Shell Fleet Solutions partners with Hightowers Petroleum Company to expand network, deliver more savings to large fleets
CLEVELAND, Ohio—To expand its discount offerings for large U.S. fleet contracts, Shell Fleet Solutions has formed a partnership with Hightowers Petroleum Company (HPC), an energy supplier that manages 300 million gallons of fuel annually and offers a 30,000+ site national discount network called Hightowers Advantage.
This is a significant expansion upon Shell’s network of 12,000 retail sites. The combined network should provide more fuel spend savings and higher flexibility for enterprise fleets that procure more than 3 million gallons per year. These large fleet customers will gain the benefits of the expanded discount network, but Shell said the user experience will remain unchanged. Customers will still use their Shell Card Business Flex and retain the same reporting, payment, and account management structure.
“We heard the customer, and customers are always looking to expand the savings that they get holistically,” Mohamad Kabbani, Shell’s head of fleet solutions for the U.S., explained. “This allows us to offer greater value to our customers while keeping things simple for them through a single integrated solution.”
HPC has also had extreme momentum in the past decade, more than doubling the reported 140 million gallons of gas and diesel that the company sold in 2017 to corporate fleets such as FedEx and General Motors.
“They already have a very strong credibility in the large fleet space, so together, we knew that we could win and expand the savings that we get and give to our customers,” Kabbani said. “It was honestly a win-win situation for both entities.”
Stephen L. Hightower, HPC’s founder, president, and CEO, founded the company in Middletown, Ohio, an outer suburb of Cincinnati, in the early 1980s. This came after working for his family’s janitorial company, attending Wright State University, and starting a construction business. In 2021, Hightower also founded an EV charging business called Hightower EV Solutions.
As a certified minority-owned business, HPC adds additional value in supporting supplier diversity, Kabbani noted this allows Shell to help its large fleet customers address any diversity spend reporting and invoicing related to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) requirements.
Shell and HPC signed the contract in March, and Kabbani said there are several deals in the works.
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John Hitch
Editor-in-chief, Fleet Maintenance
John Hitch is the award-winning editor-in-chief of Fleet Maintenance, where his mission is to provide maintenance leaders and technicians with the the latest information on tools, strategies, and best practices to keep their fleets' commercial vehicles moving.
He is based out of Cleveland, Ohio, and has worked in the B2B journalism space for more than a decade. Hitch was previously senior editor for FleetOwner and before that was technology editor for IndustryWeek and and managing editor of New Equipment Digest.
Hitch graduated from Kent State University and was editor of the student magazine The Burr in 2009.
The former sonar technician served honorably aboard the fast-attack submarine USS Oklahoma City (SSN-723), where he participated in counter-drug ops, an under-ice expedition, and other missions he's not allowed to talk about for several more decades.