Wheels, Inc. Adds Customized Vehicle Specification and Quote Features to FleetView Online Ordering System

DES PLAINES, Ill., Oct. 22, 2007 -- Wheels, Inc., a leader in the multi-billion-dollar fleet-leasing industry, today announced innovative new capabilities for developing and storing customized vehicle specifications and quotes within its FleetView(R) online fleet management tool.

FleetView is the industry-leading fleet management system that enables easy online transactions, such as vehicle ordering and driver data changes, and provides access to fleet-related information and reports.

Wheels' commitment to working with customers on an ongoing basis led to identifying several new requirements, according to Sheryl Sawyer, Wheels Director of Vehicle Acquisitions. "First, our customers really like the flow of the current online ordering process and wanted minimal deviation from that process," Sawyer said. "However, they wanted to be notified about any changes in pricing and manufacturer specifications from the original quote. In addition," she continued, "customers wanted the ability to easily share this information with others in their organizations since most quotes are generated for one-off vehicle requests and require approval at additional organizational levels."

Focusing on these customer preferences, Wheels built the new quote functionality to follow the same flow as the ordering process. There is no requirement to decide upfront whether the customer is building a quote or actually placing an order since either function is supported at any point in the process. And, each time a saved quote is accessed, a comparison to the previous quote which includes any changes in price or options along with a side-by-side view of the changes is automatically generated. The overall design means that a quote can be quickly and easily transformed into a real order and vehicle specifications and price sheet can be emailed to any stakeholders directly from the Wheels system.

The response from early users of the quote enhancement has been very positive. "Our business has many different vehicle applications," said Tim Stroup, Senior Commodity Agent, Procurement Shared Services at MDU Resources Group, Inc. in Bismarck, N.D. MDU Resources provides value-added natural resource products and related services that are essential to energy and transportation infrastructure.

"While our sourcing group is primarily responsible for procuring vehicles, it is nearly always a collaborative decision between our area and the business owners," Stroup explained. "With the quoting tool, we are able to build quotes while we are communicating by phone with the business owners and we can email them quotes directly from the application. Wheels really listened to our requirements and focused on the practical application of this feature when designing it," he continued. "The result is smoother, more positive collaboration on vehicle acquisition than ever before."

About Wheels, Inc.

Wheels, Inc. (www.wheels.com), which pioneered the concept of auto leasing in 1939, provides a full range of specialized services to help corporations manage their vehicle fleets. Wheels has 550 employees and manages more than 240,000 vehicles. Its holding company, Frank Consolidated Enterprises, currently ranks as one of the largest private companies in the United States, with more than $1.5 billion in annual sales. For additional information, please contact info@wheels.com.