MONTREAL (August 13, 2003) — The only thing certain about the price of fuel is that it’ll change. The laws of supply and demand will see to that, setting a rhythm that keeps diesel suppliers and fleet managers in a whirling tango of negotiation.

“I can’t tell you what our price of fuel will be six months from now,” says Roger Mondou, director of commercial business for Ultramar in Montreal. “No one can. So we have to provide certainty in other areas: consistent invoicing, a clean shower, truck stop and cardlock locations that don’t take you out of route, and so on. We’re doing business in a time when if we can’t fix the price of fuel, we can at least make it more convenient to buy fuel and the purchases easier to control.”

Part of the strategy for Ultramar is to expand its network of truck stop and cardlock sites. The company has 57 locations in Quebec and the Maritimes, and 28 in Ontario — all told, it’s the largest commercial diesel fuel network in Eastern Canada.

It also supplies fuel for TravelCenters of America (TA), which acquired its first truck stop in Canada last November. The location, in Woodstock, Ont., was purchased from Ultramar and still carries the Ultramar brand.

That deal helped cement another agreement with TA: to have Ultramar’s Pipeline Commercial card accepted for fuel purchases about 150 TA locations in the United States.

“With TA, the beauty for the fleet manager is that the transaction is managed as though it occurred within our own Pipeline Commercial network,” Mondou says. “You get the same reporting, same invoice, no transaction fee, and the same credit terms as always. That’s important, because in the States, the typical term is seven to 10 days, depending on your bargaining power. In Canada, the usual terms are 30 days. We give you another 20 or 23 days. That helps your cash flow.”