Shell World Philippines 2012 Issue 2

LBC Express Inc.’s bright red bikes,vans, and lorries are a popular sighton the streets all over the country andis widely recognised by the people,given that the company has beenproviding the global Filipino peopleat home and abroad with courier,money remittance and logisticsservices for 61 years. “We are theonly global Filipino company thatprovides all these services,” saysJocel. “Other companies just doone or the other. Providing all theseservices give us the advantage overour competitors, in addition of courseto our global network.”“For the millions of Filipinos aroundthe world, LBC is their link to theirfamilies. Many of the Filipinosworking or living abroad only havetheir colleagues around them, so oneof the ways they choose to expresstheir love and emotion is by sendinghard earned items to their families inthe Philippines. For example, theysend money for schooling or evenfood stuffs or clothing so that they canlet their families back home enjoywhat they are experiencing abroad.”LBC Express Inc.’s business is “thetimed delivery of goods and money”,and this could be from practicallyanywhere in the world. It has 1,200branches globally, with 1,000 of thosein the Philippines and the rest spreadout across the United States, Canada,the United Kingdom, mainland Europe,the Middle East, Asia Pacific andAustralia, where significant numbersof global Filipinos call home. “Ourmission is to link and bridge globalFilipinos to their families living inthe Philippines.” To accomplish thismission, LBC Express Inc. has a strongfleet of vehicles in the Philippines thatcomprises 900 motorcycles, 400 vansand trucks and over a hundred servicevehicles. The business spends aroundseven to eight million pesos a monthon gasoline. LBC buys its fuel fromShell using Shell Card.“We have to deliver. One of themain reasons we are with Shell isthat it has a bigger network than itscompetitors,” explains Jocel. “Wehave a thousand branches and ourdeliveries are timed, so our truckshave to be filled all the time. We can’thave a situation where we are rushingour deliveries and one of our driversexperiences difficulty in gassing upbecause his fuel card is not valid orrecognised in filling station’s system,which is what happens with otherfuel companies.” Jocel cites Shell’scentralised computer system as a bigdraw for LBC, as their drivers feelconfident that their fuel cards willalways be accepted anywhere theygo, in addition to the benefit that italso made assigning cards to newpeople more efficient. “The Shellsystem is very flexible. You can assigncards to other people and there’s noadded cost. The Shell Card Online isa great tool for a company of our size– imagine if you have nearly 1,000motorcycles and 400 trucks – tryingto track them all manually would bea nightmare. This system allows us toefficiently track our fleet.”LBC Express Inc. has been usingShell fuel cards for over 10 yearsand the relationship between the twocompanies remains strong. In fact,the wide reach of the Shell networkhas worked well for one of Jocel’sprojects: LBC Express Inc.’s RondasPhilippinas – the biggest bicycle racein the country. “It’s our version ofthe Tour de France,” says Jocel. “Itis completed in 12 stages covering1,600 kilometres nationwide over16 days. We have a large entourageof vehicles that accompanies therace to keep everything moving, likesetting up starts and finishes amongother activities related to the race.Vehicle-wise, carrying out the eventsuccessfully requires around 12 vans,20 motorcycles and 30 cars – Shellarranges for exclusive use of a fillingstation when we arrive in a townalong the route of the race.LBC Express Inc. has a solidreputation at home and abroad.“People trust us,” says Jocel. And it’sgood to know that LBC can trust Shellfor all its fuel needs. SWPshell world philippines i 5