WASHINGTON, DC — September 9, 2002 — The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) today announced a new program for member companies that is intended to help reduce transportation and fleet operations costs and increase productivity.

“We are delighted to offer the FleetXchange program, developed and operated by AmeriQuest Transportation, Cherry Hill, NJ, as a fast and efficient way of providing substantial savings on fleet-related equipment, parts and supplies, as well as rebates based on purchases,” explained FMI President and CEO Tim Hammonds.

“Virtually all FMI members will be able to benefit from some part of the program,” Hammonds said. “This is a very exciting opportunity that will allow members to continue to buy from their local suppliers, while benefiting from extremely aggressive pricing and rebates.”

AmeriQuest President Doug Clark said the addition of FMI to its FleetXchange program will add further buying clout to a program that already includes more than 180,000 power units. “By aggregating purchasing power, we are able to offer the very best pricing available in the industry,” Clark said. “Combine that with the rebates that are offered, and the savings can be very, very significant.”

Added Joe Ciolino, Executive Vice President and General Manager, AmeriQuest/ FleetXchange, “FMI food industry fleets have been seeking the opportunity to aggregate their transportation procurement volumes, as they do with other items through share groups, co-ops, etc. The potential savings is enormous. For example, we have seen savings greater than $75.00 per truck tire. We have been procuring for approximately 100+ truck leasing and rental companies and nearly that amount of for-hire carriers in North America for decades. Due to our current established volumes and business model, and now through our relationship with FMI, fleets can experience these levels of savings through our current and sustained volumes.”

Special pricing and rebates are offered by FleetXchange on a huge variety of products and supplies, including truck bodies and engines, transmissions, retread and new tires, transmissions, washing supplies and cleaners, lubricants, forklifts, maintenance, repair and operating supplies, fuel cards, filters, fifth wheels, fleet automobiles, light-duty trucks, liftgates, yard tractors, splash guards and much more.

Orders can be made by fax or phone, as always. The only thing that changes is that members provide vendors with their FleetXchange account ID to ensure they receive all of the available benefits. Online ordering will also be available.

Another benefit of the program, according to Clark, is the e-commerce tools that help to eliminate paperwork and allow companies with more than one location to track purchases.

In addition to the buying service, FleetXchange offers an information exchange service for participants, where fleet professionals receive the latest in fleet-related news, exchange views and discuss problems, and rate commonly used products.

“Even for the smallest member companies that may not qualify for the volume-based price discounts, this information service will be extremely valuable, as they seek new ways of becoming more efficient in their distribution operations,” Hammonds said.

FleetXchange makes it easy for FMI members to stay abreast of transportation developments across the nation and around the world and, at the same time, learn from industry experts and peers.

Quickly and easily, InfoXchange provides the latest news headlines, topics for discussions, and a chance to get questions answered from others in the rapidly growing community of fleet professionals who look to FleetXchange every day. The information that InfoXchange provides helps members save money and be more efficient by avoiding mistakes others have made.

FleetXchange members will also find quick and easy links to check on everything from fuel prices to recall notifications, from road conditions to weather.

To participate in the program, FMI member company fleet professionals should visit FMI’s website, www.fmi.org, and click on the FleetXchange link on the bottom of the home page. They will be connected to the FleetXchange website, where they can register and get started.

About AmeriQuest Transportation and Logistics Resources
AmeriQuest Transportation and Logistics Resources provides procurement services, outsourced transportation management services, asset services, and logistics consulting to the commercial trucking industry. AmeriQuest dramatically cuts costs and optimizes operations for their powerful network of more than 525,000 transportation vehicles. AmeriQuest offers significant discounts with commercial trucking suppliers' fleet-related products, and provides technology driven back office process efficiencies. AmeriQuest enables customers to realize immediate bottom-line savings while adding economic and performance value to industry supply chains.

About FMI
Food Marketing Institute (FMI) conducts programs in research, education, industry relations and public affairs on behalf of its 2,300 member companies - food retailers and wholesalers - in the United States and around the world. FMI's U.S. members operate approximately 26,000 retail food stores with a combined annual sales volume of $340 billion - three-quarters of all food retail store sales in the United States. FMI's retail membership is composed of large multi-store chains, regional firms and independent supermarkets. Its international membership includes 200 companies from 60 countries.