religiously and honestly? It’s unlikely.

Stuck in traffic?  Burning fuel?  Visit our Fuel Card website to see how you could save money on your next journey with a fuel card.

Expensive, environmentally unfriendly, inconvenient – that’s just some of the predicted effects of the 1 March hikes on the M6 bypass toll in the eyes of the Freight Transport Association (FTA). And probably everyone else in the haulage industry!

Basically the 6.4 per cent increase, which is double the rate of inflation, will render what should be a highly beneficial route for HGV operators expensive at best, and totally unaffordable at worst.

According to the FTA, not only will the increase be bad for businesses and fuel card users, it will drive many hauliers quite literally off the M6 bypass and back onto the M6, infamous for the congestion which prompted the M6 toll road to be built in the first place.

The bypass is currently “chronically under-used”, according to the FTA, despite costing £700 million to build.

Further overcrowding on the M6 will have obvious knock-on environmental effects thanks to idling and tailbacks. Idling also wastes fuel, driving up costs.

Stephen Kelly, FTA’s Head of Policy for the Midlands, said: “Extra toll costs are the last thing the commercial vehicle sector needs, but by effectively closing the gate to this vital corridor for so many hauliers we are in danger of not realising the economic and environmental benefits that this road was built for in the first place.”

So a big step backwards then, in other words.  Midland Expressway, which is imposing the rise to pay for general highway improvements, be warned – you may do more harm than good.

It pays to work together, according to a report on beating vehicle cloning from vehicle information source HPI this week.
It has teamed up with the Association of Chief Police Officers on the issue.

A major problem facilitating car cloning is the theft of log books (V5s) which make creating a doppelganger – and so fooling unsuspecting buyers – as easy as buttering toast.

And just like toast is bound to fall on the ground face-first, 11,000 cloned vehicles worth more than £13 million have been taken back from their new owners since 2006.  That’s a lot of happy criminals, and a lot of very unhappy consumers.

However, the HPI has offered some advice on beating the con-artists before it’s too late. Firstly, stolen V5 certificates look mauve on the front and pink on the back, when on legitimate documents they should be mauve on both sides.
Other key tips include viewing a vehicle at the registered seller’s address, as shown on the V5, and using the resource’s HPI Check service to verify VIN numbers and check for stolen logbooks (a service which comes as standard).

Nicola Johnson, Consumer Services Manager at HPI, said: “We can’t stop stolen V5s from circulating but we can stop the criminals from profiteering from them by simply using the tools that are at hand to check, check and double check if documents are legitimate.”

Basically, it all boils down to common sense, following a range of simple measures, and having HPI on speed-dial when buying a used car.

It’s so tempting. You venture out to your car on a dark and frosty morning, switch on the engine and then head back into the kitchen for an extra cup of tea. Ten minutes later, the engine has warmed up, the windscreen has defrosted, and you’re ready to zip off to work.

More than 40 per cent of drivers admit to leaving their cars unattended with the engine running in order to defrost the windscreen, according to new research from comparison site uSwitch.com.

But leaving a car unattended with the engine running, and even the key in the ignition, poses an obvious risk. A nimble-footed opportunist thief may find the temptation impossible to resist. And such thefts, over in a few minutes, can have serious, even fatal consequences – witness the recent tragic death of Manchester mum Lynda Hankey, callously run over by a thief who had jumped into her car after she left it running outside her home.

Stealing defrosting cars is known, appropriately enough, as ‘frost-jacking’ – and while the risks may seem obvious, the uSwitch research reveals that 16 per cent of motorists admit to leaving vehicles unattended even though they are worried about theft, and a significant 41 per cent think that simply watching the vehicle from inside their homes is enough to prevent it being stolen.

Meanwhile, 11 per cent said they had not even considered the possibility of unattended cars being stolen.

In the words of the website’s Mark Monteiro: “Leaving your car unlocked with the engine running is an open invitation to opportunist thieves.”

http://www.headlineauto.co.uk/Entry.asp?nSectionID=0&nUID=4078&sPass=acceleris&nAID=13662

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8464662.stm

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For a fuel card analysis visit www.businessfuelcards.co.uk . You will find multiple fuel cards that are suitable for your business.

This week fuel card users were interested to hear that the current motor industry climate may make 2010 the ‘year of charm’ for carmakers trying to appeal to fleet managers.

In the words of John Lewis, chief executive of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), manufacturers have launched “a charm offensive on their fleet customers” to offset a drop in retail sales.

The BVRLA were responding to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders for 2009, in which there was a “real slump” in the business car market.  Its share of new car registrations fell below 50 per cent for the first time in 16 years.

John Lewis said that this was due to companies delaying purchases of new vehicles and running existing ones for longer.  However, as the economy starts to recover, the BVRLA expects fleet car sales to exceed one million in 2010.

So how much ‘charm’ exactly do manufacturers have to emit to hit that figure?  We’re trying hard to fight the image of a Hugh Grant character taking the fleet industry out for dinner and telling it how beautiful it looks.

In reality, this ‘charm offensive’ may pave the way for some great offers and promotions, dedicated fleet-orientated advertising campaigns which are bolder, braver and sexier than ever, and more ‘charming’ vehicle designs.

We can think of a certain Irish pop legend who will be rejoicing the latter prospect – Bono.  In his regular New York Times column this week, the U2 frontman called for the return of the ‘sexy’ car design brought to life in the 40s, 50s and 60s.

While the priority for business and fleet drivers is of course the functionality, reliability and versatility of their vehicles, it doesn’t hurt for them to look good too does it?  Not that they don’t at the moment!
So those are our thoughts – charm away!

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The Fuel Card Company encourages small businesses to choose fuel cards with correct fuel analysis.

So long the 4×4 has been subject to taunts labelling it uneconomical, ‘gas guzzling’ and an enemy of the environment, but there has been good news for the brawny 4×4 and its owner in recent weeks.

Countless drivers, businesses and fuel card holders with 4x4s have reported on their vehicles’ reliability in driving in snow and ice, particularly in remote areas where the all-wheel-drive is often essential. 

During one of the snowiest and iciest periods in 30 years, 4x4s have come to the rescue in various ways: transporting hospital staff and police, going to the aid of stranded motorists and elderly people, and even delivering ‘meals on wheels’!

While we cannot deny that 4x4s tend to have a much greater impact in terms of fuel consumption, the environment, not to mention their sheer size, it’s worth thinking about the benefits they bring to those who really need them.  And before you rush out and buy one, a survey by Warranty Direct has revealed the Honda CR-V is the most reliable used 4×4 in terms of breakdowns, average repair costs and time spent in the garage.

Meanwhile, further applause for the 4×4 has sounded in the shape of research from price guide Glassguide.co.uk – they seem to be the popular choice among foreign buyers who are attracted to their low prices (they sometimes cost half as much as they would in their home countries).

How refreshing – looking at 4x4s in a positive light!

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This article comes from the Fuel Card Company. Get your business the edge with fuel cards.

We could not help but be concerned by the recently published Glass’s Guide survey which revealed just how many motorists are cutting corners on car safety.

Almost half of all motorists and fuel card users have postponed vehicle-related spending over the last year, according to the findings.

Prompted by the recession, as many as 15 per cent of the respondents admitted to delaying routine professional car maintenance and bodywork repairs, while eight per cent have even postponed buying replacement tyres.

Worrying news – the drivers who have skimped on maintenance may be in the lane next to yours the next time you leave the house, or just across the junction and coming your way.

Driving has rarely been more expensive – with sky high fuel taxes being just one of the pressures facing the modern motorist and fuel card users in the midst of one of the UK’s worst recessions for decades.

It is quite natural when you’re strapped for cash to look for cutbacks and savings. But that shouldn’t mean throwing common sense out the passenger-side window and postponing maintenance measures that could literally be a matter of life and death.